Consulting
My New Anchor
My previous job was an anchor in every sense of the word: it provided security, stability, a place to be on weekdays, and a purpose outside of myself. I enjoyed most aspects of my job. In many ways it was a dream job, combining two things I’m passionate about: art and technology. I loved being a small part of the process by which creatives bring their visions to reality.
That job also weighed me down; I wasn’t able to do many of the things I loved or hang out with family and friends as often because I was too busy, too exhausted, or I had too much on my mind (or all of the above!). Information Technology is pretty much always on-call by default, especially when you’re in charge and even more so for me because I live so close to campus. I could get there and respond to outages and issues faster than anyone else. Having that responsibility, that constant awareness in mind at all times was a huge drain. Not that things went awry all that often, we had built a pretty robust infrastructure. But things happen; I remember a day several years ago when our single sign-on provider had a two-week outage, starting on the first day of the Fall semester. Everyone was coming back to campus and no one could log into anything. We had to scramble to do damage control: communicate clearly what was going on and what we were doing about it, work out other ways for people to log into each platform, work with the vendor to figure out what was going on. And once things were working again, we worked to ensure that we had a more robust, belt-and-suspenders approach to logins for our most important platforms. Although beyond our control, we had to respond to the situation; everyone needed to access their email, documents, and work platforms. I don’t miss these kinds of situations.
I’ve been thinking about these things a lot since leaving and adjusting to my new consulting/freelance life as Two Bit Consulting. Giving up the old anchor has been both frightening and exhilarating.
When I lost my old anchors, I felt like I was afloat at sea with no way to guide myself or get back to shore. Before deciding to focus on my freelance practice, I wasn’t sure where I was going to land. I wanted to try to enjoy some time off, but the uncertainty didn’t allow for much time to relax. Putting myself out there as an independent consultant took a certain amount of confidence in the face of uncertainty; trust that things would work out. My fear isn’t specific; it’s more general. Most days, I’m working as hard as I ever did at my old job, but now I AM the institution. So far it’s gone well, but I wonder what’s next after my current projects end? And then after that? And after that. My fear is more about the constant hustle right now.
On the other hand, I have the opportunity now to figure out my new anchors and I’m trying to be more mindful as I choose them. My wife is my constant anchor, in the best sense of the word, keeping me centered, balanced, and supported when I need it. My dogs are also my good anchors; they ground me and make sure I take breaks from long working sessions. I’ve recently joined the Kansas City Freelance Exchange board as their Web Director, a meaningful position in which I can share my talents and expertise to benefit the organization and other freelancers. I now have the ability to choose the clients with whom I want to work; although I can’t afford to be too picky since I’m just getting started. I need all the work I can get right now.
The new anchors allow me to be more flexible: I can work from anywhere, though I love my home office, I can run to the grocery store at 9:00 in the morning on a Monday to avoid the weekend crowds, I can take a random Tuesday off to go to the zoo, I can have a three-hour lunch with a friend that I haven’t seen in a while.
Letting go of the anchors that were weighing me down and trusting that the new ones will hold is both frightening and exhilarating.
Happy 50th Birthday Apple
Apple was founded 50 years ago today which has me thinking about my relationship with technology and specifically Apple. My first personal computer was a Macintosh IIfx with 80MB of storage. I remember wondering what I was going to do with ALL THAT SPACE! There’s no way I would ever use it all. I also remember surfing the Internet (via AOL, IRC, Usenet, etc.) with a book to read while things loaded. How far we have come! That IIfx sparked a curiosity and passion in me that I had only experienced a few times before. I had used a Mac Classic in high school and college and was fascinated by what they could do, what they meant for me and for society even then. I had also used old PCs before that, but the Mac was approachable and friendly; it was nowhere near as intimidating to use and explore. I have always loved to push the limits of what technology can do and explore every nook and cranny of each device and piece of software I encounter. Apple made it fun to create and connect with others; I met some pretty great people in IRC channels back in the day some of whom I’m still in touch with! Computers made it much easier to find your tribe, especially for the shy introvert that I was back then.
That’s part of the inspiration for the name of my website, Something Out of Nothing. I love the idea that you can sit down at a blank screen and just start creating, whether it’s a journal entry, a book, a website for your new business, a piece of music, or a whole album. Computers offer so much potential to impact humanity in so many positive ways and Apple capitalized on that in the best possible way. I still love to explore technology and its capabilities and I love to be able to share that experience with others in ways that they can understand. This is a huge part of why I do what I do; both the love of technological exploration and the pull to help others use it to improve their lives, workflows, creativity, and connections to the world. Apple’s introduction of the Macintosh and all the life changing, society changing products and services released since helped me to discover who I was: the explorer, the builder, the connector. Years later, I’m still all three. Happy birthday Apple and thank you for the inspiration.
Starting Something New: Two Bit Consulting
Today I launched a website. Wait, that sentence feels smaller than it should, let me try again.
A couple of months ago, after twenty years of working in technology at KCAI, most recently eight years as Director of Campus Technology, I found myself without a full-time job for the first time in a long time. While I’ve been helping folks with IT stuff outside of KCAI for many years, it hasn’t been an official business with its own identity. After taking a couple of weeks to come to terms with what happened, I decided I needed a project to sink my teeth into; that’s how Two Bit Consulting came to exist.
What nobody tells you about losing a job you loved is how much of yourself goes with it. Not just the work, but the identity. The morning routine. The sense of being needed, of having a place where your particular set of skills and experience actually matters. I didn’t realize how much of who I was had been wrapped up in what I did until it was gone. Getting that back, or building a new version of it, has been the real work of the last several weeks.
What I missed most was the actual work. Digging into a problem. Figuring out why something wasn’t working and making it right. Helping someone understand their technology instead of just fighting it. That feeling when a project comes together and the person on the other end of it is genuinely better off than they were before. I missed that more than I expected to.
Two Bit Consulting is, in part, my answer to that. It’s real work, IT support, fractional IT leadership, web design that Maura and I have been doing in pieces for years. Making it official felt like taking back some ownership over who I am and what I do, independent of whoever is signing my paycheck.
I want to be clear about what this is and isn’t. It’s not a pivot. I’m still actively looking for the right full-time opportunity in technology leadership. The job search is ongoing. Some days it’s harder than others. But having something concrete to build and point to has made the in-between feel less like waiting and more like working.
If you know of a technology leadership role that might be a good fit, I’m genuinely grateful for the introduction. And if you or someone you know needs their technology to actually work, or a website that looks like it was made on purpose, that’s what Two Bit is here for.
twobit-consulting.com - I had fun building it. Poke around, there are a few easter eggs to be found. One hint: Konami code.