By Drew Hornbein

I’m a freelance consultant in Denver who’s been working on my own for nearly 15 years. It’s awesome: I’m my own boss, I choose who I work for, the work is varied and interesting, I have the freedom to travel, and pants are optional (in my home office anyway).

This is what independent workers will tell you, but we often don’t share the things that suck. I’m my own boss, but I’m also the accountant, the marketing department, and mail clerk. We live in a constant state of feast and famine, always rushing to find the next bit of work before the money runs out. It’s also super lonesome. No one to bounce ideas off of or talk me off the ledge when I am ready to give up, ghost all my clients, and live in the woods as a hermit.