My small business was initially born of necessity – not vision. I was the mom of a newborn doing project specific work so that I could keep fueling my fire for public health, while also trying to be fully present with my growing family (back before Zoom and Teams). After patching it together for a while, I realized that managing a multi-project portfolio was a great fit for my brain’s interest in shifts and change (and my desire for flexibility). To help me take myself seriously, manage risk, and try to communicate what it was I was actually doing, I invented a business called HKG Public Health Projects, LLC and made it all official (i.e., website and business cards, of course). That first chapter taught me a lot. In addition to honing my skills, I learned how to promote myself without cringing, manage rejection and success, hold myself accountable, pay taxes in advance, become my own tech department, give great customer service, and balance many competing priorities. I worked this way on projects I’m still proud of for about 5 years (that included another newborn), before taking a full-time position with my largest client at the time.