Independent / Small Business Owners

At a cocktail party one winter night in 1999 — thrown by someone who indeed refers to them as such — a couple of us were talking about the wonders and challenges of being self-employed. I had left an ad agency the year before, to go solo as a copywriter and voice-over artist, and Charlotte Caldwell had just given notice at another agency, to pursue Web design on her own. She was excited, but also a little sad at the thought of not having co-workers with whom to kick around ideas.