jenniferblaufrau.com

I think all my wishes are going to come true. :)

Since lately I have been working almost all the time I’m awake, I was determined to get back to a better work-life balance this week, by spending more time exercising, eating well, and making music. I haven’t done as much of any as I would like, but I have done some of each, which is a good start.

Though my schedule is full and deadlines are looming, I decided to take myself to the gym today, for a swim and some strength training. I knew the building magazine was going to be sending me final proofs for editing soon and would need to coordinate delivery and scheduling with me, so I checked my messages between the two parts of the workout and found a message from the publisher. When I called him back, he told me that the magazine (which is less than a year old) had really taken off (I could already see this, as the quantity of articles to edit has doubled, they assigned me many stories to write for this issue, and they have so much material they’re splitting it into two editions), and they’re starting two new publications in the fall. He said he wants to hire me as full-time Managing Editor for all three magazines.

As Managing Editor, I will write as many of the articles as I want and assign the rest to freelancers, as well as copyedit them. Basically, I’ll be in charge of all the content. He said I am welcome to work in their office, but if I prefer to work in my own office/home, that’s fine, too. He also said they will provide me with health benefits and a retirement plan, and he asked me to name my salary. Now, while I can’t just throw out any figure I want and I have to consider their budget, what an offer!!

I have been doing very well with my business, getting more work and earning way more than I ever thought I would. The price for that, though, is that I’m working constantly and I am getting to the point where I can barely keep up with the work. I am considering hiring some help, but I have had bad results with that in the past. I find that it’s hard to find people who are accountable and who take commitments and deadlines seriously. When I commit to something, it happens. If that means I have to stay up all night or work like a demon, so be it. My word is gold. I admit that I am a meticulous control freak in my work and I can’t abide laziness or sloppiness. My standards are very high, especially when it comes to my business that has my name on it. But I’m sure that’s a large part of the reason I’ve gotten this far.

So, I am going to have to make a choice. I am certainly leaning toward going for it. I mean, it’s pretty much a dream job:

• practical and creative
• ability to work from pretty much anywhere, anytime
• tremendous flexibility
• lots of variety in scope of work
• good to great salary, with traditional benefits and stability
• reasonable workload

It’s the best of freelancing and the best of the corporate world rolled into one package. I feel so blessed, and very flattered to have been asked based on the merits of my work and work ethic. You know how I found this job in the first place? I responded to a pretty nondescript ad on Craigslist for a freelance copyeditor position. I leveraged that into style guide development and writing for them. And now here I am, less than six months later. It’s kind of unbelievable.

After I left the gym, I stopped into the grocery store. My happiness must have been showing because people were coming at me left and right asking if I needed any help, going way beyond the call of duty to be nice, flashing me huge grins, wishing me a great day. A man who was helping me with something said somewhat suggestively, “Miss, I can give you anything you need.” Haha! I felt as if I was walking around in a glowing halo. In the street, I smiled at everyone I passed, and they smiled back.

I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, all of my life, but this is my life. I’m here. I’m right where I want to be.