What happens if you have a dream to be your own boss and you want that fulfilling, creative freedom that comes from setting your own working hours, but you’re not sure that you have what it takes to have the self-discipline and the hustle to go at is as your own boss? In today’s minisode, we’re sharing our tips for how to test the boss waters to see if you have what it truly takes.
Emily Thompson 0:02
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Kathleen Shannon 1:20
Hey, guys, it's Kathleen and Emily here. And we've got Caitlin here with us to help us with our minisode. So Caitlin, what do we have today?
Caitlin Brehm 1:30
Okay, I've got another email question in kind of long, but I'm gonna just cut it all short. It is from Erin. And Erin says, Hey there, Kathleen and Emily. I just started listening to your podcast and I love it. Love is capital letters. So good job.
Emily Thompson 1:47
Oh, love capital. Thank you.
Caitlin Brehm 1:49
It is so aptly named. Because you too are so very awesomely boss that said, What if you're not or maybe more appropriately? What if you don't feel like you are, I have been so inspired by your podcast that I am looking at tasking some courses or taking some courses in both graphic design and entrepreneurial studies, in the hopes of getting one step closer to being my own boss. However, I feel like I'm very much in the wanting to be boss stage and not so sure that I am, I look to my past and see a little indication that I have the self discipline to be boss, but cannot seem to be employee either. I wonder if this is just that I do not have the training or the support. Or if I'm simply just not enough of a hustler to make it happen as a self employed creative. And one of those dreamers that can't imagine settling into a job just for the perks of a good paycheck. Because I know that and this might get more bid Kathleen, on my deathbed. None of that will matter to me.
Kathleen Shannon 2:46
I'm always thinking about my I'm right there with you.
Caitlin Brehm 2:49
Yeah. So she says what will matter is did I spend my time the way I wanted living authentically and creatively, I guess I have dreamt of being my own boss. since middle school, I just had no role models to show me how it's done, or that it's even possible. However, I want to be able to work when I work best make my own schedule, help and encourage others to be themselves and seek work that is fulfilling to them and to have the freedom to be creative on an ongoing basis. I just look at my work history and think if I couldn't handle being an employee, how can I handle the ins and outs of being the boss? So she asked for advice, words of wisdom, brutal honesty or gentle encouragement? And says thank you so much for all that you do and encouraging others to be boss, Erin?
Kathleen Shannon 3:33
Oh, I think that we're gonna have advice, words of wisdom, brutal honesty and gentle encouragement. So where should I start? I'm going to start with gentle encouragement. Erin. I think that before you think about working for yourself and being boss, which is clearly a dream, I don't think that that's out of the cards for you. You need to think about what it is that makes you feel most capable and what it is that you're the best at. So before I ever even started about started thinking about being my own boss, I was first thinking about being the best graphic designer I could possibly be. I didn't care if I was doing that for myself. I didn't care if I was doing that freelance or if I was doing it. Under the context of having an employer, I chose to go the employee employer route because it really did teach me a lot of skills and discipline and know how that I needed to get under my belt to achieve my goal of being the very best graphic designer I could be. So there are lots of ways that you can be your own boss, you could like join up in one of those MLM services, which I don't recommend, like that's an example of, Okay, if you just want to be your own boss, sell some Shakeology or you know, do whatever. But if you really have something that you're starting to feel passionate about, you mentioned going to graphic design school. I don't know if that's a means to the end or if that's actually something you're interested in. I would do that. First. Pursue What it is that you're interested in and find another way to pay the bills, get a part time job, figure something out. But really, you need to shift your goals from just being your own boss to really honing your craft and figuring out what it is that you want to do. You don't even have to be passionate about it, just do what it is that you feel like, okay, I could wake up every day and do this, whether for myself or an employer.
Emily Thompson 5:25
Love it. I also I also want to note here that you say you feel that you're very much in the wanting to be a boss stage. And I do think that there there is some good things that can come from honoring that stage of like, having these dreamy moments of what being boss would look like to you. And is it as a graphic designer working for yourself? Or is it working for someone else and having a steady paycheck, which I know you mentioned not wanting to do, just for the paycheck. But there are other things that come with paychecks at the right kind of day job is it is what it what does it look like basically getting really dreamy about what it all looks like. Because no matter what your end goal is there is work that has to be done to get you there. Whether you are wanting to do the day job or be your own boss, and I would say for sure that I learned more about being my own boss, by having a boss than I have by being my own boss, I've had enough bosses in the world, or in my life that I knew exactly why I wanted to work for myself, and what that would look like in terms of how I would treat myself and also how I would treat a team whenever I had one. So I do think that having some of those experiences can teach you a lot about yourself, and whether or not you're capable of doing it because we don't believe by any means that being your own boss is for everyone. There is a ton of work that goes into into the commitment of taking the responsibility of yourself and potentially others one day into your own hands. So just acknowledge all of those things, what do you want out of this? What are some of those feelings you want to cultivate, and but along with all of those recognize that do recognize that doing the work is part of the process. You can say you're not a hustler. And I definitely know some bosses that, that get shit done without being quote unquote, hustlers like I think of Jenny, she, for example, who on her own terms is she's hustling. But her level of hustling is so different from everyone else's, she's definitely defined success on her own terms, and is a total badass at it. But the key there is that she defined it for herself on her own terms, and she does the work to make it happen. It looks different for everyone, you need to figure out what it looks like for you.
Caitlin Brehm 8:01
I'd also say to that I, I have my own little set of clients that I work with on my own, but I also work with being boss and with braid creative in kind of an assisting position. And through both of those, I've really been able to see what it looks like to be your own boss just by observing the way that Emily, Kathleen and Kathleen and Tara run their businesses. And it's definitely different than doing some of these jobs that you've done before, such as Office Administration retail, that sort of thing, which for many people isn't super dreamy. But I'm not necessarily in working with being boss. And with braid. being my own boss, I just get some of the Does that make sense?
Kathleen Shannon 8:48
I get some of the but you know what, at the same time you are being boss within the context of working with us. Because really, you can just think of us as some of your clients, right? And I think that that's the shift in the attitude that you need to take to a day job and to being your own boss is how can I be my own number one client and my own number one advocate no matter where I'm working, or who I'm working for, or who I'm working with, right? I think that that's how you start to cultivate the skills of being boss, even whenever you're working for someone else. And that's where I kind of just want to bring up some a little bit of tough love is that I'm a huge proponent of learning from other people and getting paid to do so what does that look like a day job. And I think that whenever you can have the discipline and the work ethic to see it through at a day job, even just for a year, you're going to learn so much about making time to hone your craft. You're going to learn so much about the admin side of things, the client management side of things, I just think that you have a lot to learn from that. And well it sounds dreamy, to make your own on schedule and to live authentically and creatively, you're not going to have any of those feelings if you're desperate for cash, and you feel like you don't know what you're doing all the time, which is certainly something that can happen when pursuing creative entrepreneurship. So I think that for you, Aaron, I, I mean, if we were sitting down having a beer together, I'd be like, Listen, I think you need to figure out what it is that you want to do. Try and get a job where you can get paid to hone that skill and that craft on someone else's dime, and then just commit to a year. That's not that long of a time on your deathbed, you won't be like, Oh, what a waste. Just think of it like school that you're getting paid for. So that's my main thing. And I also want to say speaking of deathbeds, I hope that whenever I'm on my deathbed, I'm not even really thinking about work. I mean, work is definitely a huge part of my life. And we're doing some really amazing things and have great accomplishments. But I work for the kind of life that I'm going to be thinking about on my deathbed, I'm hoping that I'll be thinking about the adventures that I'm taking and the friendships that I've made and the family that I've grown, right. So that's just one more thing I want to throw out there when it comes to being boss and dying.
Emily Thompson 11:16
Agreed. So I think like final call to action, is define what you want, what you want your life to look like what a dream job would look like, and start taking steps in that direction, they won't happen immediately. And you don't even have to be like full blown boss to get started. It's just like little boss steps along the way that that will get you to your your own version of success. And that for us is what really is boss, not so much being the boss, but living your own boss life, whatever that may look like. Hey, there bosses around these parts, we've reached the necessity of email marketing for your creative business. Sometimes we joke about not being podcasters, but that we make our money writing emails, but the truth is, that's not really a joke. Email Marketing is the engine that runs our businesses. We share a lot of content around here from our own brands, and Indie Shopography and Braid creative to all that being boss is going to become and we rely on a single system to make sure that we're making the most of our email list and the messages that we share with our tribe there. That system is ConvertKit I spent months testing every system I could get my hands on to ensure that the switch we were about to make was the right one. And we've been really pleased with our choice. We immediately found ourselves diving into using the system to more automate our email marketing content, and to better segment and target our growing list of cool creators looking for the right content for them. If you're in the business of sharing content, we recommend you check out ConvertKit try ConvertKit for free for 30 days go to beingboss.club/ConvertKit to learn more. Did you like this minisode Be sure to check us out on our website at beingboss.club. There you can find more from being boss including our full episodes minisodes and blog posts. And while you're there, be sure to sign up for our mailing list so that you can get access to behind the scenes and exclusive content from Kathleen and myself to help you be more boss in your work and life. Do the work be boss
