Earlier this summer, I was honored to be invited as a guest for an episode of That’s So Maven, a podcast by, for, and about female entrepreneurs – And today, my episode of the podcast is finally out!
As a freelancer and sole-proprietor, I face the double-whammy of working alone and running my business on my own. There are some great perks to working for yourself and it was a dream of mine since I was twelve years old; to be my own boss. I didn’t always know what I wanted to do for a living but my hobby of designing and developing websites grew into my career and freelancing fell into my lap after losing my last agency-job during the 2009 economy crisis. With a helpful nudge from my partner who kept me safe and well-fed while I transitioned, he said: Why not do for (myself) what I had been doing others for years?
What I didn’t know was how lonely, stressful, and intimidating being an entrepreneur was going to be. We know all too well there are high times and low times, where the low times can feel really, really low. And if you’re like me, you don’t always allow yourself to enjoy the high times because you’re worrying about when the next low time will hit or stressing about something, anything, because you almost feel guilty if you’re not.
Queue the strong network of “lady bosses”.
Networking and relying on relationships with other like-minded women became a lifesaver for me and listening to them talk about their experiences – good and bad, made me feel so much better about myself and what I do because it made me realize that I’m not alone. Entrepreneurs go through the hardships, the same lines of thought, the same hurdles, and the same pats on the back, no matter what industry or business they find themselves in. That’s what listening to the That’s So Maven podcast has taught me since it started last June. Each episode has me high-fiving my iPad while I’m listening.
New episodes come out on Tuesday mornings and are available to subscribe to on iTunes, Google Play, or to listen on their website at www.yegmavens.com/listen/. Find Episode 16 to hear me!
We hope to build a strong network of “lady bosses” so that we can learn from one another, support one another, and lift one another up. Collaboration, not competition, is the name of our game.
– Andrea & Lauren, That’s So Maven