I Almost Gave Up
I almost gave up last week.
On all this.
On coaching people, on hosting conferences, on creating content…
Because someone left a comment that…
“You shouldn’t charge for the Mental Health in Architecture Summit if you really want to help.”
I sat in front of my screen, my eyes tearing up glossing over those words.
Self-doubt welled up inside me, a sinking feeling settling in my gut.
Are doing all these really worth it?
I questioned everything I had done, everything I was doing.
It felt like no one appreciated what I do, and that my work was not worthy of value.
I was on the brink of pulling the plug.
But before I did, something happened.
I got on a call with a potential student for my new career group coaching program.
She said she spent the whole night watching my YouTube videos and it made her reflect on her own career.
She went on to describe how her life stopped during COVID to take care of her loved ones. She had been struggling and feeling overwhelmed to find a new job that would value what she does.
These videos I put up, she said, made her feel seen for the first time.
I realized that I had been focusing so much on one negative comment and ignoring the positive ones.
I decided then and there not to give up. Not everyone would understand the value of what I was doing, but those who do will benefit from it.
But the suggestion that I shouldn't charge for the event still bothered me.
And this is an issue in architecture that we need to address.
On the surface, it seemed like a noble idea—after all, shouldn’t we freely help people to make the world a better place?
But this is the same mindset that leads to problems in our industry:
Doing unpaid internships.
Taking on client work for free.
Going out of scope to help our clients.
Which leads to overwork and burnout in our team.
Because we, the noble architects, should want to help and not profit from our passion.
But the truth is what we do requires knowledge, skills, and years of experience (let alone years of studying for that license.)
It takes a lot of time, and energy, and often involves costs that are invisible to others.
Just because your work helps others doesn't mean it should be free.
Besides, the more resources you have, the more people you can help, and the better quality of help you can provide.
There’s nothing shameful about making money.
I proudly run a for-profit business that also creates an enormous amount of free resources for architects.
Here's a reminder to:
Never work for free.
And never let other people tell you to work for free.
Always rooting for you,
Joann
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