I’m an employee and I’m loving it!

The grass can often look greener when you work from home for yourself and you’re having a hard day.

But would you ever consider becoming someone’s employee?

Sarah Cruickshank describes how her life moved on and why she went back into employment:

Back in 2013 I wrote on this very blog about why going back to employment wasn’t the answer.

Now, in 2015 you’ll find me leaving the house every morning during term-time with my lunch bag and walking to a very lovely nursery where I work and play with a wonderful bunch of two and three-year-olds as a Nursery Practitioner.

I’m still self-employed as a writer and blogger, but I no longer work as a Virtual Assistant, and I don’t regret any of it. But why did I do it?

I’d known for ages that much as I loved working as a Virtual Assistant I was reliant on other businesses needing support and that that was always going to be on an ad hoc basis rather than long-term ongoing projects.

I worked hard at building my business, but it had stalled and nothing I did would make it move any further, it really just reached the end of its natural life. And then my marriage broke down and I knew I had to take a different path if I wanted to ensure a positive future for my son and I. Then serendipity kicked in.

I saw an advert for what could have been the perfect job the evening before the closing date and I quickly put together an application. When I went for interview and saw the setting I immediately knew that I wanted to work with those children and that team and I was thrilled when I was offered the post.

Because I write about early years education and play working in a nursery is great because it fires my imagination every day about themes I can write about and because I’m working school hours and get school holidays off I can continue to write and spend time with my son as well as being an employee.

I was upfront with my new employers that I intended to continue writing while working for them and they have been totally supportive of that which is great, because I would never do both if there was any kind of conflict.

I still keep in contact with lots of my clients from my time as a V.A. but I really don’t miss it at all. I could never not be a writer and because it’s the kind of job that requires me to submit articles on time but isn’t tied to particular hours I can work evenings, weekends and holidays without it affecting the rest of my life.

I’m incredibly proud of the work I did as a Virtual Assistant and I wouldn’t have not done it for the world, but I’m also proud of the fact that I was able to recognise that the business had run its course and that I needed to have the confidence to let it go and find the next road to travel.

I don’t consider the business failed, it just succeeded as much as it could and it gave me the opportunity to work on lots of interesting projects and learn skills I wouldn’t have otherwise. But now I’m happy being an employee and doing my self-employed work to fit around my other commitments.

Sarah Cruickshank is a Nursery Practitioner, freelance writer and blogger from Lancashire. Her blog is called A Life More Lived.

She has also written for us about juggling work and family, and how to cope with illness when you’re self-employed, in which she shares how she coped with treatment for cancer while keeping her business going.