I’ve turned fully self-employed!

Feb 15, 2019 | 8 comments

It’s been 2 years since I made the decision about leaving a fulltime position to be able to work more on my own with my blog, and eventually becoming fully self-employed. I don’t want to jinx it or anything, but a month ago I finally made the decision to take the final step and become fully self-employed!

I’ve already mentioned it a couple times, but just to mark that it is officially happening I wanted to write this post to share some thoughts with you all.

Det er 2 år siden jeg tog beslutningen om, at gå fra at være fuldtidsansat til at gå ned på deltid, for at arbejde på at blive helt selvstændig på ét eller andet tidspunkt. Jeg vil ikke jinxe det eller noget, men i hvertfald så tog jeg for en måned siden officielt beslutningen om, at nu skal det være. Nu tager jeg det sidste skridt, og bliver helt selvstændig!

Jeg har allerede nævnt det nogle gange, men blot for at markere at det altså endelig sker, så tænkte jeg, at jeg ville dele dette indlæg med jer.

Jacket – 2ndhand via Vestiaire Collective / Jumper – 2ndhand / Jeans – Armed Angels / boots – 2ndhand via Trendsales / bag – Adax (old)

I’m so happy and excited about what this year might bring, after making this decision. Right now I’m most excited about just being able to gather my focus at one place; here on my blog, on my webshop and all the other projects I’ve got going on, on my own terms. There’s no doubt that I’ve been happy about my parttime job – a job with great people, where I had lots of responsibility working with social media and had lots of freedom to define my own position, all while being able to do my own thing on the side. I’ve felt so privileged, and it’s been nice having had to leave the house a couple times during the week and to have had some colleagues too. To keep one foot inside of the labour market, and within a relevant field too. But it’s been tough. There’s been too many nights and weekends with work, and I’ve been neglecting not only those close to me because I’ve had no energy to reach out – I’ve also been neglecting myself and my own principles about what it means to live a happy and meaningful life. Working as much as I’ve been doing and being so stressed out a lot of the time sure isn’t my idea of happiness.

The most frustrating part of the whole thing has been this nagging feeling of not finishing things as well as I know I can. When you KNOW you can do better, but you can’t do it because you’re simply spread too thin. That’s the point where you have to make a decision about how you wish to continue. But that’s how it is when you want to start something for yourself I guess – you often have to pay your dues before you’re fully there. And if you want it enough, that’s what you’ll do.

Jeg er så glad og spændt på hvad dette år og fremtiden kommer til at bringe, nu hvor jeg har taget denne beslutning. Først og fremmest glæder jeg mig bare til, at kunne samle mit fokus ét sted; nemlig her, på min webshop og på alle de projekter jeg har gang i for mig selv. Der er ingen tvivl om, at jeg har været glad for at have mit deltidsjob – et job med skønne kolleger, hvor jeg sad med ansvar for sociale medier og havde stor kreativ frihed – samtidig med jeg kunne køre mit eget show ved siden af. Jeg har følt mig enormt priviligeret, og det har været rart at have en anledning til, at komme ud af huset et par gange om ugen og have nogle kolleger ikke mindst. At have en fod indenfor på arbejdsmarkedet, tilmed inden for et relevant område. Men det har også været hårdt. Der har været lidt for mange aftenener og weekender med arbejde på mit eget, og jeg har ikke kun forsømt mine nærmeste, fordi jeg bare ikke har haft energi til at tage initiativ til at hænge ud – jeg har også forsømt mig selv, og mine egne præmisser om hvad det vil sige at leve lykkeligt. At drive rovdrift på mig selv som jeg har gjort, og generelt bare være så stresset er ikke en del af den ligning for mig.

Det mest frustrerende har været, at jeg har følt jeg ikke kunne nå ordnetligt i mål med de ting jeg gerne ville. Når man VED man kan gøre tingene bedre end det man gør, men bare ikke kan gøre det, fordi man skal være så mange steder på én gang. Så er man bare nødt til at tage en beslutning om, hvor man helst vil være til sidst. Men sådan er det nok i de fleste tilfælde, når man gerne vil starte noget for sig selv. Man må hænge i indtil den er der. Og vil man det nok, så gør man det jo.

Watch how I altered this coat, turning it from long into a shorter, more wearable version HERE

There’s no doubt that I have hopes, dreams and goals I want to reach through my blog, but I’m really nervous too. I can work from wherever I want, whenever I want – and I feel so deeply thankful and privileged that I get to wake up every single day and do what I’m passionate about. But there’s also this small part of me that is constantly afraid of when it might all come to an end – that some day this will all be taken away from me. But I try to be humble like all along, and I’m just going to enjoy every second of it for as long as it might last. Do my thing, you know?

When we’ve sold our house hopefully soon, my plan is still to get out of the house a couple times during the week. Luckily there are a handful of nice cafées in our hometown I could easily work from every now and then, and it’s also possible to rent a small office as a startup business for a relatively small amount of money each month. But so far I’m not nervous about being so much on my own. I’ve done this for most of my working week for 2 years and I love it. But I know that it’s not for everyone spending so much time on your own – we’re all different. Should the silence end up bothering me a little too much though, it’s nice knowing there’s options for that, and I do also still see myself doing freelance based work for companies and brands from time to time too. We’ll see what time might bring. I kinda like not knowing all the answers right now.

I’m so excited!!!

Der er ingen tvivl om at jeg har drømme og ting jeg gerne vil opnå gennem mit arbejde på bloggen, samtidig med jeg selvfølgelig også er lidt nervøs. Jeg kan arbejde hvorfra jeg vil, hvornår jeg vil – og jeg føler mig dybt taknemmelig og priviligeret over hver dag at kunne stå op, og lave det jeg elsker allermest. Men der er også en lille del af mig som konstant er bange for, at det hele bliver taget fra mig – at jeg en dag ikke vil kunne gøre det her længere. Så jeg forsøger at være ydmyg omkring det, og jeg vil nyde hvert eneste sekund af dette arbejde lige så længe det måtte vare. Gøre min ting som jeg plejer, ikke?

Når vi har fået solgt huset så er min plan også, at jeg stadig skal ud af huset et par gange om ugen. Heldigvis er der en god håndfuld hyggelige caféer jeg ville kunne sidde og arbejde på i vores hjemby, og der er også kontorlokaler som man kan leje billigt som iværksætter. Men so far er jeg ikke så nervøs for dét der med, at skulle arbejde så meget alene. Jeg har gjort det det meste af min arbejdsuge i to år nu, så jeg ved ligesom hvad det går ud på og jeg trives med det, ikke mindst. Det er ikke alle, der kan klare at arbejde så meget alene (eller har selvdiciplin til det), men der er vi jo forskellige. Skulle stilheden dog alligevel blive for meget, så er det nu meget rart at vide, at der findes muligheder i retningen af noget mere kollegialt, og jeg kunne også sagtens forestille mig at lave konsulent/freelance baserede opgaver for virksomheder stadigvæk, fra tid til anden. Men nu må vi se hvordan tingene udvikler sig. Jeg kan på en måde godt lide, at jeg ikke hvad hvad fremtiden bringer lige nu.

Jeg glæder mig!!!

8 Comments

  1. Krystal

    Congratulations, Signe – I look forward to following along on your journey!

    Reply
    • signeh24

      Thank you so much! <3

      Reply
  2. Susi

    Dear Signe,
    I am so happy for you that you are able to be fully self-employed now! Somehow I ended up in a job I don’t really like (and not knowing what to do alternatively) so I am glad for everybody who could turn his/her hobby into a real job 😀 It’s so great that all the hard work and the effort you put into everything finally pays off! You can be very proud of yourself and you really deserves this!!!
    Lots of love, Susi (liliensommer)

    Reply
  3. Anna

    Congratulations. You know, it will be positive, however it goes. You will be developing valued skills by doing this and if you end up needing to be employed by someone else, what you have achieved and are going to achieve here will stand you in good stead. I think you will do great things though.

    Reply
  4. Gillian

    Congratulations, Signe! I been watching/reading your work for a long time and I am excited to see where this new journey takes you! xo

    Reply
  5. Vicky

    Wow, I am so happy for you! I’ve been following your blog and youtube journey for 2 years. You are the one who make me dig into minimalism and start thinking about my way of living. How time flies and you made it. Keep on the good work!
    Greets from China!

    Reply
  6. Vicky

    I’ve been following your blog and youtube for two years. So happy for you. Keep on the good work!

    Reply
  7. Paula Maria

    Congratulations, Signe! I admire so much whom ever takes the risk! Bravo!
    I’ve been following your youtbe videos and blog for two years now, and i’m cheering for you!

    Ps: Bimba & Lola is a Spanish brand 😉

    I’ll leave you a link so that you can watch their comercial – they work with a genious director – Eduardo Casanova!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NnMw9_Aw5I
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucakHgyogAY

    Hope you like it!

    Kisses <3

    Reply

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