This year has definitely been a whirlwind for a lot of people and businesses. Being let go from a full time position earlier this year gave me the opportunity to work for myself and it has been a rollercoaster experience with better outcomes than I could imagine.
After being let go I didn't know what to think. No one was trying to hire graphic designers during the pandemic so I gave up on job board and applying 12 hours a day just to get no responses and I decided to take the summer and live it up. I was able to carefully and safely travel and see many parts of the country I haven't been to before, I had a 2-week camping trip with my best friend and I was able to go to the best more this summer than ever since my childhood days. It was a life-altering experience to have the freedom I had this summer and I am grateful for it. September is when I really cracked down on my freelance business and I was able to get a few large clients to keep the checks rolling in and my name out there for more companies to see. I worked on getting more certifications and really focused on myself which I haven't done in a long time.
After doing interview after interview for full-time positions and still not getting where I want to be with a company, I decided to focus even more of my energy on Bucket Mouth Designs. I have been running my side gig for over 2 years now and it has been a dream to finally run it full-time for the past 6 months. Friends and family have helped in more ways than one, helping find clients, help with billing, even approving logo options before I send them to clients just to get another opinion.
It's scary to not know when your next paycheck will come in, and it definitely helps knowing about your future projects and having a routine when you work for someone else. Being your own boss is terrifying sometimes. I don't have a set schedule, so sometimes I stay up too late watching my favorite show and wake up later than I'd like to. This will cause me to work after dinner and into the night the next day. It is definitely more freeing though because you can design when you have the creative spark. Sometimes 9am on a Tuesday at the office you have no desire to do anything, but in my case I just focus on a different part of my company like updating the client sheet or work on billing and invoices and then BOOM I'll have an idea for that next project and I get back to it. It is more relaxing than ever to get up and "go to work" to my home office. It definitely takes more man-hours to run your own business and do it all yourself without falling behind on something, but to me it is totally worth the experience and worth trying while I have nothing to lose.
Bucket Mouth Designs has been my savior this year and I am forever thankful for my clients who gave me the opportunities they did to lift my company to where it is today.
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