by Kellyann Dinoff

Created on: June 16, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

My Accidental Business

It's been nearly years since I was downsized from a major technology company after the Internet bubble went pop.' But I haven't found myself wanting for work, a week after the layoff I found myself pregnant with my first child, and in the subsequent six years, gave birth to two beautiful children and, surprise, a thriving small business.

Now, I never PLANNED on being a business owner too much work, no security, I'm just not a risk taker and I certainly don't see myself as some high power executive. Of course, I never planned to be pregnant a week after losing my job in one of the toughest job economies of our time. So as my belly grew, and my job prospects dwindled, I decided after the baby. After I have the baby I'll find a job and get right back to my career.

Well the jobs didn't come so easily to a mother of a newborn who'd been out of work for over a year. But other opportunities did. It started with a friend launching a start-up company. For 9 months I worked to building the branding, the messaging, and the first several marketing programs and got the company off and running. It was great, I was hooked! I was back in the game!

I hadn't realized how much I missed doing what I loved until I had the opportunity to do it again, but now on my own terms. I set my own schedule. I decided what projects to take on. Great perks but still, this was only a short-term solution. I was convinced I wasn't cut out to be a business owner. I just wanted to do my work and not be bothered with the administrative hub-bub, of not knowing when the next project will come and with it, the next paycheck. So again, I was on the hunt. Working for someone else's company had to be more secure, right?

So I interviewed, and networked, and searched, and interviewed some more. But it seemed every opportunity' had its flaws. Too far away, too many hours, not enough pay and then I noticed I didn't get many of those position not because they didn't want me, it was because the job disappeared. Funding was pulled, divisions and whole companies went under. The economy was better, but many companies were still smarting from the hard lessons learned from the tech bubble burst, and many others were simply playing it safe, leveraging what they had in-house and counting every penny.

So I continued contracting and filled the time between interviews with more and more project opportunities. The friend with the new company. Our real estate agent who needed an extra hand. Even my own

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