Three Years At Centori: Still Going Strong, And Still Learning
It was a cold, snowy weekend in January 2023 when ChatGPT launched to the public and rocked the world. In that moment, a red warning light went off in my head, telling me that everything I worked for – everything I learned about SEO, marketing, and good salesmanship – was for naught.
I remember shortly after on an MLK weekend trip to New York with my wife, where, between gusts of biting wind that poked through our scarves like sharp needles, I repeatedly bemoaned that I’d never be able to make a go of it full-time at Centori.
Five months later, I put in notice at work, and three years later, I’m going strong. More than that, the past year has been my best by far, and I’ve still got so much more to learn. Take that, ChatGPT.
For someone who loves to write as much as I do, I’ve put off writing this post.
I’ve been noodling over it for the past month, yet keep coming up empty. I think it’s because the last few versions of these “updates” have read more like boardroom announcements sprinkled with a few sarcastic side comments and a dash of self-deprecating humor.
Much of that stems from how I’ve viewed Centori.
I’ve participated in too many pitch competitions and worked for too many tech startups that the “make everything sound as impressive as possible” seems to have worked its way into the grey matter of my brain.
But that’s not what this business is. And that’s the primary lesson I’ve learned in the past year: how to accept what Centori is, and who I am.
Before I made the leap into full-time self-employment, my hours in the early mornings, evenings, and weekends were consumed with a rotation of the following:
- Product/Service development
- Marketing
- Sales
Rinse and repeat.
In other words, figuring out the business and how the heck to get customers.
For the past year, though, most of my time has been spent doing client work because, oh boy, have I been busy. Looking back over the last 12 months to 2025, I’ve made more than I did as a full-time Product Manager, I’ve held a steady rotation of 6-8 clients at a time, and despite the odds and all the marketing material from Anthropic and OpenAI, I’ve been busy enough to eke out a living that contributes to my mortgage, a trip to Italy later this year, and getting back into film photography.
By all accounts, Centori has been a greater success than I could have hoped for. Indeed, I’ve reached the level of success that I coveted after leaving the safe confines of full-time employment.
And that’s led me to the all-too dangerous question of “now what?”
Now what?
Do I scale Centori? Build a team, take on more clients, and become a big agency? Do I supplement client work with low-ticket scalable offers and knowledge products? Do I build an entirely new business?
When I look at people further along, more successful, and probably smarter than I, it’s hard not to look in the mirror and ask those questions.
The above has whirred around the racetrack in my brain for the last six months. While I doubt they’ll ever go quiet – settling is not in my nature – I’m learning how to enjoy the ride and see where life takes me. That means being happy with the roller coaster that comes with freelancing.
And yes, it means accepting the “F-word”: freelancer.
Centori is a solo operation. It took me a while, but I accepted it. My ego craves the idea of having a “real” business with employees, overhead, and whatnot, but the reality is that my clients thus far have not hired an agency to do their marketing; they have hired me, Tyler Scionti.
It certainly is easier that way. It makes the ups and downs a tad easier to stomach, since I’m the solo rider and don’t have to suffer the guilt of having to convince someone to join me on this journey. And, as I said above, for the past year at least, it’s been financially rewarding.
But that finally brings me to being able to answer the question of what I do.
I used to say I was an SEO expert. Then I’m building an SEO coaching and services company. Then “content studio,” whatever that meant. And for a while after that, “I work in marketing.”
But none of those are true. They’re factual to an extent, but truth and facts are different things. They say, in part, what I do, but not who I am.
And the answer to that question is, I’m a writer.
I’ve been a writer since I was 16, when I started a blog on Blogger. I’ve been a writer since I earned my first dollar writing for a sports website in college (and eventually starting my own). And now, I regularly write 25,000 words every month for my clients. Oh, and I’m slowly working my way through a novel. TBD.
I’m a writer, and I’m fortunate that over the last three years, I haven’t really thought about looking for a job. Despite “AI replacing marketers,” I’ve been in more demand than ever. Despite SEO being dead, I still find myself writing thousands of words every week to keep up with client demand.
In other words, it appears that being a writer is still relevant, and that’s fine with me. Of course, even if/when the day comes that AI can write as well as Hemingway, that won’t stop me from writing because you might as well clap your hand over my mouth to stop me from breathing.
Sure, I’ve learned “business” lessons in the past year;
- Hire way slower than you think
- Be choosy with your clients and charge more
- Always, and I mean always, be prospecting
But none of those matters quite as much as the lesson I learned on how to accept who I am, what this business is, and how to be happy with it. And what to do once you get what you want.
By all accounts, I’ve gotten what I always wanted: I’m self-employed, and I’m paid to write.
And while no one believes it until it happens to them, getting what you want will never make you happy. Beyond the above, the most important lesson I’ve learned this year is that happiness is, and always has been, a state of mind. I spent my (granted, short) career telling myself I’d be happy once I was self-employed and an “entrepreneur.”
Now, I’m realizing that it’s not up to what I do, where I travel, or what I have to make me happy. It’s up to me.