The Confrontations of Flying Solo
After two years being a solopreneur, I’ve gained a new understanding of how my past experiences and expertise have impacted my approach to business. I’m reframing my relationship to research and sales, and I’m giving credit where credit’s due to the bad tech economy. To delve deeper into these insights, read on.
For two decades, I’ve researched experiences, which means I uncover people’s needs, motivations, and pain points. If I’m fascinated by it, I research it. In my career this has encompassed political identity to last statements of death row inmates to dating app users to bicycle couriers. My brain does a happy dance when I can approach a problem in a structured way and share the process and its challenges with others. I love research.
An integral part of my childhood was sales. I was raised in an evangelical community where we were encouraged (obliged, even) to convert non-Christians. When I met someone new, say at a sports camp or a community event, I always felt anxious, wondering when and how I would bring up their lack of faith. At the age of 18, I changed my major from business to psychology because I realized I couldn’t spend the rest of my life selling stuff to people. I loath sales.
Particularly in the past two years, I’ve had to come to terms with these entangled parts of my identity.
