My Terms: The Possibility in Piecing it Together
Four Years in Business
Hiya dear newsletter subscribers,
Well, today marked four years I have officially been in business. On 2/22/2022 I got my DBA (“doing business as”) in Ithaca, NY and accepted two gigs that gave me the confidence to ~say yes~ to embarking on a more cohesive journey in what I tenderly call, piecing it together.
In many ways I feel like I have always been in business with myself. I’m especially delighted by taking round-about paths, making it up as I go, in achieving different goals (e.g. self-designing my undergrad major, previously finding exchange-based ways of feeding or housing myself). It only makes sense that I would find possibility in piecing it together through my career too.
But what “being in business” has offered is a landing place for me to explore my offerings to the world. My eyes tend to squint when I hear the word “career” or “career trajectory”, and I much more resonate with gig-workers, multi-hyphenates, and freelancers. But what being in B U S I N E S S has offered, is a distinct way to be in question with, and discern from, how my offers to the world are worthwhile of some sort of exchange.
The possibility I feel in piecing gigs together under the guise of a business means that I get to have some clarity and cohesion about how I work, what I am willing to exchange for, and to take my time seriously.
What once felt like cobbling things together, now feels more like an opportunity to play with exchange in this capitalist age we find ourselves in. And what I aim for in the next four years, my next term, is to recommit to an even deeper cohesion and clarity of what these offers are.
Piecing it together over the past four years has also meant working with 32 distinct individuals or projects under the umbrella of “Take Care Take Action”, or, “creative operations support”.
I’ve also come to realize that I hope to have many distinct businesses and offerings that may or may not fall neatly into Take Care Take Action, and hence why these updates are coming from me as Liliana, the person behind it all. It feels right for right now.
I actually believe in each of my clients, the aims of the projects I work on, and what we’re collectively creating. I am so committed to supporting all we can offer to one another. This makes showing up to the work easy, and truthfully makes stepping away hard.
What I hope to recommit to in my next four years in business is more space-holding and facilitation for us to all find our right places and spaces for connection and cohesion.
Thank you for coming along this journey with me, especially if you’ve been subscribed since my first Tiny Letter emails, the multiple instagram handle name changes, play with website templates, language and offerings.
Thank you to each of my current and previous clients/collaborators. I feel so FREAKING grateful to actually enjoy what I do on a day-to-day basis.
Cheers to the possibility in piecing it together!