Open Thread: Where Were You 5 Years Ago?
Posted October 3, 2009 in Inspiration, Open Thread 43 Comments »
If there’s one truth that applies to all freelancers, it’s this — the road is winding and unpredictable. Freelance life is often a roller coaster on a day-to-day basis, and over the course of a few short months everything can change.
Looking back a little ways can be a great way to gain some perspective. But if you really want to get some perspective on your freelance career, think about this:
What were you doing five years ago?
Five years is an eternity in terms of business and technology. Five years ago the idea of ‘web 2.0′ was absurd. Blogs were barely even in existence, and they certainly weren’t being taken seriously by the business world. In the last five years freelancing has entirely transformed for most of us.
What were you doing five years ago? Were you one of the few FreelanceFolder readers who was actually freelancing back then? Were you in college? Working a regular 9-5? Were you doing something entirely different from that?
Tell us your story in the comments and, if you feel like typing, let us know how you went from your five-years-ago self to becoming a freelancer.
About the author: Mason Hipp is an entrepreneur, marketing guru, and writer. He blogs about life and business at FreelanceFolder.com and is co-author of the Book The Unlimited Freelancer. Follow him on twitter @MasonHipp
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43 Comments
Kat Nagel
October 3rd, 2009 at 11:38 amFive years ago, I was freelancing mostly as a technical writer with a bit of web design and computer coaching to provide variety. Now, after a 15-month hiatus where I worked FT onsite for a client, I’m back to freelancing. Now, though, web design is a larger part of the mix. I’ve also started a separate joint venture with a colleague, providing small-group training in business, communication, and web-related skills. Life is good.
Bob Cooper
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:16 pmFive years ago I was working on the railways as a catering assistant, serving coffee to business executives. Now I am a freelance web designer working for high end companies such as topshop and asos and working from home. The company I used to work for has gone under and I now get asked to design the business executives websites! What a great post, really makes you put things into perspective, I was starting to get down about where I am in the whole scheme of things, but I was much worse off before!
Mason Hipp
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:30 pmI guess I should chime in, seeing as this whole thing was my idea…
Five years ago I was a student in college and on my way to becoming an engineer. I was always interested in business, and at the time I was buying and reselling electronics on ebay.
Shortly after that I began a branding and web design firm, which eventually grew into a full-time business. Over the next few years that turned into the marketing firm I run today. Also, a little more than a year ago now, I bought a wonderful little website called FreelanceFolder from a good friend of mine named Jon Phillips, and I haven’t looked back since.
Ginger*:)
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 pmFive years ago I was drawing pictures all over my desk calendar at work. The travel agency where I worked required me to be on “hold” for long periods with suppliers.
People noticed and always said, “you should be illustrating children’s books.” Oh Yeah! I would say and smile and get back to work.
To make this longer story short. We moved. We left the NY metro area and transplanted to rural New England.
Today I am illustrating children’s books, stories, cards and have never been more involved in the growth of my career as an illustrator. Ten books bear my name as illustrator. As I look back on my early submissions I can actually see growth. And as I examine my personal struggle I can see an inner strength that has been built by rejection, acceptance, patience, encouragement and perseverence.
This will be a life long journey and I am willing to look beyond each bend in the road and focus on what the future can be.
Randy Carey
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:55 pmFive years ago I was managing the IT systems for a health care provider. I moved “up” to direct the information strategies for a professional association, getting involved in corporate-level web work. In the meantime I was freelancing magazine articles. When a book contract came up with prominent distribution, I realized I could not complete that writing opportunity while holding on to my director’s position, so I resigned from the corporate world and wrote the book. (Easily said, very challenging to take that step.) Now, I’m a double freelancer — writer/speaker (aquarium-related topics) as well as a web architect. My book comes out in January, I serve on an editorial review board, and I am growing my web studio business. What I like about freelancing is that its all about your work, its quality, and making things happen.
Erick Patrick
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:04 pm5 years ago I was at high school!
Steve Moon
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:23 pmFive years ago I was successfully working the 9 to 5 in an office in Winchester, England, something I’d done for 15 years. Then I made a bold decision that had been burning inside me since I read a magazine article in a local barber shop about bungy-jumping in New Zealand. So, after planning, etc., I took a year out in 2005 to travel around the world for a year, getting off the tourist trail as much as I could along the way. There were significant places I visited have which certainly gave me ‘perspective’ on life: Cambodia, Mount Everest Base Camp, and Bora Bora.
By the time I returned to the UK, I realised that I didn’t want the 9 to 5 anymore, so I became a freelance personal trainer and pilates instructor, and I also a little photography and web design too. I am now based in West Wales, UK.
After experiencing many different cultures around the world, I appreciate more than ever how lucky most of us are.
Life’s too short. Take a deep breath from time to time. Trust your instincts. Travel.
Freelancing may not provide me with luxury, but it sure makes me happier, helping other whilst doing something I love. And I have no regrets.
:o)
(@carmarthenshire)
JoAnna
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:30 pmFive years ago I was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in a rural village in Kenya. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life after that.
crazywabbit
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:40 pmWorking like a dog, getting under paid, did everything including the kitchen sink. All graphic software were older versions, Company too cheap to invest in their employees, Boss took all the cash and did not reward his employees, year after year he claimed loss of income but it was all bull. Ask me if I want to work for another dishonest boss? NO!
Dan Stuchbury
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:45 pm5 years ago I was about to start an IT Support business, whilst working for my Father’s marketing consultancy. I did start the IT company, and did reasonably up to a point, where I had more clients than could be left without needing me while I went out winning new ones. I sold the contracts, and decided (almost out of the blue) to became a FileMaker developer.
I won some interesting contracts, begun to focus on working with creative services companies, then re-diversified to the more general B2B market.
I get to work from home, with some awesome clients, and I get to be around my two children as they grow up. No regrets.
JohR
October 3rd, 2009 at 3:08 pm5 years ago? Well, I was a Sysadmin in a big company doing network and systems management. Didn’t have a clue that 5 years later I will be a passionate full-time freelancer doing website development.
Mark Poppen
October 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm5 years ago I was a shop manager at an online retailer. I was also kind of assisting the marketing department by designing banners and adverts on our sites. That’s how I really got the hang of the business side of the industry..
joverine
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:45 pm5years ago i was a freelance comic book artist and lazy-so I didn’t make enough money so I got a 9-5..er 10-6 job at a video game company
that killed my entrepreneurial spirit BUT also reaffirmed it…
so
I’m now back to freelance art and loving it, working hard and visualizing the great things coming my way while enjoying what I have now
it’s awesome!!
cheers!
joe
http://joevriens.blogspot.com/
joverine
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:46 pm5years ago i was a freelance comic book artist and lazy-so I didn’t make enough money so I got a 9-5..er 10-6 job at a video game company
that killed my entrepreneurial spirit BUT also reaffirmed it…
so
I’m now back to freelance art and loving it, working hard and visualizing the great things coming my way while enjoying what I have now
it’s awesome!!
cheers!
joe
Robert J.
October 3rd, 2009 at 10:05 pm5 years ago I was touring the country as a struggling, but signed, recording artist. I was eating a lot of ramen noodles and Easy-Mac, but also drinking a lot of free beer. On the bright side of things, times like that make the “famine” portions of the freelance “feast or famine” paradox much more survivable these days.
Thibaut Allender
October 4th, 2009 at 6:43 am5 years ago I had been freelancing for 1,5 years and I already had my blog :-)
Alex Lim
October 4th, 2009 at 7:12 amThis post makes me feel nostalgic. Well, five years ago, I was in college working my way to be a professional, regularly hanging out with friends and occasionally going home. During this time, I learned lots of things and I guess, this was the crucial stage for my academic growth. Activities includes: passing case studies and reports every week, finishing undergraduate thesis and a number of community participation. Great time, indeed.
I just wished I knew the web before like how I know it today. I might have better inputs and knowledge to share with my colleagues.
Belinda
October 4th, 2009 at 9:18 am5 years ago I was in my last year in high school. I ran my own blog and had a site collective, and now and then I’d get asked by family/friends to design their websites for small businesses and the like. Now I’m working 9 to 5 as an account manager and freelancing as a web designer on the side – keeps me very busy, but its great that my after school hobby has been able to blossom into something that allows me to earn money! :-)
Meryl K Evans
October 4th, 2009 at 9:27 amFive years ago, I had an adorable one-year-old and two jobs: my corporate job and my growing freelance writing business that was almost ready for me to switch to full-time — which I did four years ago. My blog was four years old.
@merylkevans
Solomon
October 4th, 2009 at 11:40 amFive years ago I was working full-time in an ad agency as copywriter being underpaid and was always taking the brunt. I never imagined that I would work as a freelancer and could work for clients myself independently, as I’m now. Today, when I look back it’s been a long journey and a tough one indeed to arrive here. Though, demanding, I feel it’s worth every effort to make for myself. which is fearfully different to what I always thought and always craved to work for big names in ad agencies. Thankfully, not any more now.
Joost Kiens
October 4th, 2009 at 1:51 pm5 years ago I was a teacher in Thailand.
Now I’m a freelancer in the same country. Couldn’t be happier!
PS the term web 2.0 was coined 10 years ago
dp
October 4th, 2009 at 6:04 pm5 years ago I was a freelance designer, and 5 years before that and five years before that. Just got a full time job cause I’m tired of being poor. (we’ll see how long it lasts)
-dp
Marie Poulin
October 4th, 2009 at 6:36 pm5 years ago I would have been in my final year of university, getting my bachelors degree in graphic design. I freelanced in my spare time (which was rare), and continued to over the next few years while working full-time at a studio that I loved. After 4 years, and lots of freelance later… i had to make a decision. I decided I needed to try going fulltime freelance. It’s been over 7 months now, and its been the happiest and most rewarding year of my life thus far.
Vlad
October 5th, 2009 at 6:32 amFive years ago i was in a university, St. Petersburg, Russia. Now i’m back in Jerusalem, working in a company as designer and a developer, have my own blog.
Janine Duff
October 5th, 2009 at 8:43 amI was in the middle of my undergrad obtaining my Bachelors of English.
Now, after graduating with my Masters of English and doing the 9-5 thing for a year, getting screwed over more times than I could count and later laid off due to economy troubles, I’ve been freelancing full-time and loving it.
Robert
October 5th, 2009 at 10:45 amI was a sophomore in college working in the media lab creating websites for professors.
FreelanceShack
October 5th, 2009 at 11:34 am5 years ago I was seeing the start of my success. I didn’t know it then properly and was happy to just be out of paying a mortgage and have actual cash, well that was just over 5 years ago.
I couldn’t have imagined being where I am now. God knows where I will be 5 years from now, but I am pretty sure things can only get better.
Julian
October 5th, 2009 at 3:26 pmFive years ago I graduated from high school and just started 6th form. It didn’t even occur to me to freelance. I doubt I could tell you the meaning of the word back then.
Nicole Foster
October 5th, 2009 at 9:53 pmPerfect timing actually…
Five years ago, I was learning how to make websites. Then, I remember using CSS frequently, and I skipped right over tables. I was still new at it, but I was learning, and practicing hard.
Five years ago, I would never think of becoming a freelancer, or wanting this to be my career, but everything can change within 5 years.
Brent (RedSpark Labs)
October 5th, 2009 at 10:39 pm5 years ago I was freelancing and getting very bored. I had just enough clients to keep me busy with updates and no time for biz development. Sold those contracts, chased another dream, failed, went to work full-time for a company, and now back on my own, freelancing again. The circle of life.
Luke Jones
October 6th, 2009 at 8:45 amFive years ago I was still at school, studying. I was playing around with web design and loving it.
nurbie
October 7th, 2009 at 11:19 amGreat post…
5 years ago I was a in my second year of college and just decided to take an art/design class to kill some of the boredom readily available from my comp sci degree. After realizing I’d rather screw around in photoshop then a terminal, changed majors, won a few awards at the University and tutorial hopped my way through the web.
For the past year I’ve been working as the interactive designer and front end developer for a gaming firm located in Philadelphia. I’ve freelanced along the way, but the chance to work with an entire team of creatives and bimonthly static paycheck was too good to pass up.
Looking to freelance again… very soon… need a few things to calm down first ;-)
Stephanie
October 7th, 2009 at 11:31 amFive years ago I was in college! I was JUST starting the transition from a TV production and design concentration to interactive media and design. That year I entered a flash animation in my university’s Multimedia competition (MultiVisions) and I won 1st place in the “Animation for the Web” category.
I went on to take several more classes and started picking up some freelance work… graduated… moved to New York… freelanced some more… and now here I am! Full time designer with several freelance clients on the side. I couldn’t be happier with that decision I made five years ago :)
BHMediaMarty
October 7th, 2009 at 1:30 pm5 years ago today, I was in hospital with pneumonia.
I’d just finished renovating my new office, was all set to move in but my poor health rendered me hospitalised for around 10 days. I remember at the time my parner had an ear infection so she couldn’t hear, I couldn’t breathe so I couldn’t talk, phoning the doctors was a nightmare, and then, when I was admitted to hospital all I was bothered about was someone bringing my laptop in so I could complete a website.
This was all within 6 months of quitting my secure job where I’d worked for over 10 years and a mere 3 months after my eldest Son was admitted to hospital for an emergency Appendix operation and i’d spent 3 weeks working from a hospital car park waiting for a parking space to visit him.
To say my first year as my own boss was a nightmare is an understatement. Still, I persevered, got over pneumonia and got back to working in the office, which was accidentally burnt to the ground just over a year later by some youths who’d started a fire up against the back of my office and hadn’t taken into account that fire tends to burn up over and wood has a habit of catching fire, so the rather poorly open vented eves that overhung their fire didn’t stand much chance.
2 near death hospital attendances, escaping 1 burning/collapsing building, having 3 large customers go bankrupt owing me sizeable amounts and various other mishaps along the way but I’m still fighting the good fight and determined that my decision 5 years ago was my best one, with one exception…… I really should have done it sooner.
Lee Munroe
October 8th, 2009 at 3:12 am2nd year of Uni, out partying, playing Halo, designing Flash websites… loving it :)
Amanda Cobb
October 9th, 2009 at 7:44 pmFive years ago I was doing a study abroad in Australia for my junior year of college, and planning on trying to land a job in publishing after graduation. I certainly had no idea that I’d end up in Austin, Texas of all places, and running my own freelance design business. A roller coaster is an apt description for that journey, but what a ride!
Behind The Web Design
October 12th, 2009 at 4:18 amWell, five years ago, I was starting my freelance business for few weeks, full of worry and joy, designing my businesscards, puting a last hand to my website, following the local newcommer’s business meetings and so on…
masee
October 14th, 2009 at 5:48 pmI read blogs all the time but this is the first time I actually wanted to comment.
Five years ago I left my cafe job and went travelling through India with my brother. Our trip has ended in Goa where I found out via email that my girlfriend (at the time travelling through South America) was pregnant with our first son. We both had to come back home (London) and started thinking about parenthood.
Since then I have started working as Intranet designer/developer, finished a degree in software development and had a second son.
Now while working full time I do some freelance work as a web designer/developer and starting a partnership business with my current boss creating white label websites.
Mike
October 20th, 2009 at 3:39 amFive years ago I was living in Italy, (I’m now back in the UK) and had just started a course of fine art at the Accademia di Belle Arti (Academy of Fine Arts) in Rome. Since then I’ve completed a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration in Coventry and I’m now working as a full time web designer for a firm here in the UK. In between I also did some freelance work.
Brett Ludeke
October 21st, 2009 at 2:56 pmA lot of people’s “5 years ago” seem to be right where I am at now. Right now I’m working all the figures to see if I can survive doing photography jobs. I’m standing at the edge of the pool wanting to dive in but a little to scared. 5 years ago I was just accepting my current job which is just a paycheck for me. I hope in 5 years I will be where many of you are at now and operating a successful business for myself.
Inpunsene
October 28th, 2009 at 4:28 pmHow many Twitter followers is needed to get lots of traffic and business to your site?
Michelle @ Your Virtual Assistant
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:45 pmFive years ago I was a 6-6′er – now I’m a Virtual Assistant. Often the hours are just as long but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Five years ago there was no Facebook or Twitter for me. I didn’t have my own website or YouTube channel either!
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