My exclusive announcement is finally here: I am quitting my freelance career. 

Five years of bouncing around gigs in pursuit of an entrepreneurial dream… I quit. I’ve thought a lot about how I want to share my story publicly so it was perfect timing that Stephanie Vorhees at Crush New York approached me for an interview last week. 

I’ve been taking a long, hard look at the career path I’ve dealt with this past year. New Years Eve I laid in bed unconsolable as I tried to think of just one success from each month that had just passed by. I couldn’t. Every month seemed to end up worse than the previous and I was puzzled as to why this kept happening. Opportunities that presented themselves as meaningful, enjoyable, and promising quickly became nightmares for me. I couldn’t get things right and the line between my personal life and my professional career began to blur. Despite my best efforts, I was falling apart. 

Things were really, really bad. I was left without a place to live three times in 2012. I noticed myself becoming a different person: someone with no motivation, no trust in other people, a distracting negative attitude, and crushing stress that took a toll on me in ways I never thought imaginable. 

Five years of this crap wasn’t worth it. 

In the end, unable to look back with pride on work I had done (with a majority of roles I flat out abandoned for more reasons than one), losing my confidence and motivation to contribute my talent, and being disregarded in too many ways, I gave up. I knew that things had to change and they had to change NOW. My life depended on it. 

So, how did I quit and what am I doing now?

Getting a job is all about who you know. It’s the oldest tip in the book, and it’s absolutely true. You never know who may have an offer you can’t refuse one day, and that is exactly why I always tell people to connect with people in a meaningful way. Don’t think about business cards; think about conversation.

For me, it’s also all about timing. Good timing has always been unpredictable for me, and this time was one of those perfect times.

With no desire to stay in New York, given I had no money or guaranteed long-term offers, I was on my last leg to find an excuse to give this “career-y thing” one more shot. At my lowest of lows, that’s when I got recruited by a good friend of mine whom I had met at a travel happy hour for the opening position of Digital Sales Planner at THE WEEK and mental_floss. We know each other pretty well and have exchanged many pro-tips, attended the same tech events, and even did some bike rides together (this is my version of “networking”). No application, no job description, no experience in sales required. The job was mine if I wanted it. Salary, benefits, and paid vacation were also on the table. 

I of course accepted. For the first time in my professional career, I felt I had made the right adult decision. I finally could see a future for myself again and could regain confidence and challenge myself to accomplish better work. As Digital Sales Planner, I am able to take all of my digital media experience creating, managing, and measuring integrated advertising programs for publishing. It’s a new world for me, but I welcome the learning curve. 

I thank every one who has followed my story and continues to follow my story no matter what successes and failures I go through along the way. I hope that I can inspire you to also find your own path and create a meaningful career, even if it takes longer than you want and requires you battle the same obstacles I had to. I welcome your comments (and congratulations) with open arms. Feel free to email me at my new address or ask a question or tweet me. 

In addition to working full time at mental_floss and THE WEEK, I will be teaching a five week digital career path program with The LAMP and throwing a dinner party for Melba’s New York launch. 

See you at the water cooler…

Clarity is one of my new favorite finds as it offers an easy way for people to receive entrepreneurial advice. Here’s how it works:

• Set your hourly call rate
• Schedule calls with others
• Share your advice questions
• Donate earnings to a nonprofit
• Collect earnings through PayPal

I’ve been waiting to sign up for a service like this and can’t wait to start!

Tonight’s community roundtable, formerly “Demo & a Beer Night” at WECREATE will be referred to as WECREATE Co-Labs - our monthly series of collaborative problem solving workshops for the entrepreneurial community. 

Tuesday, July 31st 6-8pm at WECREATENYC (58 East 11th St)

RSVP: http://bit.ly/xN26U9

WECREATE is a New York innovation space home to intelligent makers – people who are building tools, and producing something greater. To further dialogue on creative development, WECREATE invites you to our monthly collaborative problem solving labs where we share knowledge, ideas, and resources to impact business solutions.

WECREATE combines neuroscience, industrial engineering, and communications strategy tools led by Daniel Gutierrez (WECREATE Co-Founder) and Alisha Miranda (WECREATE Community Manager).

WECREATE monthly labs are open to the public through registration only.

Light refreshments and snacks will be provided by Emily Hanhan of Nomnivorous.com

For more info, visit:
http://thecubelondon.com/labs/
http://www.wecreatenyc.com/about/brain-bank/

Or, email us: hello@wecreatenyc.com

I am brainstorming a series of events starting next month that allows me to dig my vast set of skills and connect with more, new audiences. I’d like to expand my consulting to speaking engagements and interactive events, Skillshare being one of the best social platforms out there to do so. 

Recall my last event’s topic: Transitioning into Entrepreneurship with WECREATENYC. One of the most eye-opening events of my career, I knew I wanted to continue to create a landscape for myself and peers to discuss the many challenges and successes we face today. With this in mind, I’d love to stretch the idea of self-employment into other topics of discussion whether it’s how to become an Internet curator for your business, to managing your monthly budget, or following the proper protocol for starting an active social media presence. I bet there are some basic questions people have been wanting to ask but just don’t have the time to dive in, so I’m giving you all that chance.

Got a Skillshare class idea for me? I’m all ears!

Tuesday September 27th at We Create NYC 10am.

Event info listed here. 

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I get a lot of questions about why I chose to leave the 9-5 world behind to pursue a full-time career as a freelancer. Even more so, I receive lots of encouragement to turn my freelancing into a full blown consultant business. I’ve been toying with the idea for a few years now, waiting for a big sign or push in the right direction, no doubt marking each year one step close to developing my own profitable business, but there are still days when I feel unprepared.

I’m not the only one. I’m fortunate to have a close knit network of friends, peers, and mentors who have at one time or another found themselves in my same boat. We’re all incredibly talented, driven, and smart when it comes to working towards an independent career, but how can we sustain it? Never-mind this unreliable economy, I don’t even think about unemployment anymore, or the astronomical student loan debt that permeates my every move - I just want to know how to become a successful entrepreneur. So do many other young professionals. 

As I’ve participated in countless meetings, events, workshops, classes, and consultations with experts, I’ve gathered some basic tools on how to jumpstart my career towards entrepreneurship, and with the help of the fabulous people at We Create NYC, we can pass along our own tips to you.

We Create and I (along with a special guest speaker) will be presenting a new workshop in September: Transitioning a Freelance Career into Entrepreneurship to prepare young professionals make that leap from contract worker into small business owner with digital tools, resources, strategy plans, and brain food to boost. 

So, how can you get involved? First - sign up and attend! We’ll be posting the event live in a few weeks, so check back here for more info.

Secondly, we want to hear from you - what questions do you have about freelancing, business, and entrepreneurship? What obstacles have you faced to deter you from making the leap? What kind of business would you like to start? Who would you hire, and why? How do you acquire a client base? What sites should you visit? All of these questions and more have crossed my mind and I’m sure have crossed yours. Feel free to add in your feedback here, or drop me a line via email. 

Better yet - who has a success story to share? What tips can you provide? How have you inspired others? This is the type of connection I’d also like to make at the workshop.

Our morning workshop will cover the above topics plus offer a brainstorming case study session, following by open co-working hours where you’ll be able to talk with us more closely about your business ideas and career. 

I’m excited to educate and motivate, and hope you are too! More details to come soon!