Sunday, October 22, 2006

Eight giant trash bags later...I'm halfway done

The deadline for vacating my office is October 31, but I hope to be out of there sooner than that. Now that I don't have an assistant and I've reduced the number of weddings I'll be working on next year, it makes perfect sense to move my office back to my home.

I've come full circle, but I'm a LOT wiser now than when I started. It's hard to believe that I started working from home, with little more than a computer, a phone, and a burning desire to increase my self-esteem and gain some autonomy over my controlling and opressive husband. I charged a whopping $450 to coordinate my first wedding, secured 12 clients my first year in business, and never looked back. I started my company in October 2004 (exactly two years ago!), and had my first wedding in June 2005.

The success of my company only helped to highlight the failure of my marriage. My husband, distraught in the knowledge that my financial independence would allow me to slip loose from his strangling grip, became even more controlling and maniacal. However, all his efforts proved useless, and on February 13th I informed him of my decision to leave. My first night alone in my new apartment was February 14th - Valentine's Day - and while I went to sleep with feelings of anxiety and uncertainty, I awoke to a future as bright as the mid-Winter sun.

But, back to my office...Between mid-2005 and early 2006 I became overwhelmed with bookings. Unfamiliar with the market offerings and eager to capitalize on this opportunity, I took just about any client that would hire me. Before I knew it, I was over-committed and under-staffed. I quickly hired an assistant wedding planner followed by an office manager.

Both women were essential in the survival of my business through the 2006 wedding season, but first one and then the other departed my employment for personal reasons. What still shocks me is that in both cases, I had been searching for a way to fire them when they came to me with the news that they were quitting. God works in very mysterious ways, but it's nice to know that he's watching out for me.

As the 2006 season came to an end, I was faced with two choices: I could continue working like a crazy woman, spending every single Saturday and most Sundays working to pay for an office, utilities and an assistant, or I could downsize and work from home, thereby enjoying more free time and only a marginally less affluent lifestyle. On their deathbed, nobody ever wished they had spent more time in the office, so I made a decision to return to the comfort of working from home.

The challenge now lies in emptying out an office where three women had previously worked long hours. I have six jumbo garbage bags full of recycling materials, plus several bags of trash and six or seven boxes to bring home. My darling T. helped me pick out a desk for my home office and I am very excited about setting up my new work space.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home