As a young professional, I argued with my dad about how to grow a career. He said, if I wanted to get ahead in my field, I’d eventually need to become a manager.
I did grow into manager roles and even a director, as Dad had suggested. My favorite thing about being a manager was always mentoring younger professionals with new skills. But otherwise, I always missed “doing the stuff.”
I’d started as an editorial assistant, and I loved how much hands-on work I got to do. For About.com, in that role, I was helping writers optimize their content for search. At Beliefnet, I wrote 10 daily newsletters that went to 4 million subscribers.
When I got the chance to be a digital marketing manager at a midsize software company, I owned the website, social media, and eventually paid search. I saw the site through a CMS migration and a second transition to a new brand, when acquired by Honeywell. I earned a Google Search Ads certification on my own and launched campaigns for our product. These were fulfilling accomplishments, just like emailing inspirational quotes to million people a day had been in my earlier days. I was back to doing the stuff!
I was laid off in September 2023, and I spent a year searching for another full-time role. It wasn’t happening for me, despite changing up my job searching strategy on a weekly basis.
One of those weekly strategic moves was to be more open-minded to freelance work. Within days, I’d met a CEO, done a test assignment, and been offered a contract. And then I earned another contract. I love my clients and feel fulfilled.
So today, I am a self-employed freelancer, and I know that I am thriving because I kept up my skills. In addition to my contract work as an SEO specialist and a social media manager, I also offer consulting, which scratches the itch to share even more of what I know with people who can use it. I am crossing paths with the newest generation of professionals; I have a Gen Z peer who is graduating this spring, and he’s great to work with.
If I’d leaned too hard into management, I’m not sure I’d have as much to offer on a freelance or consulting basis. Instead, I’ve stayed curious, hands-on, and always learning.
I really did want another full-time role. But with so many layoffs of roles that I don’t think are coming back, I believe that being able to adapt to an entrepreneurial mindset and share the skills I’ve spent 30 years building will keep me growing and successful for the last chapters of my career.
How Downshifting From a Director to an Individual Contributor Is Saving My Career
