September 17, 2024

How I Took 3 Months of Maternity Leave as a Freelancer

September 17, 2024/ Emily Hessney Lynch

There’s no universal guide for self-employment, so it can be tricky to navigate personal, emotion-packed situations like taking bereavement time or maternity leave as a freelancer. When I found out I was pregnant last fall, I almost immediately started planning my maternity leave in my head. How would this work? How much time should I take? Would my clients be upset? Would they replace me while I was out? How much income would I lose?

There were a lot of concerns and logistics to work through, but I knew I needed to give myself time to recover from childbirth and acclimate to parenthood. I wanted to take at least eight weeks of leave. Today on the blog, I’m sharing how I planned for maternity leave, how my leave actually played out, and more. I hope it’s helpful for any self-employed, soon-to-be parents out there who are navigating this too!

May 06, 2024

Celebrating 5 Years of Serve Me the Sky Digital

May 06, 2024/ Emily Hessney Lynch

This month marks a huge milestone for Serve Me the Sky Digital: we’ve officially been in business for five whole years! According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years. I’m so grateful to be among the 50% that are still standing, especially after social and economic turmoil and personal life changes too.

In the past five years of growing my business, I’ve met some amazing people, taught engaging workshops, worked on massive global brands and tiny startups, and learned a lot about what it takes to run your own business. I’m thankful for all the opportunities that have come my way, often via my awesome network of supporters and wonderful clients.

Five years ago, it was hard to picture what the future of Serve Me the Sky Digital would look like. I only had a couple of clients, at rather low rates, and didn’t know what to expect. I took a bet on myself and made the leap. I’m so glad I did. I hope to have many more happy years of self-employment ahead, full of great projects with people and organizations I love working with!

Without further ado, let’s dive into some projects and opportunities I’ve enjoyed this year, lessons learned, and a look to the future.

May 03, 2023

Celebrating 4 Years of Serve Me the Sky Digital

May 03, 2023/ Emily Hessney Lynch

This May marks four years of running my own business full-time. A four year anniversary may not be a big deal to some, but it feels important to me. Four years of successfully running my business, even through an unprecedented global pandemic and economic turmoil? It is a big deal!

As I said in my newsletter this week, running Serve Me the Sky Digital is the most satisfied I’ve ever felt in my work life. I spent four years in higher education and earned a master’s degree in educational administration, then pivoted to nonprofits and worked in marketing at a startup incubator. I learned a lot at those jobs, but both were not a great fit for me.

Since diving into self-employment full-time, I’ve had opportunities I never would’ve guessed would come my way and have been happier all around. Glowing testimonials from clients I love working with make me proud of how far I’ve come and thankful to be where I am in my career right now.

Let’s get into some of my favorite projects, lessons I’ve learned, and a glimpse ahead!

February 22, 2022

How to Know When it's Time to Go

February 22, 2022/ Emily Hessney Lynch

Over the past year or so, I’ve had to make some difficult decisions regarding how I’m spending my time–whether it’s my client work or volunteering efforts. In 2021, I ended client relationships and moved on from leadership positions, and those decisions weren’t easy. Back in 2020, I ended my passion project, which was also a tough call. Sometimes it can be extremely challenging to figure out whether an endeavor is serving you anymore. Is it time to move on? Should you stay? There’s no rulebook and it’s different for everyone!

That’s why I thought it might be helpful to transform some of my own experiences and feelings into a handy quiz for others who are in the same boat. This isn’t a definitive guide, it’s simply meant as a jumping off point.

January 25, 2022

How ADHD Impacts Me as a Business Owner–For Better & For Worse

January 25, 2022/ Emily Hessney Lynch

In October, I got diagnosed with ADHD. Learning about my ADHD has helped me understand how I function as a human and as a business owner. This learning process all started thanks to TikTok. I saw a video about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, a condition commonly comorbid with ADHD. "I don't have ADHD, but I definitely have Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria!" I told my therapist excitedly.

"Oh Emily...you definitely DO have ADHD. I've been trying to tell you that, but I guess you weren't paying attention," she said.

Consider me roasted! I had to laugh. Once I started doing my research, it was shocking how many things suddenly made sense. ADHD has a huge impact on how I show up as a business owner–for better and for worse. If you have ADHD and are considering starting a business, but worry that your ADHD may be a barrier: this blog post is for you! For as much of a hassle as ADHD can be in some ways, it can also be a superpower.

May 03, 2021

Celebrating 2 Years of Serve Me the Sky Digital

May 03, 2021/ Emily Hessney Lynch

Picking a business anniversary is a funny thing. There are many dates I could have chosen: June 2017, when I signed my first freelance client. July 2018, when I got my DBA. But the day I chose to celebrate is May 6th, because that’s when it felt most real. That was the first day I sat down to work for myself full-time after walking away from my stable day job.

When I celebrated this milestone last May, we were two months into a global pandemic that no one would have guessed we’d still be living through a year later. Running a business during a global pandemic is hard! It seemed that with many organizations, when times got tough, marketing was an easy thing to slash from the budget. To get me through a slow time, I picked up some part-time work as a contact tracer, which was fascinating and engaging. Business has been ramping back up, and I’m so excited about that!

In addition to running a business during a global pandemic, I also had to navigate doing so while helping care for my mother as she declined due to stage 4 cancer, then grieving and taking bereavement time while self-employed. This year was a lot to handle. I’m proud that my business is still standing here strong today, after a super difficult year.

April 29, 2021

On Taking Bereavement Time as a Freelancer

April 29, 2021/ Emily Hessney Lynch

This topic is unusual for a business blog where I typically talk about marketing and social media strategy, but I thought it would be interesting to explore and helpful for other freelancers going through similar situations. In late February, my grandma passed away at 93 years old, and in early April, my mom died of cancer at 59 years old. Hell of a way to start the year! Not working at a traditional company where I could check in with HR and get standard bereavement time, I was uncertain about how I would navigate taking time off to grieve. Here are a few things that worked for me over the past few months:

March 11, 2020

8 Tips for Working from Home

March 11, 2020/ Emily Hessney Lynch

For awhile now I’ve been meaning to write a blog post about working from home, and with the coronavirus top of mind for countless American workers, I figured there was no better time than the present to get this post out into the world. Of course, you know that you should blast Fifth Harmony’s “Work From Home” at the start of each workday, but what else should you do to ensure #WFH success?

I’ve been working for home for about 10 months now, ever since I took Serve Me the Sky Digital full-time. I walk a fine line between introversion and extroversion, so I wasn’t sure how working from home was going to go. I was nervous I might feel isolated or bored. That hasn’t been the case. However, there are a few key things I’ve learned along the way that have made working from home work for me. I’m sharing them here with you today in case they help you too.

November 21, 2019

6 Things I'm Thankful for as a Small Business Owner

November 21, 2019/ Emily Hessney Lynch

For a long time, Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday. As an angsty teenager, I grew disillusioned with Christmas and the way we lie to kids about the whole Santa thing. I also worked at Target from age 16 to age 23, and felt increasingly frustrated at America’s consumerism. I’d work on Black Friday and watch people fight over discounted Wiis, yelling at Target team members because we ran out of their favorite season of Breaking Bad on DVD. (Ok yes, these references are making me realize it’s been awhile since I worked at Target! Wiis and DVDs? Wow).

Thanksgiving became my favorite holiday primarily because of the food. As an added bonus, my birthday usually falls right after it, and gets lumped into the family Thanksgiving celebration. Stuffing, pumpkin pie, and presents? Sign me up.

In recent years, though, I’ve come to appreciate Thanksgiving as a reminder to pause and take stock of everything I have to be thankful for. This year feels particularly special, because it’ll be my first Thanksgiving as a self-employed person. I wanted to reflect on the things I’m thankful for as a small business owner.

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