Saturday, June 4, 2011

I want to quit my day job.

Seriously.  I reallllllllly want to quit.  Not because I hate it (it's ok, it pays the bills, and I really dig about 40% of it).  But because I badly want to be my own boss, make my own schedule, and do something creative.

Back when I was in Jr. High and High School, the teachers were always having us take aptitude tests.  They were supposed to help you figure out what to be when you grow up.  Without fail, mine all said I should be a graphic designer (or something similar) or a lawyer.  An odd coupling, you might think.  But I'm ultra creative and I like to argue.  So if you know me, those make sense!  I'm starting to look back at those silly aptitude tests and wonder if they weren't righter (I'm just sure that is a word) than I thought.  While I'm definitely not jonesing for 3 years of law school anymore, my heart is crying out to do something creative for a job.

Over the last week, I had some breathing room at work.  What that means is that the day to day bullshit slowed down enough at times that I got to work on the part of my job I love.  That would be Wellness, which has been a passion of mine since I lost weight about 7 years ago.  But on top of the passion for the SUBJECT, I also get to create.  I come up with new ideas for programs, and within the programs I get to design flyers, materials, and write up what are hopefully light hearted, fun messages about our programs.  This past week I've been working on a packet of materials for our upcoming weight loss/maintenance challenge.   To do this, I not only create the curriculum for the 10 week challenge, with a different topic or focus each week, but I get to layout the pages of this packet.  That means finding fun fonts, creating a logo for the challenge, designing the pages, etc.

As I've been doing this, I have been having fun at work.  I am excited about what I'm doing!  And it makes me want to set all the other shit on my desk on fire and never look back.  As I've been whining about my job to my hubby, he has commented that I should figure out what tools and skills I would need to pursue doing more creative work, which I can certainly find a way to incorporate into my job...  but also that I can use to help me start building ideas around what I could do instead of my current day job.  Could I do some design work, somewhere?  Maybe.  Could I design webpages?  Maybe.  One thing I am 100% certain of is that I am good at this stuff.  As I've mentioned before, color is such an important piece of my life.  I am always looking for ways to brighten things (from my walls, to my clothes, to my bags, to my fingernail polish) up in my life.  There HAS to be a way to turn this into a job that is not boring and stupid.

On top of the visual creativity I get to use in this project, I'm also getting to be creative in providing information to our challenge participants.  I am web searching, finding links, graphics, ideas, facts, etc to give the challenge a fun flair, and to provide different or new ideas to people.  I really like doing this.

I simply MUST find a way to change my career.

On a very related note, I did all the paperwork and paid the fees to set up Wyrillco Creations as a Limited Liability Company (LLC).  So I am going to get a little more serious about that.  Could I be the next Amy Butler?  Who knows, but I can't do it if I continue to treat this thing I do as a silly hobby.  I have to use my head and figure out how to take advantage of the tax perks offered to businesses, and settle on better pricing structures, and keep better track of things.  Kind of exciting, no?

6 comments:

  1. Eeee! LLC paperwork! This is very exciting. Good for you!
    -L

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey congrats, Courtney! I have info on that place in Denver where I bet they would love to sell your things if you think you might have time. I keep getting more compliments, BTW. Love the purse!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm so glad, Lize!! I need to get you some business cards, pronto, too. We should try to get together again soon!

    L, thanks! It is exciting, now I just need to figure out the next 800 steps!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Saw your ch post about the accounts. I agree with HP/Mike.
    I was also thinking that in the next 6 months it might help to setup a simple bookkeeping software program, like QuickBooks. You likely already know about it. The great thing about it is that it's designed for small business owners like you who don't have accounting training. It's around $175 at Costco.
    If you're superbusy, you could probably find someone with some bookkeeping training to do the initial setup.
    It's good because you can generate reports which show you the more profitable customers, the biggest expenses, etc. And you can create invoices to collect money.

    Most small business owners use it. It'd be a good goal to start it by the end of 2011.

    Plug over!

    -L

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, yes! I'd love to see you. I'll email you the details about the little shop in Denver.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Also, call around for a CPA/Accountant who specializes in small businesses. Worth their weight in gold.
    -L

    ReplyDelete