From Office To Home: How I Made The Switch

When it comes to the workplace, I’ve learned firsthand that there is no such thing as a one size fits all. In my case, I found out pretty early on that I wasn’t comfortable sitting at a desk all day, every day. I loved my work and career, but not so much the environment I had to drag myself to day in and day out. I knew I wanted to do something different. However, I had no clue where to start. I contemplated the idea of working from home, but I thought that I was too young. Working from home seemed like a mother with 4 children and a husband type of deal.

Working in office was the only choice I knew.

That is until I started to pay attention… Little by little, everything I had done in my career had already started setting me up for the transition. As a copywriter by trade, I dove into an unimaginable amount of information. The more I learned about my craft, the more opportunities started to sprout from every direction. I found out that many copywriters also freelanced. At the moment, I was an in-house fulltime copywriter. A job that deals with products onsite, on hand, and often needed to work late nights. I thought to myself, how could I ever turn this job to an offsite position?

The answers were clear as day.

Once I realized that I could do freelance, I researched more about those type of positions. Not only did I discover that some of those positions were available as offsite but they were also often presented as remote. If you were to tell me in high school that there was a job that existed that didn’t require you to come into the office, be in the same state, or sit through meaningless meetings, I would have called you a liar straight to your face. But the fact is, there is such a thing and you can get paid just the same if not more.

So, I started with what I knew best.

I was always a hard worker. I hustled my entire way through college having not only 1 but 3 different jobs at the same time. Multitasking is what I knew. I reached out to a couple of agencies who represented copywriters. I make it clear that I had a fulltime position but I was also looking for part-time work. I must’ve submitted my resume to over 50 companies, 10 freelance sites, and 15 agencies until I got a very random email one day. It was a man from New York city that found my work and resume on a freelance site. He said he loved my work and wanted to work with me. I was astounded. Really? Me? Out of all the profiles, talent and perfect portfolios, he reached out to me. The thing was, he too was new to it all as well. He was looking for someone to grow with him and his company as he figured it out along the way. I took him up on his offer, negotiated my hours, and got started.

I juggled the two jobs seamlessly. I worked my 9-5 Monday through Friday, then my other 9-5 Saturday through Sunday. That was the true start of it all.

Soon I had racked up enough work and clients, that the 9-5 was literally holding me back. Not only was I now finding my place creatively, but I was turning into an entrepreneur. The two things that the workplace could never fully give to me. However, I will say the workplace taught me a lot that I needed initially, and things that I still use today. Having a professional, reliable, and flexible attitude toward everything you do is required. Working for yourself and from home requires a lot of discipline that most can only get from an institution. For that, I am ever grateful.

Now, I happily work from home, a hotel, New York City, Indiana, Los Angeles, a pool, any place I that I choose! And guess what, you can too.