In August 1999, I walked in the front door of my house with The Box: all of my personal belongings from the last corporate job I ever plan to hold. Looking back on 14 years of freelancing, I can only marvel at how quickly it’s gone—particularly compared with the preceding two-year stints in various magazine, marketing and public relations staff positions that seemed much longer than the time elapsed on a clock.

I didn’t make the decision lightly or capriciously, and I made sure not to make what my dad used to call an acrimonious departure. (I won’t get into the details here, but let’s just describe the bridge as smoldering rather than burning; a few years later, I counted my former employer as one of my best freelance clients.) [Read more…]