I'm going freelance

As of next month, I will be a full-time freelance1 frontend web developer and owner of 16by9. I’m super excited. Motivated. But mostly—terrified.

I’ve always dreamed of being self-employed. At school, my answer to the inevitable question “what do you want to do when you grow up?” was always to run my own business. If I’m being honest, I’m not really sure why that was. Maybe it’s the control and freedom. Maybe it’s that I don’t like being told what to do. Or maybe it’s that a lot of the people I look up to have done it. Whatever the reason is, it has always been my long term goal.

I’ve been waiting for the right time to quit my job. I was saving money and planning and doing work on the side. I was doing everything you’re supposed to do before you quit your job. But the time still didn’t feel right.

And then it dawned on me: there is never a right time to quit your job.

A few months back, encouraged by Ryan Holiday’s article “Print Out Good Advice And Put It Where You Work”, I printed and framed a quote and put it above my desk. It read:

“My fear of failing was eventually surpassed by my fear of staying where I was, unhappy.”

I love that quote by Jeff Bezos as it so perfectly sums up where I am. I’m scared about freelancing. But I’m even more scared about not giving it a shot.

I’ll be writing as much as I can about my journey. I’ve read countless books and blog posts and listened to hours and hours worth of podcasts and they’ve both encouraged and inspired me. I hope to do the same in some small way. I’m starting a mailing list (you can subscribe below if you’re into that sort of thing) where I’ll be writing about freelance life, the mistakes I make and the lessons I learn.

If you need a frontend/WordPress/MODX developer, you know where to find me!

1. I’m tentatively using the word ‘freelance’. Maybe it’s just me, but it has a work-at-home-in-your-pants stigma attached to it. I’m building a business: something I hope to grow and something that I hope is sustainable for the long-term. ↩