Breaking Up the Band – Becoming Solo Again

There are seasons in every solo PR pro’s career. If you’ve built a successful virtual or micro agency but you’re feeling burnt out and considering paring down your practice to a solo endeavor, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane (00:03):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen. How you doing?

Karen Swim, APR (00:19):

I am grateful, Michelle, grateful to be here, grateful for a new year, all of the things. How are you?

Michelle Kane (00:26):

I think that is wonderful. I too am even though, yeah, I feel like so far my theme has been discombobulation, but I think that's because everyone's back and just trying to get things organized for the weeks to come. So out of the perceived chaos, clarity, just work in the list. It's all we can do.

Karen Swim, APR (00:50):

I think we're all feeling discombobulated. And that's a nice segue into our topic today.

Michelle Kane (00:59):

Yes, it is. Yes. Today we're going to talk about, we often talk about solos who set up their shops as virtual agencies and really micro agencies, but what if you'd just rather prefer either making that shift or you just like working as a straight up solo? We haven't talked about that too much lately, and I think that's a lot of, that's where many of us sit. I know that's where I sit. I'll pull people onto a team, but I gratefully both consciously and just the way I have designed my business, I don't have people at the ready depending on my plate of work for theirs. It's just they're fellow solos I guess I would say. And we just try to work together.

Karen Swim, APR (01:55):

And so there are seasons in every solo's career. I think sometimes we forget that. We forget that just as in a corporate career, our careers will not always look the same year after year after year. There's nothing wrong with running a small agency. I do the same thing. However, I've had periods where it's less stressful to just do the work and to be on your own and as you said, to tap into help when you need help with something or to have somebody like an administrative person that can help with reports and help with some of the administrative tasks. And so I think that this topic arose because last year, so many solos and people, period, just professionals, people that were working were not happy in their jobs. And I want to speak to those people who have built that agency, have a team of people, but you are feeling the weight of it and you are burned out. You're not sure if you even want to continue this job. Here is another option if you're not quite ready to pivot out of PR and do something completely different.

Michelle Kane (03:24):

Right, right. I think in many cases, working as a pure solo gives you a little more fluidity.

Karen Swim, APR (03:32):

It does

Michelle Kane (03:33):

The direction that you can take your work.

Karen Swim, APR (03:37):

It definitely does. I feel like when it's just you and I've had those periods, it can be beautiful because in a weird way, you feel like you have more control over your time because you can do things exactly when you want them exactly the way that you want to. And so there's a freedom that comes with it being just you, just you and the work. I will also say for me personally, in those periods when it's just been me, it's allowed me to once again touch and feel all of the work and reconnecting with that, even if it doesn't all go as planned initially, as you streamline down to just yourself, there is something satisfying about that. And it allows you to spot things that you can improve. Because when you take your hands off of the day-to-Day and the tactical, and you step into that role of leader full on, you do, and you have to become disconnected from the day-to-Day work out of necessity because your role changes. So going back to that can not only be fulfilling, but it can be a great thing for your business.

Michelle Kane (04:54):

Yeah, that's so true. And I think too, it really helps you sharpen your tools because it's just you. And I know when I say that, your listeners might be thinking, oh, stop saying that. It's so scary. But honestly, it allows you to do certain types of work, types of work where, I mean, here's the deal right now I've got a plate where I'm in charge and there are some things where I am not in charge. And it's a nice mix I have to say. It gives that part of your brain of rest and it does allow you to get in, do the work, experience it in the midst of the new AI tools and everything, and it just keeps you in the game a little bit. And I think in a way it's kind of wise because it keeps you prepared no matter which way you decide to go.

If you decide to ramp up and build out your business again, to have an active team that's with you all the time, great, it makes you that much better for it. But if you just want to pare down, if you decide to say, you know what? I've had it. I just want to write. That's all I want to do. I don't want to do strategy. I don't want to think about those things for a while. I just want to seek out writing projects. Okay, totally do that because you know what I would think in many cases, you're going to at the very least brush up against fellow professionals and you're still going to get to glean things from them. You're still going to have some level of interaction. So it's not like you're holding up somewhere and just hiding. You're not. You're just doing your work in a different way. And if that feels better for you in this moment, I say go for it.

Karen Swim, APR (06:44):

100% agree. I would also say that when you pare down and you decide to go as a solo, I think one of the scarier things for people doing that is that they're worried about their income levels. So here's where you have to be strategic with your own business. Sometimes we're strategic with our client work, but we forget to be strategic with our business. Sit down and do a little bit of math. When you have a team of people and you're paying people and you're paying higher taxes and you're doing this and you're adding up your time, what is your true income to yourself? To yourself, not revenue for the business, but to yourself. So those big numbers can be deceiving. Now sit down and think about if I had a couple of accounts that were small accounts, 10,000 a month say, and I had fewer accounts and it was just me, how much is my income?

You might surprise yourself in discovering that you know what if you hair down to what you can really handle on your own? And remember, you can also add other income streams because you can have multiple income streams working that produce a little here, a little there. With your main business being your client accounts, you could make more and maybe relieve yourself of some stress. I saw a story on social media this week, and it was from a woman founder who had handed over the reins of her company to a different leader after seven years. And she described the final meeting where she was handing over the reins via Zoom. And by her own words, she said she cried through the entire meeting, but she didn't cry because she was sad. She didn't cry because she felt she had fell. She cried because she felt the weight lifting from her shoulders of carrying the people, carrying the organization, carrying the cause.

Some of you right now are feeling that burden and we don't often talk the other side of running an agency, particularly in these tumultuous times that we have lived through that responsibility for other people's income. The responsibility for setting the tone and keeping everyone upbeat and enthusiastic, the responsibility for overseeing all of the work. Leadership has such great joys. I enjoy it. But it also comes with responsibilities. Let's be honest about that. And sometimes we need a break from it. We need a break from that. We need to step back and recharge ourselves. And I don't want anyone to feel that you failed. If that's your decision today, it's not a failure, it's just another step in your journey. And I want to encourage you to be brave enough to take that step if that's what you need to do. And as I said, it can be so freeing.

It can feel so good to just let it be about you and the work, there's a weird peace that comes. It's just like a peaceful way to work. It's like it's just you and it's like, I'm going to work a couple hours and then I'm going to go walk my dog or do a little laundry, or I'm going to cook myself a really nice lunch and sit down and actually enjoy it. I mean, whatever moves you because you can structure your workday the way that you want because for once, you're only in charge of yourself. And if you haven't experienced this in a long time, I'm telling you, it can be really beautiful. Now, if you're humming along and you are happy leading a team and doing the things, then this is of course not for you. Tuck it away for the day that may come in your future where it will be for you.

Michelle Kane (10:40):

Yeah, I agree. And I think sometimes we put too much pressure on ourselves. I know that's a shock, but not just in this profession because I have friends and colleagues in other professions that feel like, oh no, I should have a buzzing office, or I should have a lot of people working in my business. And I ask them the question, well, what do you like to do? If you were able to make enough money to support yourself either way, would you rather be managing people and cultivating people or would you rather be doing the work that brings you joy? And there's no wrong answer there. That's the beauty of it. There really is no wrong answer. But if you're definitely, you're seeking a little peace and a little just ability to not be in charge all the time, then it could be time to just be a pure solo for a while. That's okay. It doesn't mean you're not going to pick up work that involves a team along the way. No, I think that's what comes down to it, right? The way we run our businesses is because we want to structure them in the way that best suits us at any given time.

Karen Swim, APR (11:52):

I love that you said a mouthful, and you're right. And I feel that we're in this time where we are, the past couple of years, all of us collectively, the collective we of human beings that work have really began to take a deep look at how we work, why we work, what really brings us satisfaction and fulfillment in our careers. And so we've pushed back against some of those old narratives that were pushed on us. Thank God. We've seen death to the hustle culture. We've seen grinding go out of fashion. I never liked that. I don't think that. Why are we grinding as human beings, grinding ourselves down to a stump? And that's really what we did. And really we've reclaimed our desire and our hunger for having more in our life than just work and striking a different balance. So I feel like in this season, it is a good time for us to consider why we're building and scaling in that way.

Is it because we were on that train of build, build, build, and I got to have more and more and more because sometimes less truly is more and less can give you the freedom to explore some avenues of your business that you might be missing now that you really enjoy. And I will say that the older I get, the more this message resonates with me, that life is truly too short to not be fulfilled in your work, to wake up every day dreading what you do and to carrying around burdens and weights that you don't have to. So if you need to free yourself, free yourself, and guess what? There's so many clients out there that actually want to work with a solo, especially in these times. They want you, so don't be afraid to do it.

Michelle Kane (13:56):

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And I think that's what we've been speaking to as well. Life changes whether you're raising a family. And so as your children get older and age out and maybe you just want to work differently, and that's totally okay. And I think yes, the business landscape is speaking to that. Companies don't, even if you say, oh, it's a micro agency, or it's a small agency that may still, who knows some people that may still scare them away. But if you just say, no, I'm your comms pro, I'm your marketing department, you don't have one, now you do. It's me. And I think you can still have a very fulfilling, fulfilling career. And I encourage everyone just sit back and take stock. I think it's so easy for all of us to just steam ahead, okay, this is what I do.

This is what I do this month. This is what I do this time of year. And just take a minute and think, check in with yourself. Alright, how does this feel? Does this still feel good to me? Am I still doing this out of necessity or am I doing it because I want to? So there's all of our challenges. I'm talking to me too. Well, we hope you've gotten something out of our time together today. If you do, please do share this episode around. We would so appreciate that. Pop in a review here and there, and always be on the lookout. Sign up for news@celloprpro.com because as we announced last week, the doors will soon be opening for membership. So until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.