In honor of International Women’s Day today on the blog we are sharing with you a few of our very own female freelancers. Take a read, be inspired, and let’s continue the celebration for women all around the world not only today, but everyday. “An Equal World is an Enabled World.”
Featured Freelancer: Emily Forsberg
What do you do?
I’m an Advertising Art Director specializing in Visual Branding Systems.
As a multidisciplinary designer – I work across print, digital, and spatial design. I enjoy rehabbing, enhancing, or fully developing visual systems for clients across all types of industries. I work directly with brands, have a responsive approach to my process, and enjoy working in an integrated fashion. I come from high volume agency experience, having wet my feet at McKinney, Durham gleaning knowledge through 4 compressed years, starting as a Designer in Print and Digital Production, to In-house Photographer, and ultimately Art Director.
Share how freelancing has been great and has been hard?
Autonomy is the greatest reward to all the pain that goes into having your own business. It’s not easy, but it’s worth all the extra effort to have full control over your full life. I struggled to figure it out for a few years, but by the 3rd year in business, I think I finally hit my stride. Autonomy also doesn’t mean you get to work on all the coolest projects all the time. Sometimes you have to take on less glamorous work to pay the bills, and sometimes I welcome the mental break creatively. The sooner you let go of the day dream of only working on the coolest projects with the coolest clients, the better off you will be in business. Focus on other benefits you’ll receive from the project, like the personal or professional growth you’ll attain.
Are there any assumptions about women who freelance that you want to change and why?
That we are willing to work for less money!
Also, as women, we are often battling the hidden assumption of our freelance business being a “part-time” job for extra money. Not to say, that’s not an awesome perk – to have the flexibility to more easily raise (future) kids – but it shouldn’t be the focus. Clients sometimes assume you cost less – because you must not be the breadwinner if you have a career in freelance. One thing that helps dispel this idea is time. The longer you have been in the freelance business, the more serious you are taken. I don’t really have the answers for this, but as freelance is becoming more well-known as a viable career path in general, we will hopefully run into this less and less. We need to keep doing the work, by speaking up and advocating for the value we provide, with every project estimate and every new client. Stay sharp ladies.
What women inspire you and why?
How much time do you have? I’ll just tell you about my IG feed. I actually don’t follow a lot of designers or people who do what I do – constantly comparing your work to those you admire, or those who are further down the path you’d like to be, isn’t good for your mental health.
Instead I follow people who inspire me in other parts of my life:
@Alex_Elle – For mindfulness & wellness
@ilana Glazer – To laugh for a cause
@amypoehlersmartgirls – Celebrate your truest self
@jameelajamil & i_weigh
@risingwomen – #relationshipgoals for all of the relationships
@the.zero.waste.collective – working on my low-waste lifestyle
@bride.disrupted – ‘cause my best-friend and I are engaged
Also…
The women in my pottery community at the #ncsucraftscenter
The women I met while working remotely, while traveling for 4 months via @remoteyear
The women who raised me – a big-ol family of strong, opinionated women.
The women I consider chosen family, my sisterhood of girlfriends.
The women making an impact right here in our NC community.
The countless BA women colleagues/friends from McKinney + Baldwin&
Collectively all these women inspire me to be a better version of myself.
What advice would you give for other women who freelance?
Get smart about what your work and output is worth in your industry – keep on top of increasing your rates as your career advances. Don’t undersell yourself. You can always negotiate back down if you go too far out of the client’s range – it never hurts to at least have the conversation. Be open about your goals and receptive to the financial goals of your client. Being able to have an honest conversation about your value, will be an extra signal that you mean business. Remember to celebrate yourself and your wins! You are killing it girl – even just having the bravery to go for it in the freelance world.
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Featured Freelancer: Hélène Parker
What do you do?
I’m a digital and programmatic media expert. I handle all things paid ads and paid media for my clients.
In the last 8 years or so, I’ve worked for advertising and marketing agencies where I’ve had different roles including strategy & planning, campaign activation and monitoring, analysis and reporting from entry level to director position. In the leadership roles I’ve had, training on the aforementioned has been my absolute favorite and is where I’ve earned from fellow coworkers and partners, the nickname of Programmatic Sensei. I started a podcast called the Programmatic Digest, a weekly discussion on top Programmatic and digital news with other Programmatic ninjas in the last year.
Share how freelancing has been great and has been hard?
It’s been and still is a positive journey! I’ve made the decision to start working for myself because I needed flexibility and autonomy in my day to day. Agency life can drain your spirit from time to time (?) and I realized I was limiting myself working for one employer. Education and sharing knowledge is very important to me and being able to do so on my own time was important. The positive side is that now I have the flexibility to do things that are important to me in addition to my work because I love what I do and love the industry I work in. I started my own business and it’s growing faster than I realized it could , I have a podcast, I take time to volunteer, I make time to network, and most importantly, I make the time for my loved ones and friends. I’ve never felt so productive in my day to day. I accomplish so much more in 8 hours working from home and for myself vs 8 hours in an office. I used to compromise self care and personal health because of how loyal I wanted to be to my employer and not received the same in return. Now I make the time on my own time.
I’m not really sure about the negative side yet but I can agree that there are opportunities for me to work on to increase efficiency. Developing systems to help automate any admin tasks was and is still something I’m working on. I think figuring out “startup necessity things” for example, such as finding an affordable invoicing software, hiring accounting and legal counseling, branding, etc especially if it’s not something that comes naturally to you (like myself). It’s not impossible but allocating time and budget to invest in that initial effort is and has been challenging for me.
Sometimes entrepreneurship can feel lonely but that is why it is important to build a network and a support community. (So if you need a friend? ? I’m here for you and can chat)
Are there any assumptions about women who freelance that you want to change and why?
I’m not sure yet ? I’m happy to have a follow up next year and see how some of the above have changed.
What women inspire you and why?
My mother, sisters, and mother in law: without them I would not be so confident in my purpose and grounded in my values.
I’m expecting a girl in a couple months and she has inspired me to make certain changes in my life to prepare for her arrival. (Crazy how I haven’t met the chick and she’s already inspiring me to be better ?)
In the last year or so, I’ve come across:
Elayne Flucker from Support is Sexy
Stephanie Nadi Olson from We Are Rosie
Vanessa Matthews from Asfalis
What advice would you give for other women who freelance?
Build a network and a community of support. If you’re considering making your strategic leap of faith, I recommend you stack up financially as well. There are some small initial investments that I know I wanted to do because time is valuable. Also, having a cushion can take some of that stress away.