Wednesday, December 11, 2013

J. H. Language Solutions: "Behind the Music"



Just like the professional musicians do at the end of a rock concert, I'd like to start this post off by thanking my fans, clients, and anyone out there who has taken the time to read through my blogs and services. I am proud to work with such a diverse clientele and workload on a regular basis. This allows me to grow and learn as business owner and entrepreneur in how better serve my clients...spoken from a true musician at heart.

Regardless of what role you play in my "audience", I want to share with you the true tale of J. H. Language Solutions and what sparked me to start my own business, the challenges I faced and currently face, and where I am now as well as my plans for the future. Here’s the story of J. H. Language Solutions.

The year 2010 was one pivotal year in my life. Even though I didn’t know it at the time, it meant “change” in every area. Prior to 2010, I moved from one dead-end job to the next, of no fault of my own, endured financial strain and stress as a result, and was just trying to find my corner of life where I was meant to be. I was on the journey in search of something that made me “me”, or “finding myself”, if you will…just like everyone.

After months and even years of stress, and a period of “bad luck”, I knew I needed to start doing something different. I knew I needed to make a change, but I wasn’t sure how. Like anyone would, I started with money. I needed to make extra money to pay down my debts and ensure a healthy financial future. By taking some advice from a former supervisor, I began looking for freelance work. I signed up with oDesk, a freelance website. I immediately began bidding for jobs, but nothing fell through. After almost three straight months of bidding, I landed my first “job” proofreading an eBook.

Then, also around the same time, I headed to Boston for a full time offer as an Associate Editor with Pearson. With over an hour’s ride by train each way every day, and my newly found freelance work, I knew I had my word cut out for me. But with a very promising and aspiring career in publishing, I knew Pearson was the place to go. I would just make it work. However, Pearson is not the easiest company to get into, but even there, the chips began falling into place. I got to meet and work with some of the most amazing people and my love and interest for publishing grew and developed into a love and appreciation for project management. In 2011, I was promoted to Associate Project Manager, and in 2013 I was promoted to Senior Project Manager and became an assistant manager, and another potential promotion on the horizon.

From 2010 on, I was able to take my full time experience, as well as the experience I gained from working with different clients on a freelance basis, and tie them both together. I began applying my skills and experience in both places, and was finally lucky enough to say that my hard work was starting to pay off. Then, since my freelance workload had dramatically increased over only a period of six months, I began to see a huge demand for what the services I was currently offering, which was only proofreading, copyediting, and English/Spanish translation at the time. By the end of January 2011, I registered my DBA, J. H. Language Solutions (which stands for “Julie Anne”, my first name, and “Helen”, the first name of my last surviving grandparent) with the state of Massachusetts.

It was official. I owned my own business. I felt on top of the world. One of my lifelong dreams finally came true. One of the first things I did was buy a laptop and opened a business checking account. I spent an hour each morning on the way in on the train and the hour home doing work, getting my name out there, trying to establish a good online and social media presence. Then as time went on, the two to three hours per day wasn’t enough. I began working at home in the morning, at night, and even at a local Starbucks in downtown Boston on my lunch breaks. I established a small business office in my home, which I learned comes along with some pretty nice tax benefits. All in all, it was hard work and I was SO tired every day…but I hit the pillow every night feeling accomplished.

Over the next two years, my business work load grew to an unimaginable amount. Each year I set my own “sales goals”, and exceeded them every time. Each year I also set “business goals”, and have begun meeting and exceeding those as well. One year I developed my blog and website, one year I bought all new technology to help me keep in contact with clients since I certainly spend a lot of time “on the go”. Another year I started attending seminars, networking events, and trying to meet other people in business and get my name out there.

In 2012, I went back to school for my Master’s in Project Management, which also comes with a PMP certification upon program completion. Presently I’m about halfway through the program, with an estimated completion date of spring 2015. Oh, and to date I have a 4.0.

This year, which was probably the biggest hurdle yet, I became insured. After nine long months, I am so incredibly proud to say that as of August 2013, J. H. Language Solutions is a fully insured entity. Next year will be another larger hurdle, and that is to project myself and my business intellectual property and establish legal contracts to work with all my clients.

So now here I am, at the close of 2013 pushing four full years “in business” (though it is officially three under my DBA), and I think about how much I have grown, both my business and as an entrepreneur. I have grown from small proofreading, translation, and copyediting jobs to copywriting, managing blogs and websites, managing content strategies and marketing plans, managing social media marketing and email marketing…and it all started with $5 to open a business checking account, a girl in her mid-20s, and a dream.

So how do I do it all? Whenever people ask me that, I grin and say, “I have excellent time management skills”. And I do. I have to. Some people ask me if and when will I quit Pearson and work as my business full time. And the truthful answer to that is I don’t know. While business is doing well, I have a long way to go before I can open a separate office space and live off what my business brings in after all expenses and taxes are paid. But would I love to? Hell yes. But that is still a long way off, and also a huge risk that I’m not quite ready to take.

But through it all, the ups and downs in business, the challenges and the successes, I can honestly say that through the years I have developed a deep and passionate love for my business. It’s a ton of work, and it’s hard work, but I love each and every second of it. Not because of my own personal and professional success and achievements, but because of the difference I truly believe I make each day in my clients’ projects and in their lives. I am truly thankful for each and every client I work with and have worked with through the years, and I just only hope and pray that it continues. I’d be nowhere today without them. So let the show continue, because I don't want the music to stop.



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