Engineer to Entrepreneur: My Small Business Story

Life before Business

Who the heck quits a full-time engineering job to start their own small business, having absolutely no idea what the future holds? Hi, it's me! I'm Karley—wife, dog mom x2, ex-engineer, and founder of Bud to Bloom Marketing.

I left my comfortable, "dream" job working as an engineer in D.C. to pursue my creative passions, and what a freaking rollercoaster of a journey it's been so far. Here's a bit about my small business story and how I got to where I am today (which spoiler alert: this ain't the final destination. I'm always learning and evolving, but I'm grateful for the journey along the way!).

My engineering job was missing something...

After a grueling 4 years working towards my engineering degree, I landed what I believed to be my dream job. I accepted my first-choice job offer right before Christmas senior year of college, and I truly felt like I had made it. One of my good friends also accepted a job at my company. It was located in downtown D.C., the benefits were great, pay was comfortable, and the location was perfect for me to move in with my boyfriend after 4 years of long distance.

Pretty immediately after starting my job, I felt like it was missing something. That "something" was my creative side. Engineering, rightfully so, is a very regimented field where you need to follow the rules and learn the code books front-to-back. My favorite task to work on were reports (because writing was involved), but even those required following a clear outline and format. As a very creative person who used to write short stories and poetry and create videos for fun, I needed to have an outlet to express my creativity.

All of the Side Hustles

The summer after college, I started a lifestyle blog to document this new season of life. I wrote about everything—my recent experience of going gluten free, travel, living with my boyfriend for the first time, commuting, and adjusting to the post-college lifestyle. Pretty quickly (thanks to some very targeted Facebook ads), I learned that blogging could become my creative side hustle.

I didn't try to monetize my blog for the money...at first. It all happened by accident. I got my first virtual assistant job ghostwriting for another blog, which snowballed into a second blogging gig, then I ended up working as a moderator for Facebook groups with thousands of members.

From there, I started a monthly journaling membership with a small group of women. I released weekly journaling prompts, and we'd hop on a monthly coaching call to discuss any aha moments and have deep conversations about what we'd learn about ourselves through the journaling process. I also had a side hustle coaching business where I helped women in their early 20s start and grow their own side hustles. I will say I worked all of these side hustles at the same time—and I do not recommend doing that for your sanity, lol.

And finally, I fell into marketing. I landed a Marketing Coordinator position with a well-known photography educator, and it felt like the first side hustle that could actually become something. Working in this role made me realize that I'm actually GOOD at marketing—and I love it.

Transitioning from Part-time into Full-time

The problem with that Marketing Coordinator position was that it was for 40 hours/month, and I still worked my engineering job full time. So, after much deliberation with my husband, I decided to talk to my boss about my options. I received the Marketing Coordinator offer on a Friday, and the following Monday I requested a phone call with him.

I still can't put into words how difficult calling my boss that day was. No one at my office, except my close coworker friends, even knew I had multiple side hustles and this creative side. So calling my boss discussing the possibility of going part-time due to a new side hustle endeavor was terrifying. I wondered if I'd get fired on the spot for pursuing other work outside of my job. I wondered if he'd be concerned that I'd quit if he said no. But, I took a deep (shaky) breath, had my sticky note with talking points ready, and dialed my boss.

Thankfully, he was extremely kind, understanding, and supportive. My boss was willing to work with me and allow me to go part time. We landed on me working Mondays and Tuesdays for 10 hours/day, because you had to work 20 hours per week in order to receive benefits. This arrangement worked out perfectly for about 5 months, and then it was time to go full time in my business.

I had a big work project ending at the end of June, so I knew in the back of my mind I'd like to quit my engineering job afterwards. I worked my butt off to get my business off the ground by then, and finally made that big, scary decision. I officially was a full time business owner July 2021.

How I Started a Marketing Business

After all of those side hustles, I realized that marketing was THE thing I wanted to pursue. I closed down all of my other endeavors in order to prioritize and focus on marketing. My early clients were all referrals, so I actually didn't even have social media for Bud to Bloom until July 2022. But once I was ready to really get serious and expand my offers, I knew I needed to focus on my visibility.

The Many Iterations of Bud to Bloom Marketing

Even though my business is officially only a few years old, it's gone through many iterations, in terms of services offered, my messaging, and its visual branding. I started doing virtual assistant work with a focus in marketing. From there, I worked via retainer packages doing social media management for online businesses.

I've also ran a virtual coworking community, Content Coffeehouse, in both a free and paid capacity. I've put a heavy focus on serving local brick and mortars, then expanded back to serving online businesses. I've added in VIP days and taken them out. Bud to Bloom Marketing has been through many iterations because as I grow and evolve, my business will, too. I hope that gives YOU permission to try new things in your business because let's face it, it keeps things fun.

What's next?

I'd be lying if I said I knew what was next for Bud to Bloom. Here's what I'm positive of. I LOVE community—serving local Maryland businesses, connecting with people in person, and encouraging other entrepreneurs. I enjoy empowering online businesses by providing them with the tools and strategies they need to feel more confident.

I love blessing people and loving them through my business, in whatever that looks like. There's no way I could have predicted the last 5 years of my life, so I won't pretend like I can predict the next 5 years. Whatever plans God has for me, I'm willing to live out. Be sure to follow along on my journey @budtobloommarketing on Instagram—I'd love to connect with you there. And thank you for being here and reading my story, friend.