Member-only story
Why I (mostly) Stopped Freelancing
And why I am no longer building my business.
I’ve shared my journey and story before, but I want to talk about the evolution of my writing and editing career and where I am today.
In 2016, I turned 30 and looked at my career — almost 10 full years in sales and marketing.
It didn’t fulfill me but it DID fill my belly and pay my bills. And there’s nothing wrong with that! I had a successful career in corporate sales and business development. I had good bosses and great coworkers, and I had opportunities to move up in the company.
But I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t enjoying it the way I wanted to.
And I’d always had a not-so-secret dream of being a professional writer.
As a kid, that dream looked more like being a famous author and doing book tours and seeing my books become movies.
As an angst-y teenager, that dream looked more like writing famous songs and emotionally devastating poetry.
But as a 30 year old, that dream looked simply like getting paid for doing my favorite thing — writing.
I’d had a blog since high school and I’d edited papers and resumes for many years, so I had plenty of writing samples and proof I could write.
What I didn’t have was professional experience as a writer.
So I became a reluctant entrepreneur.
This may sound shocking to some people — especially those who yearn to be their own boss and build an empire out of every skill, hobby, and side hustle.
In my case, starting my own business was a necessity — a stepping stone to get where I wanted to go — which was a career in the writing and editing field.
I just wanted to write and edit.
And I knew I could do it, I just had to prove it.
I wouldn’t be able to get a job in any company as a writer or editor at the salary I was making in my sales job. It just wasn’t possible without professional experience to point to.
