The List of Questions: What Does Marcella Do?
BlogDuring a recent work trip to meet a client, I had the chance to spend time with a great family friend I’ve known since we were literally in diapers.
Her mom is my godmother, who literally had to leave my baptism to go give birth to my friend. We’re that cool.
My friend knows me backward and forward, but she still wasn’t sure about some things in my life lately. When she picked me up from the Miami airport, she said:
“I know you are here for work, but what exactly do you do?! My friends gave me a list of questions to ask you. We want to know.”
A list questions? Seriously?
What boggles my mind about this type of comment is that I wasn’t aware that what I do is so different from what everyone else does for a living.
I’ve written about this before, but I don’t think I was specific enough.
After thinking about it long and hard, I came up with a few reasons why what I do for a living is difficult for people to understand:
1. It’s new. Designing mobile apps and selling books on Amazon’s Kindle isn’t exactly old school. My readers know what’s up (you rock!), but a lot of friends and family don’t really get it. Luckily, they nod along and support me no questions asked.
2. It changes. What I focus on shifts with my interests and what comes up each month. I might spend four weeks writing a book, and then take a business trip to work on a mobile app for a client. I’m still figuring out what I enjoy doing most, so keeping up can be tough. I get it.
3. It’s fun. Most people think working is supposed to, well, feel like work. I’ve crafted a life around changing that up — I want work to feel like fun. That means that when I’m “working”, people don’t really understand that I am. In my view, working doesn’t necessarily equate an office, staff, and overhead expenses.
It’s definitely not your regular 9-to-5 desk job. It’s a lot more fun, and it’s also a lot more risky.
Ready for TMI? A complete breakdown of my job.
When I pick apart how I spend my time and how I make money, I come up with a list of activities that together make up my “job / career / business” — whatever you want to call it.
Below, you’ll find a list of what I do and how much time I spend my time on each.
(A estimated % is the best I can do. I’m terrible at tracking my income and expenses, but I just hired someone to help me get that in order — yay!)
1. Clients for creating websites & mobile apps. This involves a lot of design, technology know-how, and project management. 40% of my time / 75% of my income
2. Writing books & my blog. Whether it’s writing for free or for money, putting words together is my favorite activity. Most of my content is free (on this blog or other blogs), but I hope to write more books in the future. 40% of my time / 10% of my income
3. Mentoring & workshops. Getting people together to give each other advice and hand up through tough problems involves little time for great reward. 20% of my time / 15% of my income
I hope this helps clear the air on what exactly I do for a living.
Coming up fast: My next project
I’m hoping to launch The Perpetual Vacation website before December. It’s going to be a website dedicated to helping you live a life that feels awesome every single day.
It’s a lot of work, but it’s going to be amazing. I hope it helps all of you reach your awesome goals.
If you want me to let you know when it’s ready, sign up below:
