These days we’re hearing more and more stories of people who have climbed the career ladder only to find themselves stressed and unhappy. Some continue on despite feeling unfulfilled, and others, like Rachel Murray, take a leap. After training to be a lawyer and dedicating years of her life to the practice, Rachel ended up in an unexpected situation; she no longer wanted to practise law. With no idea of what she might do instead, her career change journey led to her starting her fortnightly newsletter, Pivot! From her candour about choosing to leave a job that caused her to burn out, to her a ..read more

Struggling with the technical side of remote working? It seems like the whole world is tackling the complexities of working from home at the moment, and whether it’s video conferencing, business security, or something else, every day brings a new challenge in figuring out how to do our jobs away from the office. Stevie Nicks, Digital Editor at Just Another Magazine, shares some thoughts on how technology can help make your remote working life easier. Advocates of remote working have been pushing it as a logical move for years, with their case growing formidable when internet in ..read more

Ready to upgrade your work-from-home life? I’m thrilled to finally be able to share what’s been keeping me so busy lately (and not updating this blog – my bad)… I wrote a book! Order now and support the Trussell Trust food bank initiative Working In Pyjamas: How to thrive while working from home It’s no secret that the world is a little, shall we say, WEIRD right now. I recently had to try and make it back from my month-long Bali trip before flights were cancelled and the UK went into lockdown. It was a mad rush, but I was ultimately successful. I was very fortunate to be able to come back an ..read more

The great thing about working for yourself is that everything is up to you. The bad news is… everything is up to you. Who you work with, how much you feel your work is worth and how you treat other people.  There’s tons of advice out there on things such as ‘beating isolation when working from home’ or ‘getting on top of your finances’. Both a lot easier than coaches or consultants would want you to believe. When I went freelance one year ago, it was the uncomfortable stuff no one wanted to talk about I found trickier to understand.  To help you make decisions confidently, I’ve put together s ..read more

Mulberry Design is all about contemporary WordPress web design. Based in Warwickshire, the agency is headed up by founder Sarah Sarkies, and delivers a range of services from WordPress web design, hosting and domain services, to video, photography, print and social media. At Mulberry Design, the focus is on delivering beautiful, bespoke design for businesses big and small, and Sarah likes to describe it as a ‘micro’ agency. Instead of hiring lots of unnecessary team members, she brings in expertise only on a per project basis, so every client gets only the best and most essential people for t ..read more

When I met Xena Gusthart in her members club in Soho, The Groucho, it was clear she had made friends with many of the members and staff there. Her effortless camaraderie secured us a spot on a comfy sofa, and she insisted I put my green tea on her tab, as well as ordering Twiglets. Based on her choice of snacks alone, I was already enjoying Xena’s company. Maybe it’s the Scottish accent, but I felt like I’d known her a long time. We talked about our hometowns and what it’s like to be northern lasses in London, and I almost forgot to start recording the interview as we chatted away. As she tol ..read more

As a freelancer, I live in a state of scarcity, as do many other self-employed people. Although I love this type of work and the freedom it gives me, I’ll be the first to admit that it comes with an underlying worry; worry that you will suddenly lose all of your clients, worry that you will not earn enough to pay rent for the month, and worry that the job you have chosen just isn’t working. Catastrophising much? I felt this way the entire first year of my freelance career, but over the last 12 months or so I began to earn more money, and eventually overtook what I was earning in my previous f ..read more

Building a business doesn’t have to mean being lonely and overworked, as Claire Dowd shares with us in her Startup Story. The founder of X Events has gone from an employee at an events agency with over 8 years of experience, to starting and running her own agency focusing on incentive travel. Claire was named one of Conference and Incentive Travel Magazine’s Top 35 Under 35 Influential Events People in 2016, and her business has doubled in size since she began her journey. We caught up with Claire to discuss starting out, how she manages her growing business, and what’s next for X Events: Hey ..read more