Umm…can you believe it’s been exactly one full year since I announced my business?! Because I can’t…
Part of me feels like it was just a couple of months ago and the other part can’t believe this wasn’t always my life! As of today, I have officially been my own boss running my social media consulting business full time. I’m freaking out but in the best way!
When I attended business school a few years ago, I never imagined I would end up an entrepreneur. I assumed that once I graduated, I would just go into corporate America like most of my classmates. But when I really think about it, I kind of always had the characteristics of someone who would end up doing their own thing.
I’ve always marched to the beat of my own drum, enjoyed doing a million things and being in charge of all of them, and I think my professional dance days just made me realize even more that I really love managing my own schedule/life since I was doing it that whole time, anyway.
As I reflect on the past year, I think about how far I’ve come (even though I have SO far to go). A lot of weird sh*t happened – I almost worked with a few people that treated me like garbage and took advantage just because I thought it was a good opportunity…then later in the year, when I thought I had a clearer vision of who I wanted to work with, I still messed up and took on work that paid SO well but left me miserable.
It wasn’t all good, but I’ll leave the sketchy stuff there because what’s really important is that the work I’m doing now, one year after starting out on this crazy a$$ road, fulfills me like NO OTHER. Let’s talk about it!
This past year has been…
…filled with luck and good timing. I firmly believe that the clients that came my way did so because of hard work I’d done in the past (they all essentially were the result of either networking or previous jobs). But that being said, the timing lined up perfectly for all of us – they were looking when I was offering, and that I can’t help but attribute to luck, and maybe a little fate, too.
…a learn-as-you-go experience. You can prepare all you want for your next move, but at the end of the day, you can only do so much until you’re thrown into the fire. I personally think that’s a great thing, just because we’re all learning and that’s the FUN part of it all. But it can also be stressful. Figuring out how to navigate has really been my focus of the past 12 months, and I’m wondering if I’ll ever really have the hang of it!
…busy af. Let me tell you though, I’m one of those people that despises being bored – I’ve literally left great paying jobs because of it. But that means the being “busy” is pretty much the biggest blessing ever! While it’s exhausting, it’s pretty hard to complain about having “too much work,” especially in my first year out the gate. When I’m busy, I thrive, and I just try to remember that when it feels overwhelming.
…disorganized. I’ll be the first to admit it! There’s so much to keep track of when you’re a business – finances, timing, deliverables, due dates, calendars, scheduling, taxes, health insurance, bills, all of it! It’s SO awesome being able to work from home and create your own schedule, don’t get me wrong, but running your own business also comes with the not-so-glamourous bits, too. There’s no accounting team, HR department, boss to tell you what to do when, or team to bounce ideas off of. It’s all you baby! And unfortunately my planner isn’t big enough or neat enough? Maybe I’ll do better in my 2nd year!
…SO MUCH FUN. In my first year running DFD Creative, I got to meet more incredible people than I’d ever dreamed of, travel to a ton of different places, attend exciting and eye-opening events, work with inspiring women, experience LA in a new way, really step out of the box and get creative, spend more time doing what I love, build out my side hustle (which has become more of a middle hustle!), collaborate with friends, say yes to new opportunities and spend more time with loved ones. I don’t know if work/life balance exists, and it can be especially hard when you don’t have the structure of a 9-5, but man is it exciting?
Every single day of my life is different. I don’t have many routines, I have to go with the flow, sometimes do things at the drop of a hat, really prepare for rainy days (because I know they’ll come), and be on the ball. But I wouldn’t give it up for anything. I could cry thinking about how grateful I am to be here, in this place, at my little desk that’s admittedly VERY messy, next to my dog, sipping my homemade oat milk latté.
Thank you for your support day in and day out, for visiting my corner of the internet, giving me a creative outlet, and becoming such a huge part of my life. I love you all and I can’t wait to see what this post looks like next year!!!!
xo Jordan
