The Real Story of My First Year: Chaos, Clarity & Everything in Between

I spent 12 months treating my business like a temporary stop-gap. Here is what changed when I finally made it official.

We often talk about business launches like they are rocket launches: a countdown, a blastoff, and a clear trajectory.

My start looked nothing like that.

I didn’t start freelancing because I had a grand vision of entrepreneurship. I started because I lost my job somewhat unexpectedly and my life was in a holding pattern. My partner at the time was finishing a PhD program, and everything about our future—where we would live, what our lives would look like—was a giant question mark.

I didn’t know where we were moving. I didn’t know what was next. I just knew I needed to work, and I couldn’t commit to a traditional 9-to-5 while the ground was shifting under my feet.

So, I started consulting. Not as a “Business Owner,” but just as a person trying to bridge the gap.

The First Leap: Actually Telling People

For the first few weeks, I quietly panicked. I researched. I overthought. I waited for permission.

Then, I finally bit the bullet. I stopped strategizing and started emailing. I reached out to my network—former colleagues, peers, people I admired—and just said the words: “I’m available.”

It was terrifying. It was also the single best thing I did.

It turns out, the work was there. People didn’t need a fancy website or a perfect brand; they needed the skills I already had. I landed clients. I started doing the work.

But while the work was happening, the business was a mess.

The Year of the SSN

For a full year, I operated in a gray area. I was earning money, but I felt like an amateur.

Every time a new client needed to set me up in their payment system, I had to email them a W9 with my personal Social Security Number on it. I winced every time I hit send. It felt unsafe, unprofessional, and temporary.

Looking back, I realize I wasn’t just avoiding paperwork. I was avoiding commitment.

Registering the business felt like planting roots in a season where I was supposed to be mobile. It felt like saying, “This is who I am now,” when I was still waiting for someone else’s timeline to tell me who I was going to be.

It took me 12 months to realize that I didn’t have to wait for the “PhD chaos” to end to take ownership of my career. I realized I could build a container for my work that traveled with me, no matter where we moved or what happened next.

The Shift

When I finally filed the paperwork, got my EIN, and opened a business bank account, the shift wasn’t just administrative. It was psychological.

I stopped being a person who was “freelancing in the meantime” and started being a Consultant. I stopped asking for permission and started managing myself. I realized that legitimacy wasn’t something a client gave me; it was something I built for myself .

You Don’t Have to Wait a Year

I learned the hard way that you can be excellent at the work and still feel chaotic in the business.

If you are currently sending your SSN to strangers or waiting for life to “settle down” before you take yourself seriously, I want to save you some time.

You don’t have to spend a year in the gray area. You can build the container now.

I put everything I learned during that chaotic year into the Consulting Business Registration Guide. It walks you through exactly how to get your EIN, register your name, and set up your banking—without the confusion and without the wait.

You can learn from my mistakes. Or you can start legally, professionally, and confidently from day one.