Closing Up Shop

When I embarked on my freelance journey last year, I didn’t know what was in store. The market is flooded with freelancers — then ChatGPT (and its ilk) came along, further complicating matters. I’ve been reading the stories about freelancers losing lucrative contracts because their clients switched to ChatGPT.

Then there is the matter of my travel advisor gig. And the time I spend working on the farm.

I felt like I was being pulled in different directions. I never felt like I was doing enough to grow my business as a freelancer — but at the same time, I felt exhausted and overwhelmed from doing too much in general. When you freelance, there is this expectation that you need to constantly post content (preferably on LinkedIn), research prospects and do cold outreach, network constantly, read EVERYTHING you can get your hands on, upskill through courses and workshops, etc. etc. etc. I couldn’t keep up with it all. There are only 24 hours in a day, and I have a life. (And I also like to sleep!)

Then we got the estimate for the new barn. And it really opened my eyes. We shelved a lot of projects when I left my full-time job last year. And we have been fine on my husband’s salary and our savings. But now we have a very real need to get some projects done to make this property what we want it and need it to be. And frankly, I was feeling more frustrated and stressed out trying to grow my freelance business than I felt as a full-time employee. During vacation, I did some soul searching and concluded that it was time to return to full-time work.

Lucky for me, one of my freelance clients was creating a new full-time position that seemed tailor made for my skills and experience. I was offered the job, and I accepted. I start next Wednesday as a full-time content marketing associate.

I’ve freelanced for this company for four months. I love the work, the people, and the company. This feels like such a great fit, and it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.

Words in Bloom will remain — as the name of this blog. I’m closing the door on Words in Bloom as a business. I thought I’d have mixed feelings about it, but I really don’t. I’m excited about what the future will bring, especially since I’m stepping into a brand new role and can really make it my own.

This will also free us up to get some work done around here. I’ll gladly give up some of the hours I spend out in the yard if it means we can now afford to hire help to do some of this stuff.