The 80/20 work life: Kalle, 80% designer, 20% family business guy
The freedom to arrange your work life in a way that suits you the best is not something everyone can do. Senior Designer Kalle Järveläinen spends 80% of his working hours at software consultancy Mavericks, and 20% at his family business MOIMOI designing and selling sustainable leather bags. Read how he manages the balance and how the arrangement has enriched Kalle’s (work) life and wellbeing.
Four-day work week or back to freelancing
Kalle is a Senior Designer with over two decades of work experience from concept-, service-, product-, UX-, UI- and graphics design. He kicked-off his long career at an advertising agency, and has since worked both as a freelance designer and in consultancies. As an entrepreneur Kalle got familiar with the freedom to choose how, how much and when to work, and a four-day work week became his new normal. After a long stint of freelancing he was lured back to employment, but he chose not to compromise the four-day work week. Ever.
“I find it very important that an employer can provide the possibility to work a shorter work week. If there was no such option, I’d go back to freelancing in a heartbeat.
Now that I work at Mavericks, I highly value the employer value proposition of combining the best of two worlds: the income level and freedom of a freelancer, and consultancy’s safety net and sales machinery. It truly feels like I’d be working as a freelancer, except that I have more free time as I don’t have to do the administrative stuff, invoicing or sales. I can do my best at work and just close the laptop when the work day is finished, and focus on hobbies, spending time with loved ones or playing with my daughter instead of doing dull paperwork.”
Combining consulting and family business MOIMOI
At the moment Kalle spends 80% of his working hours here at software consultancy Mavericks, and 20% at his family business MOIMOI designing and selling sustainable leather bags. The idea of timeless, minimalistic and sustainable leather bags had been cooking for some time, and in 2010 MOIMOI took its first steps. Now the high-quality and long lasting products can be bought online, from MOIMOI studio shop in Helsinki and from different shops in Finland, Spain, Belgium and Japan.
Photo by Laura Iisalo
“MOIMOI is a Helsinki-based company that manufactures classic and sustainable leather bags. We recently added vegan bags to the collection, too. My wife is in charge of the operational side of the business, while I’m responsible for the website, graphic design, photography and customer service to some extent.
My wife and I design the bags together. Sustainability and timeless design are at the core of MOIMOI, and our products are made to last for decades. We design each product for ourselves for some certain need, and having that real use behind the design does sell.”
80/20 works great
For the time being 80/20 works great for Kalle. Four efficient work days at the customer and one day a week for managing MOIMOI’s errands are enough to make things happen at both ends.
“I’ve worked with the 80/20 model for so long that organizing my work comes naturally to me. In fact, the only thing that really needs to be arranged is that one day that I won’t be available for the customer. When it comes to MOIMOI, I list all the todo’s in detail as they come so I always know what to do next. Seeing how much I can get done even in a shorter time gives me confidence, and also my clients have been pleased with my efficient and focused way of working.”
Freedom to arrange one’s work life enriches wellbeing
Working at Mavericks using the 80/20 model has given Kalle a lot.
“I’m very grateful to Mavericks and my clients for making this possible. It feels super good to have the freedom to organize my work as I was a freelancer, but still have the security of employment. Knowing that someone is taking care of the things that I don’t know about or care to do myself, such as invoicing or arranging occupational health care, takes stress out of my shoulders and leaves me more free time.”
For those who consider a four-day work week but are worried about the effects it might have on income, Kalle has a word of comfort.
“The hit that one’s income level takes is lower than the drop in one’s working hours, as taxation will lighten. I wouldn’t be too nervous about the matter.”
Mavericks is the go-to software consultancy for the top of their field software professionals who want to get the best of two worlds: The salary level and freedom of a freelancer and the safety net and sales machinery of a consultancy. We are constantly looking for new team members – are you the next Maverick?