We Are Consultants

There is power in words. In fact, there is an entire love language that proves this.

When we think back about the early days of ERG, words were a key component. We had been advised – very loudly – not to quit our day jobs. We were told we should keep working our regular jobs and do some work on the side, and when the side work became the main work, then we would be able to quit our main job to do our new main job.

That’s actually very logical advice. And it was given by well-intended people who really did believe that was the best route for us.

However, at the time all of this was forming itself up, we had small (5-year-old) children at home. And for those of you who have ever had a young child at home or even been around one, you may also know that having kids is also like a job. Working a full-time job and then doing a side job and also being a mom would have been like having 3 jobs!

We were also told not to look for an office because it was unnecessary. We could do our side jobs from the comfort of our own houses and save all that money on overhead/rent/things we didn’t need to pay for until the side job became the new main job.

This was also very practical, well-intended advice.

But remember… we had small children at home. To think that we could work all day on our main jobs, come home and be moms, and then do our side jobs at night or on the weekend from our cozy home offices was a great idea. But the reality was we needed an office. An office that was not in our houses and not part of our main jobs. An office that would allow us space to create and work without interruptions.

We decided to drive around the West End area of Winston-Salem because we knew there was possibly a room or two for rent in old houses that people have converted into offices. We didn’t know what we could afford, but we also knew we would never know if we didn’t ask. (This was back in the day before a quick internet search would give you that sort of intel.)

We literally just got in the car and drove until we saw a sign that was stuck in front of a charming old house. It said Office Space For Rent across the front of it. We called the number on the sign, asked if we could see the space, and soon found ourselves talking with the landlord who actually owned several properties he could show us right away.

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He looked directly at us and said, “So what do you do?”

Totally unprepared for this question – because obviously we didn’t quite know what exactly we did, as we hadn’t even started our work yet – Hope said, “We are consultants.”

He said, “Oh, ok. The other people in this house are therapists.” And continued to point out the shared bathroom, the closets, and the room that he could rent us if we were interested.

That sentence – “We are consultants.” – was powerful. It hung in the air long after Hope spoke it and the chatter of the landlord faded into the background while we focused on what she had just said. After we got back in the car, we laughed and talked about how unprepared we were to answer questions and also how it just came right out of her mouth. Effortlessly.

Consultants. We are consultants. 

The words helped clarify our vision. 

Speaking your truth is freeing and scary all at the same time. But anything worth doing is a little of both, right?

For Reflection:

• What words are you holding back from speaking?
• If you cannot speak your truth, have you tried writing it?
• How would your life be different if you could speak your truth?