be self employed

Any of you that read my ramblings with any regularity may or may not have noticed that recently I did my 5-year plan. When I stopped procrastinating, it easily turned into a 20 year plan. That put alot in perspective for me. I realized that my major desire in life was to have freedom. Freedom that extends to every aspect of my life. That includes finance and career. I am a creative person. That is my identity and you cannot seperate it from who I am. I am neuorotic and quixotic. I lack respect for authority. So why the fuck am I looking for a job in coporate America? It was because my entire life I was told I was smart and that my place was in a Nicole Miller suit in a corner office with stuffy people talking about daycare other shit that I don’t care about.

None of this is going to make happy. I have decided to craft the life that I want. That includes being self employed. The plan will be revealed eventually. I don’t want to jinx it. I also need to do ALOT of research. I know that this is in direct contrast to my other goals of finding a job that I love/a job in publishing….yada yada yada. I do need start up money. I pledge right now that within a year from Day 1 of my next job, I will be 100% self employed.

(it’s beautiful when you gain clarity)

Find out what I enjoy doing and find out what I’m good at then decide how I can stand out that will set me apart from others who will be selling what I’m selling in self employed business.

After 7 years in the nonprofit sector, I took the leap and left my day job last November. It was terrifying, but I had a sense of peace that things would work out, and thankfully, so far they have!

I had become a Pure Romance consultant about six months earlier (http://www.jannamarie.pureromance.com). Though it had by no means replaced the income I was earning, I managed to save enough by doing romance parties for women to comfortably leave my day job and have a few months to figure the rest out.

As soon as I made the decision that I was going to be fully self-employed, doors just seemed to open. I found a contract position working on a large local event (something I’d always wanted to do, but never had the guts to pursue). I was offered another contract coordinating an event with my former employer.

Between my Pure Romance business & event consulting work, I’ll make more in 2008 than I did in any single year as a lobbyist in the nonprofit sector. I meet dozens of women each week at my romance parties, and also interact regularly with event participants/exhibitors, so lonliness hasn’t been an issue. Though there are certainly trade-offs such as health insurance and the consistency/security that comes from a 9-5, I love the autonomy that comes with being self employed. It’s wonderful to be able to travel without asking for time off, or to go to Trader Joe’s at 2pm on a Tuesday because I feel like it ;-)