# Observations from one year of solo work (plus a fun launch)

![](../images/59a24fd9aad5.jpg)

*A tower sits at the edge of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, where I
spent four days mostly wandering Dublin and gaining a deep appreciation
of its literary history.*

When I set out as an indie consultant, a peer of mine gave me advice I
find myself returning to:

“For the **first** year, you take everything and do anything to make the
business work. For year **two**, you use that information to figure out
your unique perspective and offer. In year **three**, you finally know
what clients you like to work with and can even scale.”

As I enter year two this month, I can report they were right.     

That’s why today I’m announcing [a new website for Gate Check
Studios](https://gatecheckstudios.com/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=observations-from-one-year-of-solo-work-plus-a),
more focused positioning (see the site for the full story!), and
availability to take on new clients for the first time in 2025.

[![](../images/780ae64d6b14.gif)](http://gatecheckstudios.com?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=observations-from-one-year-of-solo-work-plus-a)

Now with more pink!

(I also will start saving this space for more personal updates. Head to
the new Gate Check Studios newsletter for bi-weekly takes on content,
marketing, media, and the internet. Subscribe
[here](http://eepurl.com/jcOCnk?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=observations-from-one-year-of-solo-work-plus-a).)

But perhaps more interesting to you, dear personal newsletter
subscriber, is the role identity has had in my solo journey. I entered
this phase of my career with some reluctance and trepidation. Depending
on when you spoke to me, I was going to leave the client game to go back
in house. Or start my own thing. Or something else.

I have had a wandering eye — which in my case, means roughly six domains
were registered with good intentions and I was late in the process with
a few companies for full time roles before backing out.

But then a friend challenged me: “What if you took the energy you spent
exploring other things and put it into your business? Into your
clients?”    

Working alone on your own business is like sitting in a hall of mirrors
everyday. You see all of the best and worst parts of your psychology
reflected back to you.

And I realized that while my various explorations and side projects
taught me something, my business — the actual thing paying my bills —
was reactive. The market was telling me that my consultancy was the most
valuable thing I was doing.

And yet, I was protecting my ego by not committing to one thing.
Especially something as difficult as growing a service business. If
something didn’t work out, I could always shrug and say “well, I didn't
give it 100% of my mental commitment, so no big deal.”

What is the point of going through all of this trouble if I’m not going
to make my business, my career unique to me?     

I also have this spidey sense that a few things are happening in my
world of content / marketing / branding are worth betting on (more there
[in the Gate Check
newsletter](https://gatecheckstudios.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0f552d458303a277f5624382d&id=c52ab8e42e&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=observations-from-one-year-of-solo-work-plus-a)).

I still may, no, scratch that, ***will*** one day yet evolve this into
something else. But for right now, I'm focusing on making the best
business for me, betting on the future of the internet I see coming, and
doing the best work for my clients and their teams.     

Wish me luck. (Or better yet, [let’s make cool things
together](http://gatecheckstudios.com?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=observations-from-one-year-of-solo-work-plus-a)).

\_

# Other things I’m thinking about:

### **The right level of emotional involvement as a consultant.** 

Working at a startup means you likely have some equity. And when you
have equity, it helps to think like a shareholder at work. If any part
of the company isn’t doing well, it’s a determinant not only of your
“time investment” (working each day) but your “growth investment” (your
equity).\
\
I didn’t realize it, but I had the habit of getting emotionally invested
in the companies I worked for. But when you’re a “hired gun” your
clients usually don’t want you poking around in areas outside what they
hired you for. They hire you to solve a specific problem. This has taken
some rewiring.

### **Sweet Jesus, I’m so glad I’m not on Zoom all day.**

Going solo [has softened my anti-remote work
position](https://seanblanda.com/our-remote-work-future-is-going-to-suck/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=observations-from-one-year-of-solo-work-plus-a)
a tiny bit. I realized that while I still would take a creative,
collaborative office any day… a small percentage of my issues with
remote work were because of my aversion to Zoom calls. With those
drastically reduced, I’ve been more content to embrace the remote life.

### **The Internet’s Tower of Babel moment and the end of Internet monoculture**

Whether you came of age during Homestar Runner, “The Dress”, or cancel
culture, you know what it feels like to have most of the internet
talking about the same thing. As audiences splinter and the platforms
offer each user an algorithmic experience, those days are over. The lack
of this town square makes the internet less fun but it also makes it
more difficult to observe what is occurring in various subcultures. This
is making Americans feel even less connected to one another, which has
profound impacts culturally and politically.

![](../images/e8286377635c.png)

U.S. ranks lowest in feeling connected to others in their country.

### **Embracing my late-30s with late-30s media habits**

Speaking of the decay of the Internet’s town square, after 18 years, I
deleted my Twitter/X account (please clap). Thinking of doing the same?
I used Replit [to archive all my
tweets](https://tweets.seanblanda.com/date/2025-03-24?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=observations-from-one-year-of-solo-work-plus-a)
so I can search them if I want to find something I posted in 2012.     

As a result, I’ve been mostly consuming news via The Economist, The New
York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Polymarket. I regret to
inform you that the social media haters were correct and that this has
made me feel less anxious about the state of the world.

\_

Pods I’ve been on: [I appeared on Nick Bennett’s "1,000
Paths”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqBVFvvj8Cc&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=observations-from-one-year-of-solo-work-plus-a)

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and Preview Media’s Never Work a Day

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\_

If you’ve made it this far, you are a true pal. Thanks for reading, and
send me what you’re up to and thinking about!

With love from Philadelphia,

Sean