10 years in business

Celebrating my ‘Freelanceaversary’ and ten years in business

Ten years ago, I was in full-time employment at a corporate software company. I absolutely hated it.

Not the people, but the work and the travel. Each day I would travel an hour and a half to work and an hour and a half back home. The job was on the other side of London from home — it always felt like I was travelling to another time zone. It was exhausting. Coming home from work, looking after two children under five, cooking, crashing and going all over again the next day.

I think other factors why I did not like it, was that I was undervalued at the company and not challenged enough. The variety of work was very limiting. I had already redesigned their templates and now I had to populate the templates day in and out. Nothing creative was left for me to do.

I lasted about seven months. But on the run-up to me making the decision to leave I became ill. My body broke out in hives which I had never experienced. I thought I had been bitten by something but after a trip to the doctors, he said that it can come on due to stress.

It was such a shame because I had entered the role with such high hopes. Before joining this company, I had been at a publishing house for 11 years. When I started there, I was a mid-weight designer and worked my way up to the role of Deputy Creative Director. I loved working on various projects and with different clients. From charities to financial industries to companies that were in food and drink. It was amazing and I even got to travel a little.

But my last few years there I became unhappy. I had already demoted myself because I needed flexibility and I could not manage the company needs. It was a big decision to leave as I had been there for years and made really good friends.

When the position at a software company was offered to me, I took it. They offered 4 days a week and one day was at home so I thought it would be manageable. Unfortunately, not.

I hate giving up. But my mental health was also suffering. I had to hand my notice in. As soon as I did this it felt like a heavy blanket had been lifted and I was breathing clearly again. The hives disappeared and I began thinking about what I would do next. Freelance? Me? I had worked with freelancers over the years and hired them. They made it work. Could I?

So that’s what I tried to do. Make it work.

During my first day of freelancing I was at home. I remember being absolutely petrified. Those thoughts again… What if I get no work… Maybe I’ll look for a full time job… How will I make this work…
What did I do? Well, after putting a wash on I contacted a few people I had worked with. I got a few jobs and ten years later I’m still going.

I love quotes. Another one from mum: ‘Every disappointment is a blessing’

I was disappointed that I had not made my full-time roles work out and beating myself up about them. But the blessings out weight the disappointments. I’ve been freelancing for a decade and making living from it. Freelance life can be flexible which fitted into my family life. It can be tiring especially when it is hard to say no and you think you can do it all or end up working at the weekend. But I have learnt to know my limits. When I first started freelancing, I networked a lot. Making contacts — not just for work but I wanted to meet people as I was no longer part of a team. I think I missed that. But over the years some clients have become friends and I’m still making friends… I am not alone.

Another blessing
During my last week at the software company, I was asked to train the new designer who was taking over my role. When he came in, we instantly hit it off. As we worked over what he had to do, we chatted about all kinds of things and went to lunch pretty much every day that week. We became good friends. I met Christian last week — we went to dinner to celebrate our friendship of ten years and my freelance anniversary ‘Freelanceaversary’ — thanks to Graeme from Drop Cap Copy for that term. I love it!