I have a good job at KCS (Keswick Computer Solutions) as the Digital Marketing & Webs Manager, so why rock the boat and start up another business on the side? Why indeed would a busy mother-of-three with a full time job want to add yet more to her plate?
A few reasons.
Firstly, my boss at KCS is incredibly understanding and patient. He knows that I’ll not be content staying in the same job forever and have a seemingly unquenchable thirst to learn more, to do more, to be better. So when I tentatively mentioned that I wanted to start doing some work of my own on the side I guess he knew that it was an obvious choice for a mother of 3 who doesn’t want to waste time commuting to the office 5 days a week. He also was appreciative of the fact that I had no immediate plans to leave KCS, but instead wanted to run my side venture in tandem and balance the fine line between employment and self-employment.
Could be a conflict of interest I hear you think? Well yes, I guess if I didn’t have such a strong conscience, or the desire for both companies to succeed then yes that could be an issue. But I fiercely want (and believe possible) for both businesses to do well and want to keep my foot in both doors, so to speak. I also believe we can both bring each other business and learn from each other, so I’m going for a win-win all round.
So Pencil to Pixel was born to enable me to build something of my own. To broaden out into the digital marketing world and to be fully accountable for my time/energy/investment while allowing for a bit of flexibility. I just need to learn to put a few more self-guidelines around my tendency to overwork and learn that working 60+hr weeks is not good for anyone.
I’ve already had the pleasure of working with some pretty exceptional local clients and I’m excited about the journey ahead.