Life: My Move into the Freelance World
It’s a bit of a chatty post today as I wanted to talk about my move into the freelance world; what led me to make the move, how I’m finding it and useful books and resources that I’ve found.
Why did I go freelance?
Since leaving University in 2008, I’d worked in a traditional office environment with the 7.5 years prior to having my daughter being spent working for a wonderful big charity in London in their marketing partnerships team. I was living in London too, however we moved up to Lincoln to be close to family just before Florence was born. I planned to go back part time and hoped for some flexible working so that the commute was more doable, however a few things happened during my maternity leave which made me change my plan.
I realised that my daughter was my biggest priority and the thought of not being with her for 3 or 4 days a week hurt my heart. I did consider being a full time stay at home Mum but quickly realised that I needed some mental stimulation from work. Over the year I had also been doing the social media for my Mum’s floristry business, Violet & Vine, helping my Dad with some posts for his design consultancy and also doing some posts for our local pub. I found myself really enjoying it and the thought of having my own business felt so exciting.
It really felt like the right time to give it a go and in June last year I registered as a sole trader and got my first client onboard.
How I’m finding it so far?
A year on and I am loving being freelance – it suits me and my lifestyle down to the ground. We get so caught up in the corporate 9-5, Monday to Friday routine and you forget that there’s an alternative that gives you so much more freedom. Being able to work around my daughter has been amazing – I sometimes work in her nap times or in an evening, and she goes to nursery once a week which gives me a full day to crack on (or to get on with house jobs, or go shopping if I fancy!). I love not having a commute and being able to just grab my laptop and get on with work. And I love being my own boss.
I do miss the fun that I’d have with work colleagues as I loved this part of my previous job, but my priorities are so different now that it’s not something that’s important to me at the moment.
Useful books and resources
I read a few books, joined some Facebook Groups and listened to lots of podcasts when I started freelancing and they were, and still are so useful so I wanted to link them below.
The Multi-Hyphen Method by Emma Gannon*
The Freelance Mum by Annie Ridout*
The Successful Mumpreneu by Debbie Gilbert*
Being Freelance Facebook group and podcast
Doing it for The Kids Facebook group and podcast
I hope you found this post interesting, and hopefully helpful if you are thinking of going freelance!
*This post contains affiliate links
