For many years Amy Smith juggled two drastically different jobs: her ‘real’ job as a nurse and a side gig designing websites. For ten years she was caught between both, and while she liked her nursing job, she was passionate about design. At the beginning of the year, she decided it was finally time to take her design job fulltime, and she hasn’t looked back since.
The Struggle is Real
Amy enjoyed photography, but her mother insisted she take the more traditional path of going to school and earning a degree, so she did. Amy earned a degree and worked as a nurse. All along, on the side, she continued to work on photography and got into design. For many years, Amy struggled with the decision to leave her job and focus exclusively on her side gig, partly due to guilt that she was going against her mother’s wishes. Amy also worried about the prudence of basically throwing away her nursing training and certification in order to pursue a field in which she had no formal education. Amy has not regretted the decision to take her design business fulltime. She has been able to grow and expand her business, Skill Space, and has learned a lot along the way.
Getting What You Pay For
These days, Amy is embracing the entrepreneurial dream and building relationships with her clients. Amy discusses the pitfalls of work-for-hire sites, the basics of design, the importance of transferring ownership of her work to her clients, and what she considers to be absolutely the worst-designed websites. Amy delves deeper into how to determine what to charge clients and more actionable advice she has learned while on her journey.
Build Your Biz
Visit the Skill Space site, contact Amy through email, Twitter, Facebook, or check out the Build Your Online Biz Facebook group. Find out more about Gabe’s business and the solutions available and pick up more actionable advice by listening to the full catalog of Today’s Business Leaders.
