One Month Into Freelance Design—Here’s What Surprised Me
A month into this freelance thing and man am I surprised. Before making the leap, the always present fear of being able to sell/get work and projects was nagging at me. Luckily I knew this was a big change I had never done before. Getting my ducks in a row needed to be the priority. As I sat at my desk setting up my website, contact channels, updating portfolios and services, I realized this was the first time I had designed and worked without being on the clock since my first job at Lakeview Golf Course in 7th grade (holler if you need a new site haha). I’ve always been a worker. These hands can’t idle. They work for the money. That said, it was a strange new feeling to be putting these hours in and not be getting paid to do so. I wasn’t camping on a salary check. I wasn’t milking the clock for those extra bucks since working 40 hours a week in any state in the country barely covers rent. I digress. It was still work that needed to be done. I didn’t have any work lined up. I had some leads but if I wanted to take on the work I knew I wanted, this unpaid work was mandatory.
The years under the boss hogs at Ampersand Studios, drilled into me the importance of process and structure. As a free spirit, I squirmed about that for a long while. I also love efficiency, so I leaned in. I focused on creating my workflow in a way that is simple and clear for both myself and clients. I think my biggest worry about taking this leap was the idea of having to be a salesman. To sell my work and convince people to work with me… I hate sales. But I love creating. So what is a person to do? Start creating.
I buckled down and delivered on the projects I did have on the plate, I took the knowledge of operations I had learned and put them to the test, on myself. While working on setting everything up, I began the scary process of letting people know I was doing freelance. And by people, I mean my partner, maybe two friends and our pets. Then things began to get rolling. I had a clear vision of the steps necessary to work with clients. I had my website and schedule mapped out to be able to take on work. I had invoices templated. I had my headshots in hand. I determined my rates and left space for wiggle room. I had 15 years of design work under my belt.
Let’s go!
Fast forward to now and I have been overwhelmingly surprised by not only the support but the amount of work I have been able to bring in by saying yes. On top of that, it’s with clients in industries I’ve always dreamed of working with. Now there will be a point where I will have to say no. There are only so many hours. But in the meantime, I have said yes to everything. And so far, it’s worked out. Some stuff not so familiar and other things are my bread and butter. From small one-off jobs helping facilitate website edits to full on branding and website packages, just by focusing on getting my workflow in order, the work has naturally started to come in. I am beyond grateful and most of all I’m glad I took the time to cultivate the knowledge so many have passed on to me over the years and put it to use.
I see countless design influencers all over Instagram and Behance with perfectly curated colors and vibes. I’m not perfectly curated and a lot of times, I think I’m not worthy in comparison to those badasses. But in reality, they started somewhere and so are we all. Starting somewhere everyday. I know one thing for certain is that I would not be able to execute the amount of amazing work I’m getting to do for amazing brands without first taking care of mine. So I guess I’ll end on that, if you want to do something but are focused on something other than getting into a position to be able to do it, then you’ll be caught between a rock and a hard place.
Now, if you like to sell rocks and hard places and need branding or a website, hit me up :)
