On the heels of my very first week as a freelance writer, my longtime friend and colleague, Ilise Benun of Marketing Mentor, interviewed me for the Creative Freelancer Blog. Our conversation was great, not only because I think the world of Ilise, but also because it forced me to articulate so many of the things I’ve been thinking about and feeling as I made the decision to go out on my own and then actually took the leap.
You can listen to our interview here.
Reviewing the audio several days afterward, I’m struck by a couple of things that emerged in our conversation:
- Once I opened my head and heart to the idea of different—whatever that different would turn out to be—I started seeing opportunities that I would have overlooked before.
- Ilise asked me how I knew I was ready to make this transition. I don’t know that I felt ready. But I know that I’d come to a point where I had so many ideas and so many things I wanted to pursue with writes4food, and I realized that if I did all of that and kept my HOW role, I’d have two full-time jobs. Which wasn’t in anyone’s best interest. I had to make a decision. And I couldn’t let writes4food go. I just couldn’t.
- I’ve been amazed that so many wonderful people that I’ve met over the years are helping me by connecting me with people they know who might be good prospects for my work.
- One thing that gave me a sense that food and cooking was a good market for me to focus on was the discovery that there’s a huge online universe of food communities and sites and publication. Food and cooking and eating healthy are such a part of our cultural conversation, and I felt I could add to that.
I am SO looking forward to learning more about how to do this freelance thing well at the Creative Freelancer Conference.
