How did you find a way to work at home?

Whenever I meet new people, it seems that when I tell them what I do they inevitably ask how I came to work at home.   It occurs to me that hearing stories about how people ended up working from home would be not only interesting, but also might help others to find their way home.  To that end, we have four very different stories from four very different people who have achieved their goal of working at home.

I guess the logical place to start is with my own story.  I used to be a Retail District Manager.  My job involved a lot of travel as I was also a Training Manager.  I worked long hours and my husband had a very long commute so we had a nanny who came to the house to take care of our two girls who were one and seven at the time.  Needless to say this was pretty expensive.

Because of my job, I was not able to be involved with my older daughter’s activities– couldn’t be her girl scout leader, couldn’t work in her classroom.  I was also desperate to be at home with them.  I knew that time would fly by and that I had to make a decision soon.  I felt that I was missing out on the most important part of my life.

The deciding moment for me was seeing a picture of my older daughter on her first day of school. I was never able to be there, as my company held their annual meetings each year on that day. She looked so sad in that picture, it was devastating.

So my husband and I sat down and put pen to paper and what we discovered was surprising.  Our bottom line was actually worse off with me working.  This had a lot to do with the cost of childcare, meals out, work clothes, commuting costs, etc. You might find this cost of living chart interesting.

So, we made the leap.  I quit my job to stay at home.

After being at home for some time, I decided to look for a part-time job that I could do from my home office. I realized that in addition to the extra income we would have, a job would provide me with the professional interaction that I was missing. I embarked on an Internet job search and was frustrated to find the large number of scams targeting stay-at-home moms. I knew there had to be legitimate jobs out there, but I just wasn’t finding them.

I knew that there were many others who were in the same situation and it was at this point, in September of 1999, that I was inspired to start 2Work-At-Home.com.  So, that’s how I ended up working from home.

Now meet another Sharon.  Sharon had been working for the phone company in customer service for19 years.

I always worked in high volume call centers for residential and business customers. I dreaded the commutes and fantasized about working at home and cutting out one part of my stress by not dealing with weather, travel and gas cost. Also saving money on eating out for lunch.

Sharon found her way home after retirement.  She now works for a large customer management company as a Remote Agent.

I retired in February of 2008 and never looked back….my blood pressure has gotten better, I sleep better and I just feel so much better about work.

In addition to her job, she also runs two small businesses- an Avon business and a website that sells purses and accessories.  This gives her something to fall back on if work is slow.

Sharon’s patience paid off in the end and now she’s doing what she had only dreamed of.

Tiffany Kennedy works at home as a freelance writer.  Her story is a good example of how it can take time and perseverance to make the dream of working at home a reality.

Tiffany says that she’s always loved reading and writing, for as long as she can remember.

“A few years ago I had the chance to have a short story published, then another.  Then I was given the opportunity to have a column in a small, local newspaper for just a short time.  That was what got me thinking that maybe I could write as a job.  It didn’t work that easy. “

That’s what often happens.  You find your passion, you set your goals, but things don’t always move as fast as you’d like them to.

“For the next 10 years I did inventory to make the bill money and wrote, mostly to see my name in print.”

Then came the Internet.  Tiffany kept up her search for writing work online and was eventually able to take the plunge and leave her away from home job for work from home jobs.

“Most people love the work at home so they can stay home with their families.  I am sorry to say that my children are all over 21 now that I can stay home but I truly love the work from home life.  It gives me and my husband time together and now I can run and spend time with the children if they get time off from their jobs.  I wish I had of been able to have done it years ago.”

Our last profile is Su Prieta, a telecom consultant with a firm based out of the DC metro area.  Her situation is one that I hope to follow as she makes the transition from working in an office to working from home full time.

Su’s husband is in the Navy and is stationed in Gulfport, MS for his next duty station.

“I had been at my firm for the past 4.5 years and since I work quite well independently, I requested to be permitted to stay on with my firm and work remotely once my husband and I move to Gulfport.  They agreed and here I am.  The nature of my work does not require me to physically be in any particular location.  As long as I have a phone and high-speed internet, I can communicate with our various office locations, as well as with my clients.  So, as long as I am meeting my objectives and continue to do good work, I will be fortunate enough to keep my position. “

I asked Su how the process went as far as how she approached her boss to make the request and here’s what she had to say:

“My director and I have a close working relationship.  She is aware that my husband is active duty military.  My husband and I came close to having to leave on two other occasions.  But, first, he was able to get an extension and the second, we stayed for an extra year so he could get his master’s degree.  So, she has known for a while that the day would come when we would be stationed somewhere else.  She always told me that she would hate to lose me when that day came.

So, I knew that I would have some leverage if I asked to stay.  I also knew that I offered unique skills to my department having previously been a telecom attorney.  My director is an engineer and my other department colleague is an economics/engineer-type, so I offered skills from a legal perspective that no one else in my department offered.

My request was very informal, I simply let my director know at the end of last year that we had a time-certain for moving and let her know that I was very interested in staying on if she would have me.  She presented the situation to our president and vice-president.  Then, I had a meeting with the president wherein I reiterated my commitment to the company.

The only issue was whether they would keep me on a contract basis or as a fulltime employee.  Ultimately, per my request, they decided to keep me as a fulltime employee.”

Tags: telecommuting, work at home