We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katya Fishman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katya below.

Katya, appreciate you joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

At least twice a year, I think “I wish I just had a regular job.”

Owning and running your own business, without the desire to scale or hire employees, can be a particularly challenging type of business to operate. Some months are incredibly lucrative, while others are quiet and even boring. As with any industry, writing and publishing is no different. It ebbs and flows, cycling through busy and low seasons.

I took all of October 2024 off for a trip to Europe (one of the many pros of owning your own business!) but came back to a pretty dry inbox in November. Now, in the last month of the year, I have had a few leads come through but no one has signed. They all cited the need to think about their decision and informed me they’ll be in touch in the new year. Financially, I’m solid through the end of the year, regardless. But it’s moments like these when I start to fantasize about “getting a real job.”

I scroll for half an hour at a time on LinkedIn and other job boards to see what’s out there, what I could imagine myself doing, where I could imagine myself working.

But then I remember my insanely busy summer and all the projects I completed this year. I earned this slower time! It’s nice to have time to focus on my health, my home, cooking, and other hobbies I have that go by the wayside when work picks up.

While people with regular jobs have the reliance of stable income each month, they don’t get to work minimally for months at a time, digging into their passions and various interests that time and time again actually feed back into the success and growth of my business. Success is expected 100% of the time at a job. There is no “winter” in business. I, however, own a business that can be in sync with nature. Slower seasons are not only completely natural, they are a necessary part of the life cycle.

The beauty of being an entrepreneur is that I get to choose what kind of narrative I abide by. Instead of fear and panic in response to a slower cycle, I relish it. Maybe I look at a job board a couple times throughout but doing so always reminds me that I’m lucky to have control over my time, be that minutes, hours, days, months, or seasons.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Endeaovrink is a creative company providing book writing and publishing services for entrepreneurs. I work with entrepreneurs and business owners to write and publish nonfiction books and memoirs that share their unique expertise and stories with the world.

The main offering that lights me up is book coaching. I work with incredible people who have knowledge, experience, and stories to share but struggle with how to organize and present that information. Together, we nail the outline, in which we establish a structure for the book, and then we spend four months (sometimes more) writing the book, meeting twice a month where we review the last two weeks’ written content and brainstorm what to change or improve. I draw upon my teaching experience to make sure the reader journey is clear.

I’m impressed and amazed by the clients I get to work with. Some are highly practical, business driven individuals, others are spiritual dreamers sharing their insights with the world, others are a unique combination of both. I’m grateful that I get to work with people who are inspired to share their gifts with the world in written form.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

First is referrals! This speaks to the importance of really delivering your service well. It’s very likely that your clients know other people, or perhaps are even in communities of people, that are a perfect fit for your services.

Second is collaborations! My most effective collaboration has been getting listed on an industry leader’s resources page.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In my last year of college, I became severely ill. I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, Dengue fever, and Crohn’s disease. My dreams of working a full-time job as a teacher or at a publishing house were squashed. I had to take part-time gigs to accomodate low energy and prioritize the state of my health. Eventually, this led to me founding my own business, Endeavorink, which has sustained me with a full-time income (though I rarely work more than 30 hours/week) for 8 years now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://endeavorink.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fishinforkatya/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=769398215
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katya-fishman/