The future of work is radically and rapidly changing. There will soon be more independent contractors and freelancers than employees in the workforce. Are you ready for the new normal? Are you aware of how to access the tools and resources that will set you up for success?
Recently, THE JILLS OF ALL TRADES™ Cofounders, Megan A.C. Boswell and Corinne Neil, caught up with the folks at BUNKER to chat about insurance, the modern independent contractor, and changing workforce trends.
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"We're so lucky to be part of such a wonderful and welcoming community of entrepreneurs in Madison", explains Boswell who promoted the importance and the power of women entrepreneurs helping women entrepreneurs as the basis for THE JILLS OF ALL TRADES™. "If you remember nothing else about us, remember this, we're women entrepreneurs helping women entrepreneurs", she said.
I Million Cups is a weekly coffee meet-up at 9:00 am across the nation sponsored by the Kaufman Foundation as a way to to educate, engage, and connect entrepreneurs locally and nationally. I Million Cups Madison organizers, Rachel Neill and Drew Coursin invited THE JILLS OF ALL TRADES™ to present on Wednesday May 10th to a busy entrepreneurial crowd at the Madison Public Library, including The Capital Times reporter, Erik Lorenzsonn, who put THE JILLS face forward in his article, Startup looks to put women 'solo-preneurs' in spotlight.
CAPTIMES ARTICLE BY ERIK LORENZSONN.
"We were thrilled to have the opportunity to share our story," says Neil, "and to be able to reach out to the entrepreneurial community to help fuel our momentum and support our JILLS MEMBERS."
So here's the thing. Sometimes you just have to put yourself out there.
Even when you're not totally ready. Even when you don't have everything figured out. Even when you don't have a business name, or your perfectly branded logo, or the right software package, or any money.
Yep, it's true and it can feel like you're about to drink a cold cup of sick. Your hands might get sweaty, your tummy is probably churning, you're likely riddled with fear and anxiety. But you need to do it. You really do. Because even if you stumble all over your words, and your audience looks confused, or even worse patronizing, you did something really, really important.
You took the risk to fail. To mess up. To get it all wrong.
You, despite all the potential for complete disaster, did it anyway. And that is the first, critical step. In fact, it might be the only step, and it's one that you have to keep doing over and over again.
So go ahead and put yourself out there. You'll never get your business name right or your logo perfected or know what software you really need or get any money if you don't take that deep breath and put yourself out there. You're going to need to talk to your customers and tell them what you're doing. You’re going to need to talk to your customers to understand what they need. You're going to need to try out language on real people before you can really figure out what works and what doesn't. You're going to need to get feedback, and lots of of it, if you're going to carve your own niche. And you can't do any of that in isolation.
Working independently shouldn’t mean working alone.
Find your people. Know your tribe. Build your community. Collaborate. Connect.
Work solo, not siloed.
When you're starting a new venture, or a new adventure, finding a community of support is critical. Because when you're stepping out in a new territory, you're going to need to find experts, and mentors, and people who have walked a similar road before. You'll need advocates and evangelists, accountability partners and coaches. You'll need to nudge your way to the center of a web of networks. you'll need a group of peers to share the highs, the lows, the missteps, and the wins. You'll need to create structures for collaboration.
You'll need to make sure you don't take all of this on alone.
Madworks program director, Louis Condon with JILLS cofounders, Megan & Corinne
We are forever thankful that we found a great community of support as we began to move THE JILLS OF ALL TRADES™ from an idea brewing in our minds as we collaborated in our basements, to an organized, thoughtful venture. The Madworks Seed Accelerator provided us 10 focused weeks to get our legal ducks in a row, secure some funding, set goals, get feedback, access new networks, and connect with a cohort of peers who made us laugh, extended us needed criticism, welcomed our ideas, championed us when we lost our footing, and made us feel like we were not alone on this crazy ride.
It really is a mad, mad world out there, folks. Find your people. Know your tribe. Build your community.
