Today, I’ll break down what I mean when I say I am a multi-passionate solopreneur. I’m also going to talk about my experience and why I’ve chosen this path. Being self-employed is not an easy path, especially now at the beginning of the journey.
It is stressful not to know how much money is going to be coming in or when. No matter how sucky your job is, there is comfort in knowing when payday is and how much money is going to be on there. So why on earth am I doing this crazy thing?
What is a multi-passionate entrepreneur?
I first heard of the term ‘multi-passionate entrepreneur’ from Marie Forleo. We do more than one thing. And we either can’t or don’t want to focus on just one thing. A multi-passionate entrepreneur will be interested and skilled at multiple things.
Sometimes these interests and skills can be combined in a really interesting way. Other times, it ends up with multiple businesses and brands that are only connected because of the person behind them.
Now, don’t get me wrong, no one is just one thing. Even if you have always known what career you wanted and followed that path without deviation, you are more than your career. You enjoy watching movies or reading books or running or whatever. But you are satisfied, content, and/or happy with your singular career. And that is amazing. You get to sink deeply into what you do and you are or will become excellent at it by sheer immersion and repetition.
Those of us who end up going the path of a multi-passionate entrepreneur are wired just a little differently.
I can’t just do one thing.
I like the idea of digging deeply into one subsection of knowledge. I deeply enjoy going into rabbit holes of knowledge and gaining that expert level of understanding. That’s why my private practice is specialized.
I firmly believe that the only reason I stayed at my previous job for 8 years was that I did nearly everything that a dietitian can do. I covered acute care, long-term care, outpatients, and home care. I worked with people across the lifespan from prenatal to palliative. I helped people with chronic conditions, acute conditions, and people who wanted to maintain health as long as they could. And still, even with all that variety, I started getting itchy to do something else after 5 years. I started a blog and shortly after that, I started setting up for private practice.
I like having a breadth of experience and knowledge. I find it so satisfying to recognize the parallels in seemingly unrelated things. And I find it energizing to have multiple projects.
This newsletter is a prime example. I get such a boost of energy from simply switching my focus here every Friday.
Multi-passionate entrepreneurs are multipotentialites.
A multipotentialite is someone with many interests and creative pursuits.
In other words, mulitpotentialite is interested in many things and seeks creative outlets for those interests. This person might also be called a multipod, a polymath, or a renaissance person.
A multipotentialite has many interests, whereas a multi-passionate entrepreneur takes those interests into business.
What is a solopreneur?
A solopreneur is a person who is self-employed or runs a business without employees - a solo entrepreneur. If a solopreneur needs IT help, they pay a contractor to provide the service rather than hiring a person to do IT support.
I have absolutely no desire to manage people. I don’t want to tell you how to do the job. I just want to tell someone the outcome I want and have them figure it out (and ask me for the pieces they need to fill in the blanks). If I have to lay out the step-by-step process, I’ll just do it myself because it’s obviously something I know how to do.
And as a multipod, multi-passionate entrepreneur, having my hands in all facets of my business is satisfying.
One final reason for being a solopreneur: costs. If I am the only person my business has to pay, the costs are far lower than having an employee. I am not in business to become a millionaire.
So why am I in business?
I chose to become self-employed because I knew I would not be happy otherwise. My other options were to give up my side projects or try to do it all: full-time job, side projects, and spending time with my new child. I know me; I wouldn’t actually give up my side projects. I would just spend every moment I could “steal” working on them. I would either sacrifice downtime or I would feel frustrated by the lack of progress.
That was the realization that lead me to quit my full-time job before I replaced that income. That sucked, it is stressful, but I feel like the alternative would suck worse. And this is also what is keeping me focused and calm now.
I am looking forward to continuing to explore each thread of my multi-passionate web of business. I am excited to see what strands stick and which float away. And I look forward to continuing to document my journey and ideas here.
Until next time,
-Samantha 💜