You Are SOOOO Lucky to Work From Home....and Other Myths...

(note to plagiarism bots: this was originally on my blog, but updated for here - but this MY original post!!)

Reminiscing on 20 years of working from home...

I’ve been working at home now since 1996. I started working ‘remotely’ in about 1992, but by ’96, I was really done with the corporate world.

At the time I was living in the heart of Silicon Valley, literally minutes from eBay, PayPal, Google, and names that are long gone: Excite, AltaVista and Netscape.

Very few people were working remotely then, and it was something of a ‘stigma’ to have a home office as your ONLY office. After all - no one could possibly take you seriously if you actually answered your own phone, right? You would not believe the charades that we went through back then to keep up the appearances: executive suite services to answer our phones, and give us a ‘real’ mailing address, always visiting the client in their office - never ‘my’ office.

The internet was still in it’s infancy from a ‘small business’ standpoint, and while everyone was using email and surfing the web, the concept of actually running a successful web-based business from your spare bedroom was still rather unique.

Fast forward a couple of decades and my, my how things have changed! I moved from San Jose to Cincinnati (long story - another post!), and proudly call a log home on 5 acres both home and work. My commute is down the stairs to the coffeepot, and every morning I watch the sun rise over my pond.

Working from home is a ‘badge of honor’ today and I proudly share with clients the fact that I am watching a herd of deer parade by my back deck while we chat on Skype.

When a client moans about the morning commute in an early am call, I commiserate by sharing the fact that I tripped over one of the cats on the way to the coffeepot…ok, so maybe I am not so good at commiserating, LOL, but I DO remember the 2 hour commutes in the Bay Area traffic and totally appreciate where I am today.

Today being able to work from home is a sign of success, both monetarily and personally. It was a lifestyle choice I made a long time ago and I stayed the course, come hell or high water!

It has not been easy, by any means. There is no safety net - I am on my own here, folks, no sick leave, no paid vacations, no one else to handle the grunt work. But it’s ok. I can deal with that - it is my choice. And that is the key phrase right there: IT IS MY CHOICE!!

But it’s not one that friends, family and general acquaintances necessarily understand or embrace. In fact, some of the comments that I get are pretty funny…well, actually, they are also sometimes downright rude… but I choose to view them as humorous as that tends to drive the person making the snarky comments a little bat-shit ;-)

So…looking back over the last couple of decades, I thought it would be fun to share some of the most common comments I have heard over the years from acquaintances, friends and family…and sometimes…total strangers...

1) You are SO lucky to work from home!
Seriously?? Ain’t no luck involved, baby cakes. Luck had nothing to do with it - I set a goal, made a decision and worked my tail off to get here. And yes, you could probably do this, too, it just means taking a leap of faith in yourself, working night and day whenever needed, making all kinds of sacrifices, and most of all - DOING it!!

2) Wow - must be so neat to just do what you want all day!
What I WANT to do is lay on the beach and read steamy novels while sipping brightly colored drinks with umbrellas in them. What I DO is crawl out of bed at 6am to have calls with my clients on the other side of the world, so I can start working with my North American clients when they start their day - and I am in the Eastern Time Zone - which means I often get calls at 9pm my time….. because the sun has not yet set in California…..

3) I would be lonely - I need to have other people to talk to all all day. I would miss all my friends and the social activities at work!
Your boss must love you, you little social bunny, you! Yikes, seriously, someone is PAYING you for social activities at the office? Do you actually do some work occasionally, too, or is showing up enough for you? And yes, for those asking - this is almost verbatim from numerous people! Scary to think you might be paying them....

4) I would never be able to stay motivated and focused enough to work on my own…
WOW? I know we are all different but I have always found that keeping a roof over my head and food in the cats’ dishes was enough motivation for me. Well, that and an occasional pair of Manolos…
And last but not least - one of my all-time favorites:
5) Wow! Must totally rock to not have some jerk of a boss telling you what to do all of the time!
News Flash, grasshopper! I work for the bitchiest, toughest most demanding boss EVER - ME!! I expect the best from myself, and then push for 25% more. I am relentless. I never settle for yesterday’s best because I know that I can do better tomorrow.

The bottom line is that I love what I do.

I keep the hours that I want, and choose my clients and business opportunities, not the other way around. I live what I call a fully ‘integrated’ lifestyle, meaning that I don’t have clearly defined life versus work hours. Each melds seamlessly into the other.

Yes, I know that doesn't work for everyone. Some folks need to step away completely and know that the work day ends at 5pm, but I learned a long time ago that this simply works better for me.

I’ve closed 6 figure deals while floating in the pool, and lead international conference calls while in pajamas and bunny slippers (if video conferencing ever becomes widespread in my industry, I am retiring).

I am the only grandma that never misses a football game - al the while pecking away on my Skype or email. That 30 seconds spent answering the email is minimal compared to the 4 hours with the grandsons. When my father suffered a stroke, I flew from Ohio to Nevada every month for a week to visit, and still maintained my business. When Mom broke her ankle, I lived with her for 3 months until she was able to walk unaided again - and still kept the business and income alive.

Is it challenging? Yes, every day. Is it worth the effort? Yes, every day!

You can connect with Melody at Venture55.com, her new community for entrepreneurs, with a focus on the 55 and over crowd, looking to start a second career or plump up their retirement fund after years of seeing it decline. Melody is a lifelong entrepreneur, and works from her log home on 5 acres in Cincinnati. She shares the home and life with her hubby, and 3 rescue kitties. She's spent 20 years as an international payments consultant, and runs several online enterprises.