by Hope
I spent the end of last month knowing I had no steady income coming into 2025. And I wasn’t freaked out. What a refreshing change from years past when any blip in my work threw me into a full panic. Just thinking back brings the pit back to my stomach.
To be honest, I can’t recall the last update I wrote about what was supposed to be my full time income. From early November until the week of Dec. 16th, my client changed his mind in how he wanted to use me and how much he wanted to use me almost every other day. It was terrible.
So I finally gave him a thanks, but no thanks, and December 20th was my last day.
Relaunch of EPOH
With that being said, I have spent lots of time the last few weeks preparing for a relaunch of my consulting firm. A new brand. New service offerings. And a new website.
I have multiple proposals out to new and past clients and I anticipate closing enough deals to cover monthly base costs by the end of the month. I was able to close two new website deals the last week of 2024.
Still Applying
Don’t worry, I also redid my resume. And have applied to at least a dozen corporate jobs…all in the Austin, TX area. That will probably tell you which way I’m leaning about the house as well.
There are just no viable options for work where I live. So if work comes through in Texas, that will seal the deal on the decision with the house. Yes, it is still up in the air, but I am preparing it should the time come when I make the decision to sale and/or need to move quickly for a new job.
Hope is a resourceful and solutions-driven business manager who has spent nearly two decades helping clients streamline their operations and grow their businesses through project management, digital marketing, and tech expertise. Recently transitioning from her role as a single mom of five foster/adoptive children to an empty nester, Hope is navigating the emotional and practical challenges of redefining her life while maintaining her determination to regain financial control and eliminate debt.
Living in a cozy small town in northeast Georgia with her three dogs, Hope cherishes the serenity of the mountains over the bustle of the beach. Though her kids are now finding their footing in the world—pursuing education, careers, and independence—she remains deeply committed to supporting them in this next chapter, even as she faces the bittersweet tug of letting go.
Since joining the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015, Hope has candidly shared her journey of financial ups and downs. Now, with a renewed focus and a clear path ahead, she’s ready to tackle her finances with the same passion and perseverance that she’s brought to her life and career. Through her writing, she continues to inspire others to confront their own financial challenges and strive for a brighter future.
Glad you are actively working on your next gig. You do need a professional to help you with your website before it goes live. There is a lot of clunky phrasing and there are grammatical errors (some of it reads like it was done by AI) including long run on sentences. The very bottom also has place holders still showing up, as well as some random sentence that ends abruptly and makes no sense. Tightening up the verbiage, cleaning up the fonts/colors, and removing parts of the template that you are not using will improve it dramatically.
This website has a lot of missing links and formatting that doesn’t work properly. And since when have you had a team helping you? And a contact page with missing information? If you are advertising help with people’s websites (which is part of what you’re advertising) then your website should be close to perfect.
Very true. And what you all saw was just a template because I hadn’t the time or energy to actually get the new site done.
I wrote and scheduled the post with all intention of being done and then got really sick.
Reset…
This site is not quite ready for public consumption. It does not show your skills or attention to detail well.
Very true. And what you all saw was just a template because I hadn’t the time or energy to actually get the new site done.
I wrote and scheduled the post with all intention of being done and then got really sick.
Reset…
I haven’t visited this blog in a few years until recently, and have kept quiet. But after seeing your business website, I have to say something.
The photos of your ‘team’ look like generic stock photos, and a simple google reverse image search supports that they are. Identical images are on multiple other websites with different names.
IF you have a team – IF – it doesn’t include the people in those photos. If you do not have a team, it is deceptive to advertise you do, and use these photos to bolster that claim.
I don’t know if you created your website yourself, if you paid someone to build it, if you used some sort of AI generator or what, but if you paid someone, you should get your money back. If you built it yourself and this is the final product….what the heck.
Very true. And what you all saw was just a template because I hadn’t the time or energy to actually get the new site done.
I wrote and scheduled the post with all intention of being done and then got really sick.
Reset…
Is this for real? The writing is amateurish at best. The “team” is fraudulent. And the contact page is gibberish. You clearly need professional help in creating your website, which is ironic since that’s one of the “services” you offer.
Yeah…all that. I think the best case scenario is that this isn’t the final product, but then the blog sections has posts dating back to November. Soooo…it must be live?
On top of everything we’ve all said, I am struck at how ‘the team’ includes a ‘technical lead’, ‘cloud manager’, and ‘support manager’ and is described as having more than 30 years of experience, but Hope has only 20 on there. LIke, is the ’30 years’ adding up all the years of ‘the teams’ experience?….cause, IMO, 3 people with 5 yrs of experience each is not the equivalent of 15 years of experience, any more than 30 people with 1 year of experience is equivalent to experience of 30 years. Support page offering 24/7 sales and chat support. So many errors. I try to be understanding but if this is the final product, It’s concerning….for many reasons.
Very true. And what you all saw was just a template because I hadn’t the time or energy to actually get the new site done.
I wrote and scheduled the post with all intention of being done and then got really sick.
Reset…
Austin? Do you have any idea how much it costs to live in Austin?
And since there is no real information on the amount left to pay on your mortgage, no one can be sure if you have a real profit there. Profit isn’t the amount someone pays over what you paid; it is the amount you actually get minus WHAT YOU OWE.
I doubt the profit from the house will even get you a downpayment or a year of renting.
Also, Austin is a tech giant. If you are trying to get any type of tech job there, you will have a lot of highly competive people applying for every job.
I actually am very familiar with Austin, it’s my birthplace. And where all 4 of my siblings and my parents live.
I won’t be in any rush to buy or rent a place. For the time being, I will live with my parents and help out with my mom while I look for work.
If things get sticky living with my parents, my sister has a room for me and one of my brothers has several AirBnBs I could stay in temporarily at a nominal cost when they aren’t rented. I am not making a quick decision here. This has been in the works or at least thoughts for years now.
Given the services you are offering, this website you should be a shining example o
Very true. And what you all saw was just a template because I hadn’t the time or energy to actually get the new site done.
I wrote and scheduled the post with all intention of being done and then got really sick.
Reset…
How come this guy/website has the same “support team” you have? https://powerskillz.net/about-us/ similar websites too…
The same even down to the “team member” being a “techical” lead. Same typos.
I definitely got overzealous is writing and scheduling this post.
Projects and illness kept me from hitting my launch date.
And you all got to see the template installed with WordPress.
But now I have time and energy so a reset is in order.
Because this is a default theme installed with WordPress.
I was overzealous is writing and scheduling this post and failed to meet my relaunch deadline.
And am just now well enough to start up again…reset.
I am convinced that this poster is a total fake created to generate clicks. No one could possible be as clueless and incompetent as she is portrayed and still be able to function in a business setting.
I gotta say, this is possibly the meanest comment I’ve seen on the site in a long time. There is no need to sling mud like this.
I was overzealous, yes.
I wrote and scheduled this post as I do every month with my batch of posts.
Then got slammed with projects and taken down with illness and failed to hit my launch date.
So you all got to see the theme installed with WordPress rather than my actual new site.
Resetting and working on my new site now.
Well, there are only two options for this post. She’s ignoring questions about plagiarism. or she doesn’t even realize it’s an issue in a professional environment.
OR perhaps…
She was overzealous when writing and scheduling this post.
And she got busy with projects and then very sick so she didn’t hit her deadline.
(Just a thought…)
And by her, I mean, me. I’ve been really sick. And yesterday was the first day I felt human in almost a month.
As a person who is very familiar with technology and web offerings, I just have this to say: You don’t make a professional website public until it is done. Period. You don’t anticipate, you don’t slap up a placeholder site and plan to finish it in time – you get it right before you publicize it and let anyone see it.
I am not trying to be mean here, but this kind of action could devastate your chances of actually growing your business. My son is a professional web developer with many years of experience and even in his early days he would not have allowed anyone to see something this classless.
You need to change your mindset. Decide what you want, plan it, complete it, and then allow others to see it for feedback. Your current mindset is akin to “ready, fire, aim!”.