So I have started describing myself as a multi-passionate business owner.
It’s long overdue that I do that, as I’ve spent a lot of time trying to fit into other people’s nice little boxes and definitions. And maybe I have made the mistake of drifting back to thinking about success in other people’s terms too.
I made this decision because I have never been able to describe what I do succinctly.
I’m a project manager, to agency project director level. I also did some account management within those agency roles. And some writing, editing, proofreading. I managed and mentored team members. Those roles were in marketing, sales operations, communications and medical communications.
I’ve worked for agencies of different sizes, multinational companies, smaller businesses, and I’ve done freelance work for charities as well as volunteered at local events and with local charities. And these days I work with other freelancers, coaches, consultants and very small businesses, and meet all sort of people from SMEs in my networking as well.
I love taking photos and writing. And drawing weird penguin doodles. I’m training to be a coach.
I don’t explicitly bring all of those things into my work. Some of them are just part of my experience, along with the knowledge gained in specific industries or with certain client types.
But even if I describe myself as a project manager, coach (in training), mentor and writer, that still feels like a lot of things. Especially when underneath that umbrella I have quite a few different packages that someone can pay me to deliver.
I like Elizabeth Goddard’s approach* of having an ecosystem of different services, courses and resources, and listing them all out on an Everything Page. But I haven’t quite linked all of mine together yet. And her approach is about online business, whereas my business is more of a 1:1 service business with a few pdf downloads and random penguins thrown in on the side! (*Affiliate link to her Everything Page course.)
Some people say that you should limit yourself to one client type, have one core offer, and focus on that. But why would I want to do that? I’m multi-skilled and multi-passionate.
And my definition of success is about more than just money. It’s about intellectual exploration and creativity, along with flexibility and space.
So I think I’m doing the right thing for me to finally describe myself in this way. Anyone who has worked with me knows that I can turn my hand to all sorts of things. I just have to work with the right people, who understand why that has value.
I had a lovely conversation about this in the DIFTK members group this week in one of their live podcast episodes, and it was interesting to see how many other people do more than one thing, and the suggestions they made about how I can describe what I do.
How about you? Do you do one thing, or do you also do many different things?
If you’re having trouble deciding between a number of different ideas, I have a short guide that might help you with that – click here to buy a copy.
If you need some 1:1 help from me, do get in touch here to see whether a 1 hour clarity call might work best, or whether your challenge needs some proper untangling (a longer call with pre-work, a plan and a follow-up).
