Crazy. Brave. Unbelievable.
Written by Jordan Hegyi ACB Vice President / Executive Board Member, Owner + Art Director, Riveter Design www.riveterdesign.com
“Crazy.” “Brave.” “Unbelievable.” While you may not consider yourself any of those things, those are the things you’ll hear over and over again if you ever decide to go out on your own. You‘re going to work for yourself? You’re not going to go to an office every day and get a regular paycheck? That’s crazy! You’re so brave! It’s unbelievable, congrats!
Yes, abandoning a regular paycheck is all of those things. But here’s the thing; people do it all the time. Whether it’s by choice or by force, people leave their jobs every day and pursue the dream of working for themselves.
That said, being your own boss is a funny thing. In the past three weeks since I’ve been “my own boss,” I’ve learned a few things about that dream. So, let me begin by dispelling a few “being your own boss” myths:
1. I’ll finally make my grand return to the gym! Wrong. I haven’t been to the gym once in the past three weeks. Call me lazy, but I can drink wine and work at the same time. I cannot, however, lift weights and design at the same time.
2. I’ll totally get to sleep in. Hells no, you will not. My dog wakes me up at 5:30am to eat breakfast, and I used to go back to bed after he’s wolfed it down. Not the past three weeks. The past three weeks, the second I wake up my mind is racing and I feel the need to get rolling, to stop wasting daylight. I’m writing this blog post at 11:52pm on a Saturday. And I guarantee you, I’ll be up again with my rooster-dog bright and early tomorrow morning.
3. Working from home is gonna be great. Dude, I’ve only worked from home 3 days in the past 21 (unless you count weekends). I’ve been in and out of agency conference rooms, client offices, and every Buffalo coffee shop for meetings and work sessions. I’ve spent less quality time with my couch than ever before. We actually miss each other. I’ll let you know if and when this changes.
4. I’m going to make dinner every night; it’s gonna be some real Betty-Crocker-Julia-Child-type-shit up in here. Nope. We just bought stock in Fuji Grill III. We have a permanently reserved table at Wegman’s Market Café. And I’m not positive, but I think my husband had cinnamon sugar toast for dinner on Tuesday night.
5. I’m even going to repaint the trim on the house. Think again, my friend. That long list of little house-errands you were gonna get to in between paying client work? Forget about it. You will have other things to do. Like invoicing (which is totally cool, cuz it means you’re getting’ pay-pa.) Or adding work to your online portfolio. Or writing an estimate (which you’re still figuring out how to do). Or setting up an appointment with your accountant, lawyer, new client or creative partner. But it’s ok, cuz if you’re working, you’re making money. And if you’re making money, maybe you can pay someone else to repaint your kitchen ceiling. (By the way, I’m looking for someone to repaint my kitchen ceiling. If you happen to know a guy, send ‘em my way.)
All that said, on the flipside, here are some truths:
1. It’ll reignite my fire. Yup. True. True. True. I’ve been invigorated by working with old coworkers, new peers, brand new clients, in new and different spaces, on my own time, and at all hours of the night. Plus, there’s no denying the fire that ignites from no longer having the security of a regular paycheck on its way into your bank account. (Let’s be honest.)
2. Working the weekends won’t be so bad when I work for myself. My friend Stephanie told me this. And, amen, sister, it is a fact. I never minded working weekends really, but sometime between my first professional gig and my second, it got a little old. I’m back to working weekends, and I can dig it. Because unlike a salaried gig, it means a bigger paycheck.
3. My new boss will be so awesome. True. Of course.
4. I can take vacation whenever I want! Well—sort of. Yes, I can schedule a trip out of town without worrying about my rapidly dwindling stash of vacation days. I’ve made travel plans and I haven’t had to ask permission, I haven’t had to fill out any paperwork and I haven’t had to calculate my trip around an already paid day off. And it is glorious. But, I do have clients, and I like to be able to say “yes” when they need me. So I guess that means no two-month backpacking tours through the Swiss Alps for me. And there’s a good chance that when I do go on vacation, I just might be taking a little work along for the ride. (Or at least obsessively responding to my emails, because gone are the days of pawning a response off on my AE with an out-of-office email.)
5. Office dogs are the best. Consider it confirmed. He loves everything I do, never tells me to make the logo bigger, and he even encourages me to go out for a breath of fresh air every couple hours. When you find a person who will do all that, you probably just found yourself a new best friend.
Those are all the myths and truths I can share for now. Why? Because I’ve got to get back to work. Have you met my boss? Absolute slave driver.
