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Becoming a freelancer has helped Netsuite consultant Patrick Olson make more time for his blossoming family.
Becoming a freelancer and leaving your corporate job can be a harrowing decision to make for the majority of people out there. While a 9-5 offers a greater sense of stability when compared to freelancing, the primary drawback is the fact you often find yourself stuck in that schedule with little-to-no flexibility.
Additionally, corporate jobs will often have a set salary when it comes to pay, starting you at a specific rate with select opportunities for a raise. Your cash flow is thereby placed under the whims of a corporate giant, and you essentially become another zero in the system.
If achieving better work-life balance is something you find yourself constantly striving for, then freelancing is most definitely the way to go. Freelancing not only allows individuals to retake control of how much time they have and how they spend it, but also their very livelihood.
For OdeCloud community member and expert NetSuite consultant Patrick Olson, becoming a freelancer is all about making more time for his family. As his 4-year-old son continues to grow, Patrick simply wants to be there for all of it.
“That’s a big thing for me with this idea going into freelancing, that — not to make it about money, but hopefully my bill rate can be a little higher so I can work fewer hours and (not have to) to grind out and make as much money as possible. I want to be able to enjoy my life and be able to punch out in the middle of the day and be able to play with my kid if I want to — and not feel guilty about it,” Patrick said.
Patrick explains that by committing to a salary with a company, he felt that he was committing to a set number of hours and responsibilities — which he certainly was. By becoming a freelancer, he feels much more empowered to do what he actually wants to do now that he’s the one setting his own work hours and pay rate.
And while he mentioned a number of different hobbies he has and a couple passion projects he’s undertaken (aka “pandemic projects”) such as learning how to play guitar and grow mushrooms (the legal kind), his heart and soul truly is his family, and I honestly don’t think I’ve had a consultant give a reason to freelance that was more pure and heartwarming.
“I’m really into being a dad. We spend a lot of time together. I like hanging out with him and my wife,” Patrick said, smiling.
“As he’s gotten older now, we do a lot of hiking. He’s gotten to the point where he can go on a couple-mile hike with us and he just learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels so we’ve been biking around town. Just really have a lot of fun playing with him.”
Transcription
Patrick Olson (00:00): Yeah. And that’s that’s a big thing for me with this idea of going to freelancing that, um, not to make it about money, but hopefully my bill rate can be a little higher so I can work fewer hours and I, I’m not looking to grind out and, uh, make as much money as possible.
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Patrick Olson (00:17): I want, I, I wanna be able to enjoy my life and be able to punch out in the middle of the day and be able to go play with my kid if I want to, you know, and not feel guilty about it. Um, um, and I’ll get around to my, my hobbies here, but, uh, um, nobody ever really put this on me at previous employers, but when you’re making a salary, you know, you’re, you’re committing to these number of hours per day or a number of hours per week. And if I punch out to go hang out with my son, I, I, there’s always that little bit of like guilt, you know, like, uh, or I’ll have to pick it up later at night.
Patrick Olson (00:50): I’ll have to log in at night to, um, to do this. And I, and, uh, to meet my responsibilities. And as a freelancer, I feel more like I can take the time off that I want, or that I need, as long as I’m working enough to keep my family, um, afloat and moving forward and things like that. And being responsible and not just slacking off. I mean, I wouldn’t do that, but it’s, it’s nice to be able to take that time and not feel guilty about it. But so you had asked, I, I like to, I, I mentioned that I’m married and we have a four he’s four and half years old. And my son, Theodore, um, I’m really into being a dad. We, we spend a lot of time together. I like hanging out with him and my wife. And so we, we do a, um, as he’s gotten older, now we do a lot of hiking.
Patrick Olson (1:34): He’s gotten to the point where he can go on a couple mile hike with us. And, um, he just learned how to ride a bike he’s um, with no training wheels. So we’ve been biking around town and just really have a lot of fun playing with him. But I have a lot of, I, I have some, like what I would think of as passion projects too. And I, um, some pandemic projects I’ve gotten really into playing guitar. , um, I’m trying to learn how to grow mushrooms, um, like, um, um, the, the legal kind, you know, but, uh, um, uh, learning how to grow mushrooms and thinking about like, oh, maybe I could learn how to do this as like a side thing too, cuz I’m really, I’m really interested in it. And my wife and I have been talking about potentially purchasing some, a small amount of land outside of town to be able to start doing some more outdoorsy things in a regular, um, uh, um, in a regular fashion and teach our son about the earth and the land and things like that. So…
Angelo Mendoza (2:28): That’s so cool. Uh, I mean, uh, it sounds like you are a very committed, you know, husband, very committed father. Um, and I, I really appreciate that and I’m sure that your family really appreciates that. I mean, it’s my biggest hope that one day, you know, they’ll be able to, to see this video and see how much, uh, you know, you care about them and that everything that you do for them. So I really appreciate you saying that.
Patrick Olson, PMP, CSM
About
Experienced IT Professional and Project Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology, professional services and manufacturing industries. Skilled in ERP & CRM management, administration and development with NetSuite Certified Administrator credential. Strong program and project management professional with Project Management Professional, Certified Scrum Master and ITIL Foundation certifications.
