There’s a path many follow when we start our own company:
- We freelance a bit and get some clients.
- We get busy and decide to hang out a shingle as our own shop.
- We get more clients and decide to take on subcontractors to keep up.
- We get so many clients, we hire those subcontractors as employees.
- We grow our company and either live happily ever after, grow bored and start a new company or sell our company and make a lot of money.
The main objective of this whole process is to get bigger, faster, stronger.
Whatever you’ve got now, simply get more.
So that’s what I did for many years.
But, somewhere along the way, I got tired of pretending there was a small army of people supporting my every move. I got sick and injured working more hours than my body could handle. I got burnt out trying to take over the world.
I realized I had been following a path that didn’t really make me happy and took nearly all of my time and energy to stay on.
And what is the point of following a path like that?
It is inevitable that life will be not just very short but very miserable for those who acquire by great toil what they must keep by greater toil. They achieve what they want laboriously; they possess what they have achieved anxiously; and meanwhile they take no account of time that will never more return. -Seneca
Life is short, so I decided to make some changes, starting with this website.
As you may have noticed, instead of being focused on Kane Consulting, it’s just focused on me.
I don’t really consider it a re-brand* because…
- I’m still a consultant. I’ve been doing it for fourteen years now, (FOURTEEN, folks. It boggles my mind.) and I’m good at it.
- I’m still a public speaker. I’ve been doing that even longer and I feel at home on a stage.
- I’m still a teacher. There’s nothing better than the look in someone’s eye when confusion turns to clarity.
- I’m still a writer. Although only a wee portion of what I write is business related.
…I’ve just made the packaging around those offerings more simple and honest.
Plus, I’ve added coaching to my services. It’s something I have been doing for people for more than twenty years but have rarely charged for, (which is not the smartest business strategy.)
At the end of the day, I’m still just Jen: one woman who likes to help people fix their problems and learn new things…
…one woman who intends to create a new path for herself to follow.
*Although kaneconsulting.biz still exists, now you can also reach my site via jenkane.com. Handy, huh?
Yes and congrats to you! Many seem to want it and once they have it they realize that “it” was not what they really wanted. As you know my retreat started back around June and I have made several “Obama” extensions now…
I am much more interested in Jen than how to tackle the next social strategy that is sure to gain followers and body count. Good luck to you my friend and happy writing…rcb
Thank you, darlin. I support your sabbatical for as long as you choose to stay on it. Missing 5,000 articles like “How to increase your follower count TODAY,” “Content Marketing Secrets From a Word Jedi,” and “What we can learn about [X] from [Latest dead celebrity]” is bound to only make you that much more smarter and happier. 🙂
Congrats to you, Jen. Moving in a direction that makes you happier (and keeps you healthier) … always good. xo to you.
Thank you, sweet lady!
A year or so before I started my biz, I did a Career & Life Choices class that included a prioritizing exercise to learn what you valued in a job/career. You ranked each value against each other (salary vs. doing something for the greater good, respect vs. security, etc.) then plotted it on a grid. You didn’t know until the end what would come out on top. To my astonishment, one of my top priorities in a job was….vacation time. I thought it was hilarious at the time (and still do), but it’s something I remember when things start getting too hectic in my business: this is not what I’m doing this for. I want a business that supports the life I want to live. I admire people who have grown a business, but it’s not for me. I hope this new phase of your business is everything you want it to be.
Thank you, Wendy. That’s a great story. It’s hard to keep a true north in sight where you’re out there alone making things up as you go every day.
I think this is great. Adding coaching is a fun idea!
Thanks! Hope all is well with you. (I miss seeing your smiling face.)
[…] friend recommended I read this post today. It has some great thoughts about the freelancer-to-agency path that are insightful. […]