Designing Independence

Published by the Columbia Missourian ~ Erin Benson                                                                             April 1, 2003

           

Designing Independence

For a growing number of people, punching in at the office every day has been replaced by working on their own time.

After working 20 years for the MU College of Engineering, Paula Koebel left the Familiarity and comfort of the traditional workplace for a different kind of life.

As one of about 30 million free agents nationwide, Koebel measures her wealth in time rather than money.  Instead of looking forward to her next paycheck, she looks forward to spending a few days with her grandchildren.

"It's a fun time of life," she said.  "I never thought getting old could be so much fun."

In his book "Free Agent Nation," Daniel Pink said a free agent is "just about anybody who works untethered to a large organization."  That includes temp workers, independent contractors, freelancers and self-employed soloists.

Pink, whose book describes free agency as the "new real economy" said the trend is in part the result of people rethinking their priorities in turbulent times.

"Combined with 9/11 , there's a sense that life is short and precious and we should be doing something that's worthwhile and gives us meaning, "Pink said in an interview.  "These feelings are going to deepen and lead people to free agency or to seek organizations that can accommodate these kinds of values."

When Koebel took an early retirement from MU in 2000, she remembered the hardest part about leaving was saying goodbye to the students she worked closely with as an advisor.

At the time, she was battling breast cancer, which was a major factor in her decision to retire.

"It really made me step back and look at life and see what was important," Koebel said.

The first thing she did after retiring was clean out her closets.

"I'd been wanting to do that forever," she said.  "But after that there wasn't much to do.  Most of my friends still worked."

Six months after her retirement, Koebel returned to the workforce in a different capacity.  Through two local staffing companies, initially with Available Jones, which specializes in placing retirees in short-term jobs, and now with Caroline and Company, Koebel has spent the last few years working when and where she wants.  For two years, she worked part-time in an attorney's office.  Recently, she worked a five-day stint in a dentist's office, which she described as "just a lot of fun."

Barbara Carman, director of marketing and public relations for Caroline and Company, said Koebel isn't the first to seek out alternative employment,

"People who work in staffing services are more highly educated than they've ever been before," she said.  "We see parents who want a larger block of time to spend with small children and retirees who are looking to meet interesting people and explore careers they'd always thought about but never had the opportunity to pursue."

A 200 study sponsored by staffing agency Kelly Services found that 26 percent of the workforce is classified as temporary/contract and predicted a possible increase to as much as 41 percent in the next decade.

But the life of the free agent may not be for everyone.

James Ramer, who works as a consulting engineer and land surveyor, warns against the difficulties of working independently.

"Why anyone would go into business for themselves is a mystery to me," he said.

After working a combined 30 years for the Army Corps of Engineering and the Air Force, Ramer became self-employed in 1988 and has earned an income as a consultant for contractors and engineers.

Income as an independent consultant hasn't come easily.  Ramer made some difficult realizations when he discovered that the market he targeted in Sedalia and the surrounding areas lacked the client base he needed to be successful.

Ramer's advice to potential small business owners: No matter ho much you know, you can't be successful without money.

"If you don't have it, you can't do business," he said.  "One thing that has to drive a businessman is that he has to have the desire to make all the money in the world.  It isn't what you know but what your source of money is and where you can get it."

For others, with dedication and hard work, free agency grants an income that a glass ceiling or a budget cut might otherwise have prevented.

After graduating from Seaton Hall College with a degree in fine arts, Dory Colbert of Columbia spent the next five years working in various photo-related positions and in television production.  She started Dory Colbert Design in 1984 and has been working as a free agent ever since.  Now she provides package design, magazine design, logos, brochures and Web site graphics for various local and national clients.

Since the transition, she has enjoyed a higher income, more flexibility and the independence of working on her own.  For the first four years, she worked out of an office in the Cherry Street Center.  After having a child, she moved her office into her home.

"It's really nice to start work in your slippers with a cup of coffee and not have the pressure of wearing pantyhose and looking pulled together," she said.

But she also warns about becoming too isolated, especially in an industry that's always changing with new technology.

"I have to get out and network with other professionals.  I'm also always thinking about what I want to be doing in five years," she said.  "My profession is very technology heavy, so now I'm learning video graphic software.  So I can position myself with the kind of clients I want to have and where I want to be in the long term."

The possibilities and risks of free agency are diverse, especially in a sluggish economy.  But a sluggish economy affect everyone, Pink said.

"With the downturn and all the corporate scandals, you see a deepened belief that a company is not going to take care of workers and can't be trusted," he said.  "People are saying "I have to fend for myself and make my own way.  I can't rely on these organizations to take care of me."

Free agency then makes the individual ultimately responsible for his or her own income and happiness.  This might or might not be a good thing.  In Paula Koebel's case, it is.

"My time's my own now," she said.  "the money isn't as good, but at some time in life, money isn't everything."