At the beginning of this year, I told my last Salesforce consulting client that I wouldn't be renewing past the end of May. I was finally making the full leap into Build Something Wild. I gave them plenty of notice and communicated regularly.
About a month before my planned last day, they told me they'd hired my replacement but wanted ninety days of overlap. I sent back a thirty-day transition plan. I knew they didn't need ninety days, and thirty was what I could give.
Then the new hire's visa got held up. They asked if I'd extend past my planned date.
I thought about it for a while. I could have said no. I could have said yes at a much higher rate. I talked it through with a close friend, and he said: whatever you decide, I bet I'll read a newsletter about it. [He was right 😆]
What made this harder than it sounds: most days I'm fully absorbed in Build Something Wild, and switching back into Salesforce mode for this client takes a mental gear shift. I have to drag my brain into a different version of how I think.
In the end I said yes, without conditions or a rate increase, and I want to tell you why.
This client has been exceptional. Two-plus years of consistent, respectful, well-paid work. Every invoice paid on time, without question. In recent months, as I've juggled their work alongside building something new, they've been flexible, frequently moving standing meetings around to accommodate things on my end, without complaint. They've provided predictable income during a period when I've needed exactly that.
When I told them I'd stay on, I also told them why: they'd been a great client, and they deserved to hear it.
There's a version of this story where I hold the line and feel righteous about it. But the skill is knowing which boundaries to hold and what you're actually protecting when you do. I held my boundary on ninety days. I let it flex on the end date. Both were decisions I made on purpose, with full knowledge of what I was agreeing to.
I've built my working life on holding firm boundaries, so flexing this one wasn't something I took lightly. But with everything I just described, it ultimately wasn't a hard decision.
Hi! I’m Carrie. I believe doing good work and living the life you want are not in conflict. If you’re ready to build that way, reply to this email or see how we can work together.
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