Going Independent – Week Three Check in

Keeping the weekly check in train rolling! Here’s week 1 and week 2 in case you’re looking to catch up.

What Happened Last Week#anchor

• I got a response back about that big project proposal I mentioned last week, they’re still interested but we decided on a few foundational changes that necessitated updates to that proposal. Happy to report these updates didn’t end up taking a whole day like it did for the first iteration.
  • Later in the week I heard back about that proposal, they had decided not to move forward. I decided to share this on social and realized how tough that actually is, to admit when things aren’t going as planned.
• I sent 15 follow up emails and two follow up calls for leads and other networking and collaborator outreach. Couple meetings scheduled from these (noted below).
• I’ve been picking back up on some cold-ish outreach for Be Inclusive too, still trying to build up a user base for that accessibility auditing tracking app. Feedback from users has been overwhelmingly positive, but getting users in there to try it out has been a struggle.
• Dev time! I had been away from code for a while as I’ve been busy with outreach, content authoring, and other operations setup. I found that I needed that zone-in time with some code to boost my happy.
  • I got into a great flow on Wednesday & Thursday and made a whole lot of progress towards the foundation of an 11ty style guide generator. More to come on this as soon as it’s ready!
  • I purposefully started with that foundational project so I can use it for the first time on a website for my dad (who has been really patient with me in getting it rolling!).
  • I’ve been using both of these goals as an opportunity to brush up on some trends that I’ve not been able to put enough time into yet, like fluid typography and web components. The plan is to level up on those new-to-me things and also to have a better starting point for base styling new projects.

What’s Coming Up This Week#anchor

• So far, I have three meetings booked this week. Three more in the works but not scheduled.
  • Two are follow up calls with potential collaborators, to catch up and chat some more. Both were a result of my earlier outreach efforts, and I’m so glad to have made these connections!
  • The third is with a branding and copywriter for some help with my personal branding. Really excited for this one!
• I have a really nice project lead from a prior co-worker in early discussions, would be really fun working with them so I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
• Going to keep iterating on that 11ty style guide generator project and hopefully release it for others to try out soon.
• I have a list of about a dozen more potential collaborator and networking contacts to reach out to, going to split them up and do a few a day.
• I’m taking a couple days off at the end of this week, so I’m trying to keep this list limited so it’s more achievable. Looking forward to some time to unplug and come back refreshed next week!

Thanks again for reading, onward and upward! 🚀