How To Quit Your Day Job
Photographer & artist Mark Clennon on how
to leave your 9-5 in pursuit of your 5-9
Written by: Mark Clennon
My 2017 “New Year's Resolution” was to quit my job in digital advertising and pursue the art of photography as a full-time freelancer. I decided that I’d take the leap at the end of Q1, but as March rolled around, I came to the realization that I wasn't even remotely ready to leave my full-time job. I was missing a clear plan and the momentum I needed to take the leap into freelance life.
I didn't end up leaving until October; by the following July, I netted my first 5-figure month. Here’s what I’ve learned.
Quitting my job meant that my days of regular paychecks were over and I had to have a real conversation with myself about money. I started tracking my expenses meticulously to get a clear view of where my money was going. From there, I was able to eliminate dining out, drinking and Ubers, so any additional money I earned would go toward saving for my transition.
I usually took ten percent of each paycheck and set it aside automatically into another account. I upped it to fifteen percent to accelerate savings. I also used Digit, an automated service that allows me to passively save money.
Through a combination of automated saving and smart stock investments, I had $25,000 ready at the launch of my business.
I was prepared to take a loss, and right out of the gate, I was hemorrhaging money to maintain my lifestyle while working to build new connections and clients. That meant reaching out to every podcast I could find for an appearance, attending every panel and conference I could afford and having dozens of coffee dates throughout the week. I boosted my ability to network by offering my photography services to stylists, makeup artists and models at my level to build my portfolio alongside them. Within a few months, I had a network of creatives that worked with me directly that could vouch for my work.
Generating Momentum
If you're working on an individual product or service, it’s important to build out a client base. In order to do this organically, documenting your entrepreneurial journey is critical. Show your circle the hard work you’re putting in by creating videos or blogs. Once it clicks for the people around you, the recommendations and support start flowing in. Nearly all of my business comes from personal recommendations and people supporting me because they feel like they’ve been a part of my entrepreneurial journey.
Once you’re well documented and ready to take the leap, take a few weeks to build a campaign for yourself and make sure that everyone familiar with you is aware of your career change. I created a launch video that I promoted across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter that generated dozens of leads for photography projects.
This article is from the Money & Power Issue of our Journal
Money, power, respect and the most beautiful and honest representation of Black women in the history of print.
Be Proactive About Your Mental Health
As soon as you announce that you’re quitting your job, you’ll be showered with dozens of “congratulations” messages. It’ll be nice at first, but you will find that it creates an intense amount of pressure because you’re receiving congratulations before you’ve achieved any real success in your new venture.
You’ll begin to feel the weight of the positive messages because you realize now that if you quit, it’ll feel like you’re letting hundreds of people down.
After a few weeks, it’ll die down and the loneliness will take hold. It is at this point where true growth and self-reflection occur. At the two-month mark, it’s critical to be intentional about your mental health. The doubts will start to creep in and the goals you set for yourself may seem like they are getting much more difficult than you anticipated, but you have to have a process in place to maintain your sanity.
Think of your business goals as if you’re a lumberjack cutting down a tree. One million little chops and eventually the whole thing falls in an instant. You’re not really focusing on the tree coming down; you’re focusing on the swing of the axe. Focus on making each part of your day perfect and you’ll realize after a few months of discipline, a watershed moment will occur.
Focus on your daily process. Focus on your swing. Make it effective.
Understand that in your journey there will be times when you feel like you’re going to make it, and there will be other times when you take Ls and feel like a fraud. It’s important to realize that the ups and downs are temporary feelings that shouldn’t impact your process. Just keep swinging.
