Name: Trish Hayward, 38
Title: Catalyst Strategies
Location: Woodside, California
Time as an Independent Contractor: 15 Months

1. What kind of independent contractor/freelancer are you?
I work in marketing strategy and business development.

2. What (or who) pushed you to go solo?
There were a number of contributing factors: I was a partner at a large marketing consulting firm at the time. I did not feel I was growing professionally, and I did not feel the firm was evolving with the market. Through some self-searching, I came to realize that I had been afraid to start my own business for fear of failure. I got to the point where I could accept failure. The final kicker was moving to a new city (my husband had a significant career opportunity). I worked remotely from the new location with my old firm and realized it was not ideal. After four months of the remote arrangement, I started my own firm.

3. At what point did you realize that you could actually make a living on your own?
My first client came in at week number three...what a rush! It was a huge client with promises of significant work!

4. What's the biggest mistake you've made to date?
I never got around to formalizing a follow-on job contract with a CEO client. When the client was fired, I was booted out of the company in the middle of the job. First, I suddenly didn't have a client (and no two-week "cushion" clause). Second, I continue to be hung up in a collections process with the remaining members of the management team. Argh...I should have known better!

5. Tell us about your most memorable contract.
I was hired by a major New York bank to do some high-level product development and consumer testing for a Web-based financial service. The project evolved and I was hired to fully develop the first phase of the service offering. I developed service requirements in concert with a technology team, worked with the marketing team to prioritize the tools we needed to develop, found financial-planning resources and managed a project to develop the specific tools.

6. What has working solo meant to you personally?
It has changed my life, because now I feel I can do anything I want. Recently, my husband and I decided to move to the San Francisco Bay area -- just because we wanted to. And all I needed to do was pick up my laptop and move out. I am confident that I will have a strong client base in the Bay Area by year-end!