New adventures

I have a pre-announcement announcement to make. I am leaving my digital director job at Niche Media and my last day is… tomorrow. It is a conscious decision I made just over a month ago and the timing feels heartwarming and right. My affiliation with Niche started in July 2008 and over this time I’ve built up some absolutely amazing friendships that I’ll take with me for life. A very special mention to one of the greatest people in my world – Kylie, another to my long-term favs Matty, Sean, Liana, Jon and James. Then also to Martin, Jo, Brendan, Robbie, Bonnie, Matt, Alexa, Vicki, Aaron, Danielle and of course, my MD Paul for all the opportunities. There are many more people that I’ll miss – I could practically list the whole company. Most days I am choking with laughter at the jokes and wit in the office, and when we’re not working hard during the day (or evening), we’ve had lots of great Friday nights at our locals here in South Melbourne.

But, when one door closes, another opens. In my case, fortunately, many have opened. There are so many opportunities, choices and paths to pursue. It is a very exciting time – for everyone. But as time is precious, we need to choose where to put our focus. We need to work on things that matter to our very core. What mark do we want to leave? Where is our help most needed? I want to redesign my life with things (or lack of them) that I need and want in it. I want to challenge my being and grow to become the best person I can be.

I’m calling this a “pre-announcement announcement” and I’ve left it late to announce because I don’t have anything finite to share at this moment. I love sharing things with my network (as you’re all aware!) but in this case it’s been difficult to articulate one’s future existence in 140 characters!

A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted the following question: “Would you rather time or money?” Out of the 30 people or so who replied back, all said time (but with the complete understanding that money buys time). Right now, I am incredibly time poor and I have a 20,000-word marketing thesis to submit by late June. Therefore, my next step is to focus on getting this task done. I also want to spend some time on what I’ll call the four Rs – reading, running, researching and reflecting. This will be a welcome micro-break as I’ve worked constantly since I was 15 years old. I fear that I might not get this chance again so want to enjoy it while I can – although, my iCal calendar is already looking a little psychedelic and I’ve got some event and speaking commitments in Sydney in the next couple of weeks.

I’m very lucky to have such a caring, experienced and extensive support network and community around me and have had the luxury of chatting to smart individuals face-to-face over the past weeks. One person suggested that I call this time my ‘entrepreneurial sabbatical’. I like how the description resonates nicely around words like time, change, projects, dreams, inspiration, research and discovery. Experimentation. A journey. It doesn’t work so well when you look at the literal meaning as a rest or hiatus, as I’ve currently found a fitting momentum that satisfies the amount of energy that I have to give.

Anyway, the actual announcement will therefore come post-June. It will revolve around a mashup of consulting (yes, including social media), writing, speaking, travel and alignment with companies that share my philosophy.

But for now, I would love to hear from you. Proposition me. Share your ideas or vision with me. For those people I said “no” to when I was working full time, get in touch again. Let’s see how we can work together.

Best contact methods are via email on: kendall.kate [at] gmail.com or as usual on Twitter – @KateKendall.

Thank you for listening – I continually appreciate it.

Kate

P.S. Official website(s), branding, identity, coming soon… ;-)