I moved here because Portland (or its suburbs) is my hometown. My roots are Oregonian but I've infused some southern Californian flavors within me to create a hybrid. I moved because I wanted to write and take a break from my high-octane engineering life. Staying in San Diego to do that wasn't financially prudent. I'm exploring Portland as an adult now and enjoying it, for the most part.
Do I have to pick one? Community, clients, connections! If I had to pick one, I'd say clients! I need clients interested in my career advising for engineers or STEM professional speaking services listed on: https://diyawrites.com/profile/career-advising I need to meet other service-based solopreneurs and grow my network here - that's community. I want to find out if there are any Trojan (USC) owned businesses in the area because I volunteer on a young alumni advisory council for my alma mater. We're generally looking for venues to host events. That's connections.
I love volunteering and I'm currently civically engaged on the voter side. As an independent journalist, I anchor a program on the CivicSciTV Network, which is all about creating a two-way engagement between science (and STEM fields) and the community. As an engineer, I think it's important for me to contribute in small ways to science policy. I'd be interested in learning about advisory councils or if there's a need somewhere, feel free to reach out to me.
