independent contractor

Let’s be clear, TikTok inspired me to jump off the occupational cliff. Going from a salaried position to an LLC position. It all started when TikTok became the dominant social media entertainment source during the 2020 pandemic.

I started to take entrepreneurial ventures more seriously. Suddenly I was stuck in the entrepreneurial algorithm and hooked on the advice and tips. I started liking content as fast as possible for ‘come back to it’ research. In the 2020 pandemic and national shutdown, as a clinical social worker in the mental health field, I was considered essential and never missed a day of work unless I was home for a quarantine scare from other coworkers or clients.

I made a big decision about turning my personal brand website that had led to my clinical position into an LLC. With the creation of Relentless Advance as an LLC and the addition of gaining a bit of traction through Fiverr freelance writing, I decided to use all my research and try career skydiving.

I jumped off the occupational cliff in April 2021 after five years in the same place. I had started in a made-up job title and became one of the directors. Before I gave my thirty-day notice, I thought I was irreplaceable. I left a big title behind as well as a consistent paycheck. I had been working fifty hours per week and I was paid for forty-hour salary. The job was basically 24/7 and it was my life for five stressful years but it was my normal.

In my job hunts, I found an agency that was offering independent contractor status, running a position through my LLC under independent contractor status. Of course, that meant paying for my own health insurance, getting my own liability insurance, saying goodbye to paid vacation hours, and only getting paid for the hours that I worked rather than a salary.

I ran into a few problems getting things going on the fly. I had to dip into my savings account to offset what I was not making in the beginning. The previous job had thankfully paid out my saved vacation days and that gave me a little bit of an emergency cushion.

I started my new position with a small number of hours per week that did not suddenly pick up. I liken the whole experience to retiring and then going back to work at a less stressful job. The problem was I was not pulling from social security or a pension, I was pulling from my savings account.

In the normal process of changing jobs, I reached out to the former agency’s retirement planner to figure out how to figure out how to handle the retirement account. I ended up having a few meetings with the retirement planner as I was beginning the whole business process. Those meetings were like therapy for me.

After each meeting, the retirement planner gave me new knowledge and insight into my situation. The told me that I should be looking for several income sources because I was no longer guaranteed a consistent paycheck. Boy, was he right! After about two months into jumping off the cliff, I was still pulling money from the savings account. And lets me real, I live a pretty boring life with zero extravagance. So, I have been pulling money for usual bills and mortgage.

Prior to quitting my clinical director job, I had intended to leave at a certain point after gaining enough traction with my freelance writing on Fiverr. However, I jumped at the tease of a potential income increase. I currently have thirteen, five-star reviews on Fiverr with at least three repeat customers. With niches in fitness, mental health, and gardening, I play to my strengths and interests. However, the gigs are not consistent, and it is nowhere near what I need to take it and run from any type of traditional clinical position.

Currently it has been three months since leaving my job. I am no longer reaching into my savings account, but I am also not replenishing it yet either. I have settled on this retirement feeling and will steadily increase my workload and work hours. I have other projects that I am working on as well for income.

Did you get addicted to TikTok in 2020? Have you fallen down the entrepreneurial algorithm? Did TikTok make you jump off a cliff like me? Let me know by commenting below. Thanks