How Solopreneurs Operate:

Learn from independent pros around the globe 🌏

We’re documenting solopreneurship on a global scale

How Solopreneurs Operate (HSO) is a Q&A and content series where independent business owners across industries share personal stories and insights on how they sustain and scale. Our platform is a growing community of solo founders and freelancers from different parts of the world.

Series creator and writer Damian Ghigliotty works alongside colleagues Sakirat Idris, Samuel Offor, Sandeep Rajan, and Bendu Corneh to co-host guest Q&As and publish global trend reports. Our interviews run on LinkedIn and other social platforms.

It’s a vibrant time for independent business owners globally and the numbers back it up. In the United States 🇺🇸, the world’s largest economy, 5.2 million small business applications were filed in 2024, holding near 2023’s record 5.5 million. And more than 100,000 nonemployer firms now generate between $1 million and $2.5 million in annual revenue, per Forbes.

Inside Looks From Solo Pros of All Stripes

We connect with self-employed professionals across a range of fields:

• Media and marketing 📣

• Investing and finance 💰

• Technology 💻

• Real estate 🏠

• Business consulting 💼

• Legal and lobbying ⚖️

• Education and coaching 🎓

• Food and beverage 🥗

• Manual labor and artisanship 🔨

• Farming and sustainability 🌱

• Transportation 🚙

• Art and design 🎨

• Music and acting 🎭

• Photography and film 📸

• Crypto and Web3 🪙

• Salons and beauty ✂️

Notable Quotes from Our Guests

Wes Wheless of Develop My IP: “I’m grateful for my time in corporate—it was the first 20 years of my career, and in that time I gathered what I call a ‘big bag of experiences’ that laid the foundation for me to design a more custom path for my next 20 years.”

Hannah Miet of Hannah Miet Consulting: “I’d seen almost every side of the table in CRE, and that made me feel ready, or at least ready enough, to take the leap.”

Jason Allan Scott of J16Z: “It’s not so much about building a brand as it is about building a framework that solves a clear pain problem, runs with minimal overhead, and operates through a repeatable system.”

Jehan Daugherty of Jehan LLC Photography: “I can never say enough about the power of networking and supporting small businesses.”

Melissa Zehner of Organic GMT: “The most engaging people I know aren’t trying to create a perception of perfection—in fact, they’re intentionally doing the opposite.”

Orlando Molina of Boom Bap Across The Map: “Find something different and unique that sticks out. Big corporations will want to compare you to industry standards. Ignore that and build your own thing so the industry copies YOU.”

Join the Community

Our platform is an educational resource for all, offering a wider lens into how independent business owners around the world think, operate, and juggle. We welcome guest recommendations and encourage anyone running a company solo to reach out.

Join the HSO community on LinkedIn.

For guest inquiries: solopreneurpaths@gmail.com

For business inquiries: ghigliottyco@gmail.com