Today is my last day at Vertafore, a software company where I’ve spent the last year as a User Experience Designer near my home in Bothell, Washington. It’s always a bit sad to leave those you’ve grown to know and have worked with over a period of time, and I am fortunate to have worked with one of the best teams of UX Designers and Researchers in my entire career, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to take things in a new direction.

For me, 2013 marks my return to the freelance world and an exciting opportunity within the e-Commerce space. But that’s not all. This move will provide greater freedom for me to see if I can turn some of my hobbies into something that will support themselves and, more importantly, my family.

I have no illusions that any of this will work out the way that I imagine when I allow myself to dream about the greener grass on the other side of the fence. Although I may have the necessary skills, at least to a sufficiently meaningful level of quality, success or failure will depend on how well (or poorly) I manage the basics like motivation, the procrastination demons, and self-doubt. Luckily I’m gifted with just enough self-delusion to make this sort of thing work out, in the long run.

If nothing else, it’ll be an exciting ride. Cheers to 2013!