Jeff R - Strategic Connector
Strategic Connector for Business and Community, Founder of Sociallogical and Co-Founder of USTATION.
DID: 2007
Prioritizing freedom has always been important to me and I lived a DI lifestyle before I realized there was a word for it.
In high school, I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I had the business bug in me and it manifested itself in a number of exciting opportunities with a number of businesses and franchises.
In my early years, I started a company with $100 and grew it from a one-person show to the market leader in my city. Even though I had a beautiful office, I still spent much of my working day in coffee shops, my living room, and my patio.
I often feel like I was born at the right time - I finished university the same year the first eCommerce transaction took place and participated as fully as I could in leveraging the Internet to grow my business and career. The Internet climbed in popularity and usefulness while I was young enough to learn but wise enough to take what I was learning and develop a business around it. As the popularity of Internet marketing grew, I grew with it.
In all my working years, I have only spent about 4 years working for someone else. When I moved back to the Maritimes from the west coast, I didn’t apply for any jobs because they found me. I made it a priority to network and build connections which demonstrated to people that I was competent which then turned into job offers.
“I value freedom more than money but the increased freedom the Internet afforded me has allowed me to produce more / create more / do more for my clients and my own company because I can work in the ways I know I work best.”
I worked for one company that saw my potential and, though it wasn’t quite the company culture I wanted, they gave me the freedom to work as I pleased with a high degree of flexibility and then pulled it all away after a few months. They claimed that they valued the entrepreneur for their creativity and innovation but failed to provide an environment that supported creativity and innovation. Needless to say, I left.
Though I knew I was not being paid what I was worth, I once took a pretty lousy job and turned it into something because the flexibility and freedom were there.
My experience has shown me that companies are losing good employees because they have not fully embraced the flexibilities that were brought on because of the pandemic. They feel that they can simply go back to the way things were without consequence, but employees have a taste of freedom and many won’t go back and would rather leave than give it up.
I enjoy people and I enjoy helping them by understanding what they are trying to accomplish and why. I love that I don't have to work with people I don't want to. In the age of social media and the rise of disinformation, I feel that it is even more important to be able to be choosy with who you work with to ensure that your values and commitment to ethics line up.
“The flexibility that I have as a DI has truly allowed me to live in line with my values and priorities. I’ve been a digital independent since the very beginning.”