That Freelance Life Podcast

In this episode we introduce ourselves, discuss why we decided to create this podcast and share what you can expect in episodes to come.

If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of going freelance, then this episode is for you. We’re talking all things decision making and sharing how, why and when we decided to take the plunge and freelance, diving into some personal and vulnerable thoughts and gathering some tips and tricks from a number of other freelancers that will hopefully help make the decision making process easier for you.

As a creative, your portfolio is your biggest selling point. But how do you make sure your portfolio stands out amongst the sea of other equally talented creatives? We chat to Lisa Campana, Director of Design at Wunderman Thompson, who has seen her fair share of portfolios and has great tips and advice on how to make sure yours gets noticed by the right people. There is even a little piece of advice from Stefan Sagmeister in the mix.

Going freelance is brilliant creatively but can be a lot more admin on the business side of things. That’s why we highly recommend getting a good accountant, and why we chatted to Dillis and Luke from Crunch Accounting to get the best tips and advice to help you figure it all out. There are 3 routes to take when setting yourself up for business as a freelancer and each suite different people for different reasons. Take a listen to learn more.

Selling ourselves is one of the hardest things, something we are often made to feel ashamed of and never taught. But being freelance means you have to put yourself out there in order to get the work you want. So how do you hone in on your unique selling points and broadcast them to the right people? In this episode we chat to the brilliant Stefanie Sword-Williams, queen of self promotion and founder of F*ck Being Humble, an online platform, event series and soon to be book, educating the world on how to be unapologetically proud of their achievements and change the way we view self promotion.

There are many ways to get those freelance gigs; word of mouth, networking, cold emails or Linkedin. But another way is through recruiters, essentially the people agencies and companies call at the 11th hour needing resource asap. You want to be top of mind of those people when the call comes in. In this episode we chat to Bonnie Harold, partner of LIZH Recruitment and Founder of Genie, an AI talent agent for freelance creatives and designers. With over 20 years in the business, she knows all the ins and outs to get you the jobs you want. And with the creation of Genie changing the way recruitment works, she’s essentially taking the hustle out of trying to find gigs so you can focus more on what you do best, creating.

There is so much shame surrounding money, talking about, asking for it; often this causes things like unequal pay, the gender pay gap and more. Let’s open up the conversation, be more transparent and keep the market price up, so we may all benefit from getting paid our true worth. In this episode we cover how to work out the right day rate for your skill set and experience, how to raise your day rate and how to let your clients know when you do. Some great tips along the way from Alex Holders book; ‘Open Up, let’s talk about money,’ as well as from our own experience freelancing for the last 3 years.

Season 1 ends off with the spotlight on the delightful Arnelle Woker. Illustrator, graphic designer, pattern maker and international boss lady. Born in sunny South Africa, she currently lives and freelancers in London. She has always loved drawing and as a kid her subject matter would include the Ninja Turtles, mermaids, princesses and dogs. She has worked with some of the greats along the way like Ogilvy & Mather, Saatchi & Saatchi, Masters & Savant, Mullen Lowe and the ONE Campaign. Arnelle has been freelancing for 4 years and has even started her own stationary company that is expanding into interior wall papers. She was a true gem to have on the show and shared a lot of her highs and lows and win sums and dim sums of her freelance journey. We realised all our fears and doubts were equally felt by her and she sheds some light on how she copes with the uncertainty of freelance and being your own boss. This is a brilliant listen relating to the current times we are in with COVID-19.

A pandemic and an ocean got between us, but we’re back and we are so excited for this season. To kick off, let’s take a step back, decompress what the hell happened the past two years and hear from other freelancers and recruiters how the pandemic has changed the freelance landscape.