(Or, where I’ve been for the past few years!)
To any visitors whose eagle eyes have noticed the timeline of this website – yes, there has been quite a gap between my last post to now. The truth is, I established this website about two months before the pandemic hit. I was working on multiple client projects, diligently updating my site and researching interesting new blog topics, and then bam! COVID came to town, bringing with it kids at home, online schooling, and topsy-turvy schedules.
To add chaos on chaos, we also moved houses during the pandemic. With both my husband and I working from home, we realized we needed two separate home offices when the kids kicked a ball through a monitor in the basement. (It wasn’t their fault, we had set up a makeshift office in a prime play zone.)
With everyone at home during the pandemic, I had to be very mindful of what time I had and prioritize client work over any sort of self-promotion. Then, just as restrictions were beginning to lighten up in June 2022, I decided to accept a full-time role with a startup client of mine. The role was highly demanding, as roles in startups tend to be, and didn’t leave a lot of time for vanity projects such as keeping a freelance website up to date when I wasn’t actively freelancing.
However.
Much as I loved working with the startup, and thoroughly appreciated the opportunity to continue to gain responsibilities (from writing UX/microcopy and integration guides, to creating sales and marketing collateral, to managing an entire SaaS platform!), I missed freelancing. Working with different clients and picking up new ideas and approaches from a wide variety of industries, seeing how my contributions can make peoples’ lives easier – that’s what I love the most. And I missed it enough to make a change.
In April 2024, I resigned, and resumed full-time freelancing, with the benefit of the additional expertise I’ve gained over the past few years. Previous clients have already expressed an interest in starting new projects, and for that, I’m very grateful, and also very certain I made the right choice. With each project I do, I gain knowledge and new approaches that I can apply to the next. The most successful projects in my eyes are the ones where both my clients and I learn something new.
Going forward, I am excited to share my expertise and continue what I’ve started, adding to my roster of delighted clients as I go. I also picked up quite a bit of SQL in my last role and found I had a flare for it, so I’ve added that certification to my to-do list. The more I know, the better, right?
So, that’s where I’ve been, where I am now, and where I plan to go next. Hopefully, you’ll join me in the journey and contact me for freelance opportunities. As one of my clients put it, it’s nice to have a reliable, effective technical writer in your contact list – especially a double-threat that can crank out engaging sales and marketing collateral too!