He then told me that his Mom had fibromyalgia – news to me – and had to go out on disability leave as her health deteriorated. While she was out she got so much better that the day she reported back to work, she turned in her resignation. He didn’t give me any more of the back story, only said that the difference in her health away from work compared to on the job was so drastic she felt she’d be able to maintain her health if she didn’t return to that job. She has.

He also told me that at one point his mom did consider starting a business but by then her husband was getting ready to retire so launching something at that time of their life didn’t make sense to her.

Our conversation turned to health insurance, always the biggest negative factor when deciding about self-employment. Now that both his parents are “retired” they’re paying for their own health insurance. It costs them about $1000/month for just her portion of their coverage. That sounds about right to me.

Clearly, his Mom chose well-being over working for health coverage, and even without knowing their specific circumstances I think it’s safe to say that she had the option to make this choice, as aggravating at that insurance cost may be.

My friend’s story reminded me about the issues Rosalind discussed in her chapter, “Diagnosis, Disease Course and Career Development.” Your decisions about your options regarding work are influenced by so many factors, and there is no one answer. The variables that impact your decision about working include family and marital status, where you are in your career development as well as your career aspirations – or not – and your actual health at any particular time. My friend’s Mom, unlike many women who develop autoimmune illnesses, became ill fairly late in life so her choices and options were different than if she’d been in her 20′s.

Joan

P.S. If you live in California and belong to a group or organization where a discussion of self-employment as an option would benefit the members, please write me through my web site, www.lifeworkpartners.com/contact .

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I admit I had not given much thought to the fact that some women who have to work may not see their work through the lens of having a career, though looking back through my 21 jobs I know I often wondered what my career path was.

Some women, no matter how ill, don’t have the choice to work or not to work – I never felt I did. For about half of the time I was ill I was also a single mom. Even when married, not working has never been an option.

I filed for divorce from my second husband within a year of the onset of my Crohn’s diagnosis. I did this just a few months after I was demoted from my training manager position with the company I’d worked for longer than any other, and from a job I loved. (I was 37 and on my 3rd “career” by then.) I was demoted because my illness and hospital stays made it very difficult to keep up with the responsibilities of managing my store, and it was showing.

Before my divorce was final, I got another job, one I hoped would put me back onto the path I’d started before I was demoted. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I hated the company I worked for. I stuck with it for just over a year, and then sought out and was offered a position as an executive assistant to the owner of a local company. During that entire time – for about 2-and-a-half years – my symptoms were in remission. However, a year into my new office position I was “let go,” just a day after returning from 10 days of disability leave.

It took 5 more years and 3 more jobs before I decided to start my coaching business. Because of the impact my illness had I my career, and my decision to go out on my own, I wrote chapter 7, “You’re Fired – By Your Body or Your Boss,” in which I discussed self-employment as an option.

My post today is not meant to argue against the concerns that have been raised about the focus of our book, and our point of view. I just don’t think we’re all that unique. Rather, I think my story – and Rosalind’s – is typical of the ups and downs, and stops and starts women living with autoimmune diseases experience.

The question still remains, what can we do with this hand we’ve been dealt? There’s no question that there are as many answers as there are women.

Joan

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• One was walking slowly with the use of a cane, required for post knee surgery (she also just underwent breast reconstruction surgery, her last treatment post breast cancer)
• Another had her arm in a sling after her third major surgery on her shoulder
• Another was doing ok, now several weeks post hernia surgery
• And there I was, with my drippy eye, administering drops every 2 hours to fight some unnamed infection
• 3 well individuals were in attendance…

I share the following information with you in case it would benefit even one member of our community.

One of my comrades mentioned that she’d been paying $1100/month for her coverage with Blue Cross. That’s a huge chunk of change, even for someone doing well in her business.

She told us she’d just signed up with a health care network called Beech Street (a Viant Network) for $199/month. She responded to a one-day offer to receive a discount on her coverage. So she investigated, decided it was worth trying (to potentially save $9600/year) for the administrative fee of $125 to get started. She has not yet canceled her Blue Cross coverage, and is using the initial 10-day period to read the fine print, but she’s hopeful. Here are some of the specifics she shared with me:

• PPO coverage
• $25 doctor visits
• 80% doctors outside network
• 100% of hospital expenses up to $65,000
• Nationwide PPO A rated

I asked her about pre-existing conditions. She said it’s not an issue. They only asked for medical history for the past 6 months, about which she was honest, and about her medications.

I asked about the monthly rate without the special offer price. She thought just $230/month.

NOTE: this post does not constitute endorsement of this service or product, nor a promise of the same outcome. As always, investigate any opportunity fully, using your own research and judgment.

To your health,
Joan

P.S. I’ll check in with my comrade in a couple of weeks to find out about her final decision.

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And there was another race in the marathon for President. Wouldn’t it be something if one declared, “I can’t do it anymore. I’m just too tired!” Oh and place your bets here for who will be the first to talk about chronic illness as an issue in this campaign …

In my last post, I mentioned the article about our book (and my business, cicoach.com) in the New York Times Online Business section this week. Hooray for press and attention to these issues. I got lots of email from people who saw the article — and it indicates that we (the chronic illnesser’s) are barely limping along — not even keeping a steady pace?

Here are two :

Hi Rosalind, Since I’m recovering right now from a migraine (and had to miss a meeting at an agency that I’m trying to land a job!), I’m not able to write/expound on other illnesses that affect workplace functioning.
But I will when I’m up to it. I’ve suffered both the migraines, as well as severe depressions and anxiety. I have accomodations at work (e.g. flex time, part-time work) and have also consulted (grants writing). My husband and I have not been able to take the kinds of vacations we’d like that would in fact be therapeutic (e.g. Florida in winter) due to income–I keep saying if I can get a full-time job we’d be able to do this… Anyway, I look forward to adding my thoughts to the blog on this topic.

AND HERE’S ANOTHER ONE:

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There are so many questions to answer to make such a determination. Today, I offer you some things to think about if you think this might be a good solution for you.

Let’s start with the health stuff:

-Do you have the energy and mental functioning (I know what some meds can do) to be up and out of bed several hours a day?

-Do you have some reserves in savings, someone else in the household to handle the bills while you ramp up, and/or access to a loan to get you up and running?

- Do you have access to health coverage if you don’t work?

If I were to put forth my opinion, I think you have to have sustainable energy to get started. It takes a lot of consistent effort to get something up and off the ground. A good financial base would come second as the last thing you need is more stress.

Now, put your health aside for a moment:

- Do you have a dream to be independent, or have an idea that is better implemented out on your own?

- Could you, eventually, make more money on your own than at a job?

- Do you have a skill or talent that would lend itself to success in a particular business?

- Are you someone who is generally optimistic when the going gets a little tough?

Some people fall into self-employment, and some deliberately choose it. One of my very favorite clients is what I like to call “an accidental entrepreneur.” She became quite ill (prior to us working together) and in order to keep working, started working from home. She’s a mortgage broker so it was fairly easy to conduct work this way, and her employer was understanding. After tasting the freedom of working from home, she decided she liked it, and made her independence a more permanent arrangement.

This woman I describe would not have thought she had it in her to go out on her own, and may not have if she hadn’t become ill. She would probably have told you that she didn’t have all the skill an entrepreneur needs to be successful. Truthfully, that was her misguided view of herself. She is committed to customer service, has very high standards of integrity and excels at putting together good loans for people. She was most definitely trustworthy. So, she had the right stuff; she just didn’t know it. I still remember her asking me if it was ok to make her own rules about how she ran her business. You bet it is!

Like all things new and different, it eventually requires a leap of faith, one you take when the pull to give it a try is strong enough. I did it over 7 years ago, and it’s not always been great, but most definitely worth it. I’ll not go back “inside.”

What about you? Would you like to? Have you already? (I know some of you have.) If you have, how did you decide?

Joan

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However, when you are living with in a fluctuating state of health, it’s not always possible to get out there and meet and greet people on a regular basis. You may really only be able to go to work, or serve your current customers, and then home to rest. As we can now do business more readily from home due to lower phone rates and technology, we can now create and build relationships on-line.

All you need is a computer and Internet access.

Social Networking has become a very hot marketing opportunity for self-employed professionals. Last week I interviewed Jonathan Good, an expert in “Social Networking,” for another of my on-line projects, Beyond Billable Hours. He talked about how to use LinkedIn and Facebook to create relationships to build a business.

Prior to hearing Jonathan, I was not convinced that on-line networking could really take the place of face-to-face networking. Jonathan says they work best together, and I would agree. However, I’m now convinced Social Networks can be a viable alternative for building relationships and credibility if you put some thought into using them – and you don’t even have to leave home.

How to get started: choose just one on these social networking sites and build your profile. Decide what you want to accomplish (every good strategy begins with a plan.) Then, invite people from your own network who you think are others might like to know too. According to Jonathan, all you need is 1 or 2 hours a week to get a lot done with on-line networking.

Note: Even if you work for an employer, you can use these tools to your advantage. Of course, you have to be mindful that you don’t give away trade secrets or behave in ways that raise a few eyebrows, but you can certainly build your LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, and participate in special interest groups and answer questions.

10 years ago our illnesses would have made networking much more difficult. Now we have choices. How have you used Social Networking tools to stay in touch, and get business or a job?

Joan

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Dear Rosalind,

I had to tell you, I think I’m finally finding my direction! And definitely much of the credit goes to you and your book, Women, Work and Autoimmune Disease, Keep Working, Girlfriend! (ed. note: Sandy read this while it was still being edited – the book isn’t out yet!)

In your book, you really stressed the value of having your own business. When I was reading that, I was like “Oh, but I don’t know how to do that! That’s kind of beyond me!” But then I was also like “Me? I could do that?” I think something has been percolating inside of me. I believe I can do that. And I have a plan. And I’m starting to implement it.

I am going to combine my ability to write with my knowledge of disabilities and create a business as a freelance writer specializing in disability topics and also offering myself as a disability consultant. With having a disability myself and having a college degree in special education, I believe I’m qualified. And I surely can write. And the money is in nonfiction. And all of this can be done at home on my computer and with my telephone.

Here’s how I’ve started. After having the umteenth million incident in which I’m out in my community and an able-bodied person does something that again shows that they just don’t get it, I called my friend, Anne, to complain. But then it dawned on me, we complain to each other, but who is educating the able-bodied? Then I realized, I could do that.

I had in mind a column. I started by submitting my first column as a letter-to-the-editor to my local newspaper, the Summit Daily. Right off, with the first one, they offered me the column. So I now have a column in my local paper called Disability 101. It runs twice a month. Of course, I’m getting no money at this point, but I now can say that I’m a published writer. I’ve had six in so far. I am currently making preparations to submit to a larger Denver paper, the Rocky Mountain News.

So, I’ve been reading and studying about how to establish a freelance writing business. It’s not all that new because of my experiences with fiction. However, nonfiction is a much more profitable business. But I still have a lot to learn. But I’m starting.

I haven’t quit my day job yet, but I’m on my path. So, if you are interested, below is a link to my most recent column which is out on-line today (print version tomorrow). This one is entitled “Not everyone who uses a wheelchair is paraplegic”.

So, I am so excited about my new direction and I just wanted to thank you for all of your help! You helped get me out of a very deep, dark rut and helped me to believe in myself and I would really like to thank you for that.

And thank you so much for your book, Keep Working, Girlfriend! Your book really helped me to start believing in the possibilities. Congratulations on the successful beginnings for your book! It’s exciting to watch your progress with it!

Take care,
Sandy Lahmann

Sandy graciously allowed me to post this. Thanks, Sandy, for your kind words and sharing your success. We’re rooting for you… and everyone else out there on this journey.

Do you have a story – success or otherwise you want to share?
Rosalind

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Since more and more people with a chronic illness have access to drugs to help them manage their symptoms (just watch TV and you know they’re busy creating them then cranking them out), the question to continue working for a company or go out on your own becomes much more of a personal choice. This is good news.

But, a funny thing can happen. This little unplanned break from full-speed-ahead may create just enough gap to cause you to wonder, could you start a business? Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

1. What are You top 5 values? If security ranks up at the top, a job may be the way to go. If freedom and self-expression ranks in the top 5, self-employment may be the way to go.

2. Do you possess interests or skills that could be turned into a business you could run from home? Not sure, do some research.

3. Do you enjoy learning and a challenge? Yes? Self-employment could work. No? Maybe not.

4. Do you have any tolerance for risk when you’re well? Low to none, stay with an employer. Moderate to high tolerance, self-employment could work.

5. Do you have any savings or back-up support?

6. Can you renegotiate your situation or position with your employer if you need to? If so, would it be worth it to you to give it a shot?

7. Are you an Internet geek? A writer? A project manager? Have a salable hobby or craft? Hm, maybe you could set out on your own.

I could go on and on here. Our book, Women, Work and Autoimmune Disease has an entire chapter devoted to outlining and exploring the things you need to think about if self-employment is an attractive option. (Have you pre-ordered the book yet?)

I’ll end this post with something from Michael Katz, author of “It Sure Beats Working.” Included in his “10 Really Good Reasons to Quit Your Job and Start Your Own Business” are: dancing to your own music, never having to retire, and finding your purpose. Hey, that has nothing to do with sick or well. It’s a lifestyle choice.

Joan

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