Under pressure

The new year started with quite a lot of excitement. I started to work in my own agency together with Harry and Lars and basically quit all freelance work or moved it over to our new venture. In the last few years when I worked at several agencies I always did freelance work at the same time. Not because I desperately needed the money or the agency work was not enough — I did it because I felt I needed to do something on my own to further develop my skills. It was also a great opportunity to prove to myself that I was capable to manage and execute a project on my own. Last but not least, the freelance gigs provided me with the freedom to decide how I want to work and with whom I want to work.

Apart from all the benefits that I saw in doing freelance work while working full-time at an agency, I noticed — especially during the last year — that it was very stressful. It basically started to absorb all creative energy and I started to always question my work as well as my decisions. Also I noticed that I started to become impatient with people. Progress was what I wanted to see and get. It was definitely not what you would consider a healthy work-life balance.

Now after a stressful year and two weeks of working at my own agency, together with colleagues that I both respect and value, the stress is gone completely. It’s not that we just started to do our most amazing work ever or that we don’t have to worry about the next months… But to know, that everything we do now is just for ourselves and not for somebody else is such a relief. I look forward to Mondays now. Even paperwork is fun. I basically spent the weekend organizing stuff on my desk and putting papers in their respective folders. It just feels different now. I am energized.

Of course, founding your own company is hard and you are about to take a certain risk. But, when you start to feel that all agency work seems to be repetitive and boring, you certainly know that something is not as it’s supposed to be. And sometimes life will just surprise you with opportunities that you didn’t know were there before.