Does this sound familiar?
"Press 1 to speak to someone in sales. Press 2 to speak to someone in marketing. For technical support, press 3. Press 4 for accounts payable. To speak with someone in the accounts recievable department, press 5."
I recall this cheesy trick used by independents in the 90's to mask their independence. Of course, no matter what number you pressed, you always got the same person. Though I never stooped quite this low, I did worry enough to use the word "we" all over my marketing materials and website, when the reality was that "we" was really just "me" (or "I" as the grammatical case may be).
Things have changed quite a bit and most consultants I know now wear their indie badge proudly. Additionally, I have gotten away from doing any type of business that people would expect a real staff. I no longer have to watch faces squrim as they try to hide the doom and gloom thought of "what if she gets run over by a truck?" Luckily companies like Iron Mountain have methods of escrowing your intellectual property, so getting run over by a truck is just not a business problem any more.
Technology has helped this a lot of course. We have the web, i.m., cell phones and other means of being always connected and always available. These days, if I wanted to bring my laptop with me to Mad River Glen, they have wi-fi now so I can answer emails or whatever I might need to do. This won't happen of course, because some things are just sacred.
A few years ago I attended a conference call for DevDays speaker preparation from the famous single chair at Mad River - one of the few places that you can get decent reception when you are there. When I neared the top of the lift, I just quietly dismissed myself from the phone call.
But I have evolved even more since then. Today, I had a business meeting between a few quick ski runs this morning (sadly the skiing is a rare event these days, so I have to take what I can get!). It was not by chance, but scheduled. So this client knows that there are powder days that I just cannot pass up. And he's cool with that. There used to be a time that I worried quite a lot about clients assuming I was out skiing (or cycling or hiking or maybe just still in bed) when I so much as walked away from the phone for a few minutes to go to the loo.
Work life has changed this much. Expectations have changed. Clients are much more comfortable with working with individual consultants. We no longer have to pretend that we are something we're not.
Press any key to talk to Julie.