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Freelancing is wonderful for all the reasons I expected it to be. I love that I have time to write. Hours. Mornings. Sometimes, a whole day stretched before me where I’m the only one who can interrupt me. I enjoy working at my own pace and intensity, when I want and where I want. I have the privilege to turn down whatever I don’t want to do. I’ve learned that just because I’m good at something doesn’t mean that’s where I should be spending my time. Freelancing has made my job description more fluid and truer to my nature. The fact that I don’t work for a company allows for a variety, a level of creativity and imagination that I had not previously applied simply because now there are fewer frameworks When I quit I assumed I would do a lot of what I have always done: teach people how to better present and how to talk to press. This has held true. What I did not foresee is how many people have asked if I could do executive coaching. How could they present if they didn’t know what they wanted to say? I work one on one with executives who want to explore and develop their personal brands, need help determining what they want to do next, and work with people who feel stuck and need to figure out how to get unstuck. This has generated opportunities for public speaking, which in turn make me ask myself what else it is that I want to say. This work is very much an extension of what I write about and I marvel at how it sometimes it feels like it’s all coming together as if by magic. The hardest part about being a freelancer is that as one you are low on everyone’s list of priorities. I have to follow up more, check in more, and sometimes things are cancelled at the last minute. My ego has a hard time with this. I’m working on setting it aside. Most surprising is that I have come across people who “love my work” and “give me opportunities” to do work they don’t intend to pay me for. But, they don’t need to because “this will be such great exposure for you”. It’s hard to turn these down, but I’ve decided that getting paid to do good work – in addition, and not instead of – whatever exposure is inherent to this good work, is a fair thing to ask for.