Wisdom
The Everyday Designer #13 — The resolve to take the jump
Going into full-time freelancing is not for the faint of heart...but it's worth the risk.
November 16, 2022
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5 min
Going into full-time freelancing is not for the faint of heart...but it's worth the risk.
Welcome to 2023! Listen, I know I’m late to the party okay? (Don’t at me all you week-after-newyears-is-inappropriate people). I have a LOT of updates for you guys in this edition, so put on your favourite knit, with your favourite blanket on top, a nice warm beverage, and get comfy cause we are going for a ride!
December was crazy. I officially wrapped up my time at Newton.co after working there for only 11 months. But I learned so much in such a short amount of time. I can’t thank the design team enough for all they’ve done for me, pouring into me despite the tumultuous year that we experienced in crypto. Thank you Andrew, Erynn, Oliver, Jeff, and Erica for some of the sweetest memories I’ve ever had. You guys are a dream to work with.
Not a weekend after, and on the Monday I was off to adventure! I went to Scotland to visit some friends of mine, had a day in London (was suuuuuper cold and wet) and then I surprised another friend of mine in Barcelona! This was my first time ever spending the holidays away from my family and man what a time. I did Christmas in Ayr, which was so quant and peaceful really. Then I did New Years Eve in Barcelona, and wow that was the most memorable NYE celebrations I’ve ever seen in my life. Fireworks, a drone show, and music all going at the same time. I will never forget all the many ways Barcelona has shaped me and changed me; my thoughts, my perspective, my behaviours, my attitude towards life, design inspiration. And then I came back home to cold and bitter Canada…
A bit of backstory…
a couple years ago, just before the pandemic hit, I began to feel this nagging in my chest. (Don’t worry my heart is healthy) But it was one of desire to pursue freelancing. I was seeing everyone else take the leap, try it out, test to see if it works for them. I knew I wasn’t ready for it at the time so I became a bystander to the others who had gone before me. All the while, building up a network in the mean time.
Fast-forward to 2023, and as January 1, I officially announced I was a full-time freelancer!
What an exciting yet terrifying thing to do.
You see, this nagging and tugging at my chest didn’t go away for all those years. I thought, “you know what we’ll see how long this one lasts”. But up until the final day at work, I could not get rid of the pursuit of wanting to become a full-time freelancer. So I took the jump.
And boy oh boy has it been scary.
You know how they say you’re never fully ready for marriage, a kid, a pet, etc? Well you’re never fully ready for the world of freelance. That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned so far.
Take. the. jump. You’ll either learn to swim, or sink trying.
It’s a very exhilarating feeling to dive head-first into the unknown. Now its one thing to take off, and another thing to stay flying. Staying in flight is what I am currently working on now. Networking calls, making new connections, getting the business and legal side of things down, writing down SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for the studio, creating templates for proposals, invoices, contracts, and much more haha. Anyone want to help me with that? 😂
One of the benefits of going full-time freelance has been the ability to dedicate more time to planning and growing the The Everyday Designer, both website, and content side of things. What does this mean for you, the reader?
Some goals and expectations for this year:
You will want to get your inboxes ready for next week’s drop cause its a lovely guest of mine and she has so much wonderful insight to share with you all. That’s all I’ll say for now. 😌 I hope you all are as excited as I am for this year and all the adventures and learning we’ll be doing together!
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I love sharing what I’ve been up to lately and this is one way for me to let you in on what’s been happening in my life.
📚 Currently reading: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - one of the silliest and funniest books I’ve stumbled upon through a friend of mine. I would recommend going into reading this book with an open mind and just going along for the journey cause its hilarious and random but such a casual read.
🌿 Currently inspired: The days are long but the years are short - An image shared by Sahil Bloom just putting into perspective the reality of the span of our lives and what attention and focus should be on, mainly the people we still have with us. I frequently come back to it.
😄 Currently excited about: The Last of Us show - This has been the most highly-anticipated show for myself since Stranger Things. After playing the game, it became my favourite video game franchise of all time and when they announced that they were making a show, I was highly skeptical and even defensive. But after watching episode 1…man oh man did they nail it. Please go watch it, you won’t be disappointed.
