{"id":183,"date":"2008-10-15T14:28:23","date_gmt":"2008-10-15T18:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joyfullyjobless.com\/blog\/?p=183"},"modified":"2020-10-28T19:27:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T23:27:58","slug":"so-what-do-you-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joyfullyjobless.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/so-what-do-you-do\/","title":{"rendered":"So What Do You Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s fundraising week at Nevada Public Radio and since I’m an enthusiastic supporter, listener and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me<\/a><\/em> fan, I received a call asking for additional support. The charming volunteer explained all the additional treats I’d receive and I found myself happily giving her my credit card information.<\/p>\n

When that was concluded, she said, “We have a matching employer grant. So who’s your employer?”<\/p>\n

That’s not a question I get asked very often so I hesitated for a moment before saying, “Barbara J Winter!” I said it with such gusto that it startled her (and me). She laughed, then apologized for doing so, then recovered and said, “Would she like to make a matching donation?” Then it was my turn to laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That brief encounter also was a reminder that we who are blazing new trails through self-employment must not be intimidated by our minority status.<\/p>\n

People who are newly self-employed often find it uncomfortable to be asked, “So what do you do?” A man I knew in Santa Barbara confessed that he’d been self-employed for more than a year before he realized that he was answering that question by sheepishly mumbling, “I own my own business.” Then he’d add, “But I USED to be the director of the YMCA.”<\/p>\n

Anyone who has taken the step out of mainstream employment to create\u00a0something wonderful on their own should be eager to share that. Alice Barry<\/a><\/span> goes a step farther. She told me that if she\u2019s setting up an appointment or meeting she always adds, \u201cI\u2019m self-employed so I\u2019m flexible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here in Joyfully Jobless Land, we’re not much for titles, but we do love stories. Even an ordinary question like, “What do you do?” can be an invitation to tell a short story. Once you know how to do that, you’ll find yourself welcoming such questions–no matter who is asking.<\/p>\n

If you’d like to master telling your story, I know exactly the place you can do just that: Compelling Storytelling<\/a>, December 2-4, Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Your job is to make your audience care about your obsessions. ~ Bruce Springsteen<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s fundraising week at Nevada Public Radio and since I’m an enthusiastic supporter, listener and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me fan, I received a call asking for additional support. The charming volunteer explained all the additional treats I’d receive and I found myself happily giving her my credit card information. When that was concluded, she…<\/p>\n

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