When Liz left uni, she was adamant she didn’t want to be a freelancer.  And yet here we are, via starting a stationary business and a family. A 9 year gradual process which has resulted in her switching from treating her freelancing like a hobby, to firmly treating it like a business. Starting a podcast. Working with Adobe. Diversifying her income and having fun along the way. This is Episode 300 of the Being Freelance podcast - recorded live in the Being Freelance Community - join us! There is also a video version of this podcast on YouTube. You'll find full show notes and transcript ..read more

This is actually the fourth time Jackson’s been freelance. He’s not just quit jobs, he even once quit his own company. But whereas the other times he was a ‘regular’ graphic designer, this time he’s spent a decade as a specialist: a lettering artist and calligrapher. Regularly posting to Instagram and Behance got him noticed and grew an audience as commissions from around the world reached him at his home in Brazil. He’s since launched online courses, prints, fonts and NFT collections, building his reputation so he can work when he wants around his family. There’s no sign of him quitting this ..read more

Anna had built a career across corporate and government comms in Melbourne. But if she wanted to move her family out of the city and that meant first meant transforming the way she worked. Anna set out to prove she could match her past income, now as a freelance copywriter.  The seeds she planted in the city are now bearing fruit. From a farm in rural Victoria she’s reaping the rewards - a business that feels good and that runs around her kids. Today she’s questioning the external pressures that tell us to ‘scale’. The farmers before them planted olive trees. That doesn’t mean it’s a busi ..read more

Alex trained as a musician. He followed a drumming dream to Nashville along with an internship at a 'mom & pop' business. There, they had him creating graphics and videos - those two things came together when Alex discovered motion graphics. He took to studying and developing as a motion designer. Self taught, he’s always been constantly trying to learn and improve. He didn't want to be the best in his company. He wanted to learn from the best... Finding an internship in LA working on big Hollywood movies, he kept at it. Swapping socialising for learning, upskilling and sharing his self in ..read more

Alex trained as a musician. He followed a drumming dream to Nashville along with an internship at a 'mom & pop' business. There, they had him creating graphics and videos - those two things came together when Alex discovered motion graphics. He took to studying and developing as a motion designer. Self taught, he’s always been constantly trying to learn and improve. He didn't want to be the best in his company. He wanted to learn from the best... Finding an internship in LA working on big Hollywood movies, he kept at it. Swapping socialising for learning, upskilling and sharing his self in ..read more

Spring 2020. A pandemic lockdown. Doesn’t sound like the ideal time to build a business, but Ayo had 20 years of marketing experience as her foundations. And a love of marketing that she’d put to good use on herself. Specialising in the ‘built environment’ - think construction, engineers, architects - Ayo launched a podcast that raised her profile and brought her clients. Repurposing content across socials and her newsletters, Ayo put the same plans, systems & processes she uses with clients to boost her own business. With award-winning added to her LinkedIn profile, she’s built something ..read more

Brazilian creative Victoria was working in advertising in London when in 2013 she fancied a change. A change of pace, country and language, and to help her do that she figured she’d go freelance in Spain. After 3 years she took a job in an agency. Four years on she felt ready to freelance again. A pandemic and motherhood making the flexibility of working from home even more appealing. Second time around Victoria felt much more prepared. In her positioning, her processes, her dealings with clients… in running her own business. In this conversation we cover, amongst other things: the importance ..read more

It’s quite a winding route that’s taken Marcelle to be known as a fashion photographer. But from working in shops on London’s Oxford Street as a teenager, now her photos can be seen in those windows instead. Marcelle did lots of work for free early on but it built a network, a portfolio and a reputation that has since served her well. Whilst her training as a graphic designer has kept her working at times when she didn’t have a camera in her hand. She loves her job and is a self professed workaholic, but her thirty year plan finds her sitting in a beach far away from the streets of London. You ..read more

Kyle left agency life and started his self-employed journey working with friends as a collective. 8 years on though, he’d built his own name through hosting meet-ups and speaking at events to the point where it made sense to go solo. From small meet-ups he ended up speaking on some of the biggest stages with the likes of Adobe as clients. Yet in 2020 decided to switch from being a freelancer to becoming a Creative Director in-house. Now, full-time at School Of Motion, a fully remote company, he still has flexibility in his life. Kyle believes his years of working independently, general skill-s ..read more

When Korean Hyunjin, or ‘Jenna’ as she’s also known, met her American husband, she moved to be with him and needed to find work in small town USA. Whilst blogging tips about international relationships, Jenna found readers started to approach her for help with their own written English requirements like cover letters and applications. Her freelance journey had begun. Years later she joined Elance, that became Upwork, and worked her way up to be one of the top 1% professionals on the freelancer job site. Her blog meanwhile spawned what is now the largest community for Korean/international coupl ..read more