"Not all independent professionals have a public spotlight on their work. Some take more of a background approach. Dottie Hatton is one of those inconspicuous service providers. She manipulates data for a couple of major corporations in town and handles the behind-the-scenes details for Professional Women's Forum (as business coordinator) and Mortgage Bankers Association of the Bluegrass (as business consultant).
When Hatton and her husband moved from their native Ohio to Lexington in 1983, she was a sales representative for a food distributor and then a pharmaceutical rep. "I thought the pharmaceutical job was going to be my last, but I got downsized with 9,600 others in a 30-second phone call," she said. That was 1995, and she thought about going back into the field with another company but got out of the industry altogether. For several years, she sold computer software and worked at a temp agency, then decided to do something on her own.
Hatton took her time in researching what she wanted to do as an independent professional. For two years, she took classes at the Small Business Development Center, attended Kentucky Freelancers meetings (now ISBO.biz), went to sessions of the Women's Enterprise Institute at Midway College, read a lot on the Internet about setting up a business and getting insurance and worker's comp, and made a list of pros and cons. "What can I do to be flexible?" was one of her top questions. "I knew I didn't want to work with anybody else or have people under me," she said. "It all came back to having a flexible lifestyle, with my parents at their age." Her dad is 91, and her mom is 86.
One of the most important things for independent professionals — and it's not talked about very much — is getting support from family members. Hatton is fortunate to have her husband's encouragement. Her parents, however, couldn't understand her decision to go solo.
"They said, 'What? You're going to work for yourself?' Tom was supportive. They were not, and they haven't really come around," Hatton said.
It was a discussion group at the Carnegie Center that pushed Hatton from incessant research to just-do-it-already mode. The facilitator asked, "If you only had six months to live, what would you want to do? Would you regret not trying something?" Hatton formed her LLC two months later.
"I thought, if it fails it fails," she said, "but I'm not going to wait any longer."
In February 2002, she officially started ProjexPlus+, LLC. By April she had her first client, Professional Women's Forum (PWF), a group that has luncheon meetings the first Wednesday of each month at the Red Mile. At a previous temp job, Hatton met a board member of PWF, who set the wheels in motion for her to be hired as their business coordinator.
Then at a PWF business showcase three years ago, Hatton had her ProjexPlus+ literature on display and someone from Mortgage Bankers Association of the Bluegrass stopped by and asked Hatton for her help. Voilá! Another association client. For both groups, Hatton maintains databases and e-mail distribution lists, writes their newsletters, sends out meeting notices and dues invoices, and handles "meeting prep stuff," including RSVPs and name tags.
At what point does an organization need to hire an outside association management service? "When it's gotten too big for the volunteers or they're ready to take an extra step and increase membership," said Hatton.
Her corporate clients have come from word of mouth and referrals. "I'm doing, not consulting," she said of her projects. She works with financial software, prepares databases, collects data and does some marketing and event planning. Seems to be a far cry from the life of a sales rep, but Hatton uses the skills she learned in sales, minus the hype.
"I'm a planner and an organizer," she said. "I'm always thinking ahead of what needs to be done right now or what can wait a few days." She typically works from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on weekends. "I never thought I'd work this many hours," she said.
And yes, she even takes her computer on vacation. "The only time I didn't was when I went to Alaska last year," she said. "I couldn't monitor my e-mail for a week." Hatton loves to travel. She's been to a handful of countries in Europe and has spent time in all 50 states. The trip to Alaska in 2006 completed that lifelong dream.
Hatton's advice for anyone considering going solo is to know yourself. "Know what you like and what you don't like, what your strengths are," she said. "People who work for themselves have to be disciplined. Being a sales rep taught me that."
And a final thought for every one of us: "Plan your day. Know what you're going to do and go."
Learn more about Dottie Hatton and ProjexPlus+, LLC at www.projexplus.com.
"