The First Few Days…
Monday morning, 6:46 AM: my internal body-clock goes off and shouts “get up you idiot, you’re LATE”. About 20 disoriented seconds later, I realize….wait a minute….and promptly fell back to sleep until 8:30am. Feeling a little guilty for sleeping in later than I had intended, I dragged my butt out of bed and began my first official day of self-employment.
First task: Buy a new computer. I’ve been a PC user until this point, but I caved in this week and bought a Macbook. I can hear my Dad’s voice in my head… “Do you really need a new computer?” (Yes, Dad). “Then at least buy one refurbished and save a few bucks.” (Okay, Dad). The Apple store has a great refurbished section on their website, average 15%-20% savings on each item. Love it!
After the computer was ordered, I did what any normal foodie would do…I proceeded to re-organize my entire stock of cookbooks. First shelf contains all the “go-to” cookbooks: Joy of Cooking (the copy my parents gave me as a high-school graduation gift), Martha Stewart’s Hors D’oeurves Handbook, and my countless America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks that I could literally read cover-to-cover. The next shelf contains all my “inspiration” cookbooks…the ones I flip through to come up with ideas, lots of colorful pictures, sure to get the creative juices flowing. And then finally the bottom shelf will hold all the “other” cookbooks that I’ve acquired but don’t use that much. I mean really, the Soprano’s Family Italian cookbook???
Hoping to knock out my business plan in the next 1-2 weeks. I researched close to 50 business plan-writing books last year and found one that I love: Business Plan in a Day. I’m struggling with it a little because I’m not focused on just one service. I’ll be doing: personal chef, catering, cooking classes, corporate team building, etc… and each area has a different target audience, marketing initiatives, and needs.
Next project will be to get a home office set up. Which means….pause….I actually have to clean off my desk. The word “desk” is a little misleading, since up until now, it’s really been more of a paper-and-junk-storage-thingy. Those who know me would agree, I’m slightly organizationally-challenged, especially when it comes to paperwork. Which could prove challenging with my new business, since I can’t afford (literally) to have anything fall through the cracks. That’s something I’m going to have to work on.
So, the first few days have been great and super-productive. It doesn’t feel like I’m working, but I doesn’t feel like I’m on vacation either… Hard to describe, but I love it so far!
Jill!!!
I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed reading this! You are so honest and real in your writing…just as you are in person. It is exciting to be a witness to your journey. I will be one of the folks someday saying, “yeah, I knew here when she was just starting this thing out…” as i’m walking through the ‘J. Epner’ section in Macy’s cookware.
Am so proud and excited for you! Keep up the blog so all of us ‘office bound’ folks can enjoy the ride too.
Jill, your enthusiasm comes through with every word of your blog and soon I’ll be drooling over your food descriptions too. Welcome to the world of Mac users. I expect it will be a great tool for your new business. Good luck with all you are doing and keep moving forward. You go girl!
This is fantastic, Jill. When you clean off your desk, you might as well organize your closet too. You’ll need room for all of your Bold Shoes, because you’ll be wearing them daily from here on out! So proud of you!
Jill… it is clear this is your calling! I love you!
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