It didn’t occur to me that I could freelance full-time while living in Jamaica until maybe a year ago. The services I offer are not only perfect, they are a needed skill set. I knew that it wouldn’t be easy to get started but the more I thought about it, the more I was sure that is what I want to do. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but worth it.
Why?
When I became pregnant, my husband and I discussed childcare options and going back to work. We immediately discovered that we both preferred that I be our daughter’s primary caregiver and each had no idea when we’d prefer I get back to working. It was strange that we had not considered this before given how many times we had discussed children. At the end of the conversation, my husband decided he would leave the decision up to me. So there I was with the decision to make all by myself. I suspect he left the decision to me because while we both wanted me to stay with our baby as long as possible, we knew I am no a stay at home mom material, nor did I want to be a stay at home mom.
I considered three months, six months, a year… the only answer that kept jumping out at me was ‘when she can talk‘. I guess I just wanted her to be able to tell me if she was being mistreated. But what would I do til then? I spent the better part of my pregnancy chewing my friend’s ear off about a business idea that would allow me to make a decent income while hitching my baby on my side.
I decided to jump all in freelancing full-time. This would not only allow me to steer my own career, I could start working again sooner rather than later, which is a much needed plus. It’s also monumental that my daughter doesn’t need to go out to daycare, saving us the worry and costs associated. This route also allows me to continue to exclusively breastfeed.
Working From Home
Somewhere along the line it hit me that I did want to be a stay at home mother. Not the kind that was doing domestic duties all day, but I did want to work from home. I had a freelance business I would need start doing full-time pouring my time energy and effort into it if I wanted to be successful. I started this blog because I had a lot of time on my hands while I was pregnant and I wanted to rediscover my passion for writing. I had stopped and though I can’t recall why, I never lost my fire for reading. I also wanted to share my pregnancy journey because I felt there wasn’t enough blogs that recounted experiences from the perspective I would have liked as a first time mother. So I wrote/blogged and decided I wanted to work from home. There are so many benefits;
- I can choose my clients and projects
- Staying at home with my daughter
- Contributing to our finances
- Setting my own hours
- Career flexibility and freedom
There has never been as many career paths and choices as there are today. I plan to take full advantage of that. What about you?
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