Sisarina.com

TOP 10: Reasons I Love Working for Myself

Today, I walked into my office without thinking about dress code. I threw on a summer dress and Birkenstocks and have been comfortably enjoying my station at my desk. There is no supervisor looking at me out of the corner of his/her eye. I am an entrepreneur with a staff. This is only one of the many reasons I love owning a business.

Running through my history as an employee, I remember getting looked at sideways for many things.

I wore a patchwork skirt one day to my executive recruiter job.
I said "That sucks" to a client when referring to her wish to work with us being turned down by her bosses & she told my boss that was rude.
I told a client who used a 1-800 number in their ad it wouldn't work. (It didn't.)
I hated wearing shoes so I would generally keep them off at the office.
I had to bring my dog to the office due to vet appointments.
If I didn't agree with my boss, we'd end up in shouting matches.

When I started working for myself, there were a lot of things I thought I could do that didn't end up being true, like:

sleeping in.
sitting by the pool all summer.
starting work later.
going on vacation more.
spending more time with friends.
having a flexible schedule.
visiting my family more.

In the last three years, I haven't had a boss to look at me sideways but the idea that I could sleep more was thrown out the window. My idea of what owning a business would be like has changed drastically and although I don't get as much time by the pool as I'd like, I have fallen in love with being an entrepreneur for entirely different reasons.

TOP 10 REASONS I LOVE WORKING FOR MYSELF:

My successes and failures are dependent solely on me.
I can make up the rules.
I can be creative without asking permission.
I never have to worry about getting fired.
My hands are never tied. I make the change.
I can stand behind everything my company does.
I can fit my business to my personality.
I can wear whatever I want.
I can bring my dogs to the office.
I choose my coworkers.

What do YOU love about working for yourself?
Why do you wish you could?

The Evolution of Sisarina

A History of Entrepreneurship by Melanie Spring

In January of 2001, I became an accidental entrepreneur & opened a web-publishing company called E-Spring Works. After graduating college, I spent a few years working for start-ups and Fortune 500 companies learning how to (and how not to) be a good boss.

In December of 2004, I was chatting with my mom about wanting to start my business up again but under a new name. She reminded me of Sisarina. (read more about that here) I had a friend create a girly pink logo and business card for me. (That friend, Jason, starts working full-time for Sisarina as Director of Pixels today!)

On April 1 2009, my boss asked what I would do if he couldn't pay me anymore. My answer: Work for myself. On May 1, 2009, I opened Sisarina... again. Three years later I sit in my sunny office at Sisarina HQ so full of thanks I could explode. Although it's been over 11 years since I started this adventure, I can officially say I've been a full-time entrepreneur for 3 straight years today.

This is the evolution of Sisarina's branding via websites over the last 11 and a half years.

Brand Advantage: Capturing & Delivering Value

Branding has replaced sales. Marketing has replaced advertising. Georgetown's Executive Certification program teaches executives how to know the difference and apply it.

Day 3: Professor Luc Wathieu talks about the role and psychology of pricing as well as communications, and customer management. Here is the education in tweetable bites.