Future Emergent, year 3
the only way through is through
Year 3 is on the books for Future Emergent! I started my consulting business three years ago this week. This week I'm sharing my now-annual roundup of what's been happening with my job (career??). Here's my wrap-up of year 1 and my reflections from year 2.
year three
It's obvious that a lot has changed in the past year. Most of the news has been terrible! I've felt lucky to live in Washington state. It's not perfect here, but we're fighting different fights for sure. On the business side, I started year 3 recovering from medical leave and trying to find new business. This year I...
Treated myself like a client. To be honest, I wasn't as employed as I wanted to be. Some jobs I had lined up fell through. Others drastically cut their budget or scope after I had signed on. But while I was looking for new projects I also invested more time in building up my business.
I created a business and marketing plan. I took more networking meetings with consultants and potential clients. I learned a lot from some fantastic people! I attended NAWA's course on Strategic Planning in Nonprofits. I took a few finance classes to help me shore up my business knowledge. I loved a bookkeeping cooperative's COSMOS Financial Foundations Series. I took a newsletter writing workshop taught by Alicia Kennedy. Her advice helped me approach my newsletter in a more organized way. I attended a workshop on giving feedback with curiosity. It's from the series Curiosity in Practice by Julie Pham, PhD and Linh Huynh, MSW. I can't recommend these classes enough.
Took on more subcontracts. One of my unwritten goals for year 3 was to start working as a subcontractor. I swear I wrote it down last year, but it lived only in my heart. I felt myself hitting a plateau on the kind of systems change I could work towards as a solo consultant. Working as a subcontractor has taught me a lot. Most of them were firms that have been in this business longer than I have. They have connections and an entire infrastructure to support their work. I'm working on projects as an Associate Consultant for Ruby Love at Love Resource Development Group. I'm also a Consulting Partner for Maleah Jackson at Makari Consulting. Working as a subcontractor means I get to focus on the parts of consulting that I'm fantastic at. I'm also taking the time to learn from Maleah and Ruby how they've built and refined their businesses.
Developed what I like to do. I spent the past year working more as a project manager, something I have a lot of confidence in doing. As a subcontractor, I get to work and brainstorm with very knowledgeable peers while keeping our projects on track. I've also done a lot of facilitation work, which is another favorite activity of mine. This year I started teaching management practices to managers and project/program managers. I've also added to my experience with the kinds of community-centered engagement work I love doing.
reviewing my goals for year 3
Refine my messaging. I did this! I also have a framework for the next time I need to do it. I'll be doing it again this year (lol) as I start to get serious about a consulting cooperative in year 5.
Stay strong, not perfect. I am working on this! I did get to "team up with brilliant people on more cool projects." This year I'm working with organizations, entities, and people I once admired from afar.
On taking time off. Last year I boasted about not working most Fridays. I'm allowing flexibility on this one, meaning I'm working more on Fridays than I'd like. I might not have as many Fridays off, but I am looking forward to a quiet and stress-free September.
goals for year 4
Job stability. Super candid goal. I want my income to be more stable. I've had to raise my rates a bit and take fewer pro bono clients than previous years. I also want to find more projects throughout the year. I'm working 5 big projects right now (#blessed) but they all end by this fall. It would be nice to spread those projects out and take on smaller or one-off gigs. I also want to line up smaller business-building activities for the inevitable downtime.
Learn and grow into project administration. This is being the lead of a project (a Prime) working with subcontractors. I won't set a goal to be leading my own massive projects in the year ahead. I could apply! I'll need a bigger reputation and more applicable success stories if I want to compete with established firms. As long as I'm building my skills, this can be a learning year.
Offer strategic planning again. I love strategic planning, but I don't always love how it's done. Strategic planning was one of the major activities I offered when I was first starting out. Unfortunately, I didn't have the tools or process I needed to sell my approach. I've done a lot more research and training since then. I'm also managing a few strategic planning projects this year. I'm hoping that will help me scope out an approach that I love.
moving through
It feels incredible to be my own boss, run my own company, live by my values, and choose my own fortune. It's scary as hell sometimes, but it's also fulfilling in ways I hadn't imagined it could be. I still don't know what job security looks like in any industry these days. Every year it gets tougher to picture myself going back to the kind of career I had before. All I can do now is sing the future emergent. Thank you, as always, for your support.
