FAQ Fridays: My Freelance Career
Q: What do you do for work?
A: I do freelance work in advertising as a copywriter/Creative Director.
Q: What does that mean, exactly?
A: I come up with the ideas for advertising campaigns/digital media, and/or do the writing needed to implement them.
Q: Do you come up with the ideas yourself?
A: No, I work as a team with an Art Director.
Q: Where do you work?
A: Generally out of my house, although sometimes I'll travel to be at an agency on-site or for some other reason (conventions, etc.).
Q: Is it hard to find clients?
A: I have been extraordinarily lucky and tend to have just a few steady clients at a time, working with them for years. Right now I'm working with 5 groups (out of San Francisco, Silicon Valley, San Diego, Denver, and Boston).
Q: How did you get this gig?
A: I worked at a REALLY good advertising agency in San Francisco (and that part was pure luck...I honestly would've gone to any agency that would have hired me...but ended up at one of the best in the country). I got trained by some amazing people, and made a ton of contacts. I've been freelancing almost 10 years now, and every single job I've had has come from those contacts in one way or another.
Q: So because you freelance does that mean you work weird hours and stuff?
A: Actually, I may sneak out for an hour or two here and there, but I'm pretty much a 9–5 Monday-Friday girl.
Q: Do you get lonely working at home?
A: A little. More so over the past year or two than I used to.
Q: What's your favorite thing about what you do?
A: I love the freedom. I work with a lot of people that are friends on a personal level and that's cool. I love making something cool. And I do work sometimes on websites or other programs that help people with a specific health condition (eg cancer) get the information they need to take better care of themselves....that work is really gratifying.
Q: What's the hardest thing about what you do?
A: For me it's been keeping my hours under control. For years I worked way over 40 hour weeks, partly because I have a hard time saying no, and partly because I was always scared the job I was being offered would be the last one. I don't have that fear so much anymore, which has helped me get on a more reasonable schedule. Plus my husband doesn't want to be married to a workaholic, so he's helped me reign in my hours, as well.
Q: What would you do if you weren't doing this?
A: If I were to take a full-time job in advertising, it would be as a Creative Director at an ad agency (and I know just where I'd want to go). I also have dreams of leaving advertising altogether to run a flower shop or a funky little motel or a coffee shop. I'd also love to figure out a way to get someone to pay me to snowboard and/or make creative stuff all day. Sigh. A girl can dream...
Oh, and also once we have a kid or two, I don't want to stop working entirely, but I want to cut way back. My husband's going to be done with school, too, in a year, which'll help make that a reality.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who wanted to do what you do?
A: I'm sure there are lots of ways to get into this line of work, but all I know is the path I followed: Work hard, get trained at the best agency you can find, do a good job, go out of your way to cultivate relationships...keep everyone's contact information and don't be afraid to call on these people for help. And that goes both ways...help anyone who asks it of you.
Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! :)
XO
Image Credit: {Damian Ward}
Telling Work About Your Pregnancy
So I freelance, but I have one client that I've done enormous amounts of work for over the past five years...it's a great arrangement...almost like I'm a full-time employee. And my husband is feeling the need to get some things figured out, even though it's still early in my pregnancy...like, how is work going to be about me being pregnant? Are they going to be cool with me taking some maternity leave?
So I had THE CALL today, with the woman I guess you would call my boss. I was very nervous about it, for some reason, even though the company I work with--everyone there is so incredibly nice.
But there was no reason to be worried...they were thrilled for me and thanked me for letting them know so far ahead of time. They seemed very receptive to my ideal, which is 3 months maternity leave, so that was good to hear (and good to know for planning purposes). And we've already started saving for maternity leave...my husband's a good planner...we're going to make it happen.
And I hate to say this, because I wanted to put it off until after the first trimester, but my husband was right, it was good to have that conversation early (although I won't be telling the others I work with day-to-day for another month.) I always figured work would be cool about a maternity leave for me, but it's good to know for sure...