One message is coming through loud and clear in this transition: Do what you love & you’ll never work a day in your life.

My calendar is filling up with so many meetings: breakfast, lunch, coffee, dinner, cocktails. Most of which have something to do with networking for the new business.

What’s interesting is that I hated networking in the last decade of my job. I really didn’t want to do the rubber chicken circuit and I was lucky enough to be able to build a good book of business without it. So it’s amazing that I have been so proactive in this new life.

I’ve reconnected with a whole bunch of people I have known for years but didn’t have time to see regularly. Including a couple I haven’t seen for a decade. It’s fun to catch up.

I’m also connecting with reporters I liked but couldn’t befriend while they were on client beats. I know some people in my old job blurred those lines, but I jsut couldn’t. Now, though, it’s fun to know them in a different way. Lucky I could keep those threads intact through contentious client issues.

I’m also making new connections that are directly related to promoting the new thing. It doesn’t feel like work at all. It’s fun!