One Amazing Advantage of Being Your Own Boss..

Here I am, sitting in my Mum’s living room, tense with nervousness and excitement about the impending arrival of my baby sister’s first bub, which I’m sure by now you’ve all heard me gushing about at least once (or 37 times) over the last month.

I’ve checked my phone every other minute of the entire day (and last several days) to see if I have somehow missed the call to head in to the hospital (even though my phone is most definitely not on silent). I’ve checked and rechecked that my camera bag has everything in it - the batteries are charged, the right lens is attached, and the spares are all still in there.

To distract myself, I’ve settled on to the lounge with my laptop and I’m trying to focus on designing new order postcards, and I can’t help but think to myself - what a freaking amazing thing it is to just be able to be here right now.

To have the capacity to flex and fit into this beautiful time in my sister and brother-in-law’s life...

What an incredible privilege.

Being your own boss and keeping all the parts of a one-woman business spinning is an epic shit-tonne of work. There’s a saying along the lines of “being your own boss means you get to work whichever 12 hours of the day you want” - and it is honestly so accurate for where my business is at, and my experience of coming from a family of small business owners.

Some days it is completely overwhelming to see the to-do list never really clear. It seems that the more headway you make, the more that is added to the list. I really want to make space for this blog, to get super honest and transparent about what life is really like as a fulltime artist and creative business owner - because it is absolutely a lifestyle full of hard work, wins, fails and everything in between. In this moment though, I just want to acknowledge and appreciate this one particular amazing pro- of being your own boss.

When life calls, I can absolutely flex to answer it in a way that was never possible as an employee.

When my sister and brother-in-law called me up a couple of months ago and asked if I would be their one extra person allowed at the hospital, to be their family support and take photos of this most precious time in their lives - I was able to say yes without hesitation.

No boss to ask permission, no worry about booking leave, no conundrum of getting the timing right. I was able to just say yes.

Sure, I have had to work long hours in the lead up, and juggle the timing of some essential commitments to make it all work.. but how brilliant that doing this is even an option.

So. That’s one big, marvelous advantage to being your own boss!

Rhiannon is an Australian ceramic artist based on the Mid North Coast of NSW. She makes small batch decorative and functional pottery art in her garden studio, drawing inspiration from the beauty of the landscape around her.