[edcoaching]

I own my own consulting firm and while I didn't have startup costs, my husband's income balanced out the ups and downs of mine in the first 10 years, providing a safety net.

To get started, I actually thought writing would be the basis of my career. I did some volunteer activities so that I"d complete some writing projects, which synchronistically ended in a partnership with a well-known person in my field. We wrote some manuals together and pretty soon everyone assumed I was as much of an expert as she. But I chose my own specialty and had to work my tail off to find clients and be accepted. It's what I'm passionate about, though, and that makes it works. That's where my type plays in the most--I can delve in deeply once something becomes a just cause. Now at least half my time goes to consulting and I've never written the historical novels and kid's sci fi that I thought would highlight my career.

I stink at the business side, though, let the finances sit around unsupervised, got taken to task yesterday by a colleague for not engaging a lawyer to look at a contract, etc. That's also about type. I assume everyone is in things for the common good (will I ever learn?) and hate taking time away from the actual consulting where I see results for mundane things like contracting...I get a bit wiser each year so maybe by the time I retire I'll know what I'm doing.