Making the leap from employee to full-time freelancer: tips from Carly Ayres
This post is a part of a series, originally featured on the CloudPeeps blog.
Taking on side gigs while having a full-time job is a safe and viable way to dip your toes in the freelance pool and decide if it’s right for you. However, there are still many lessons you can learn from freelancers who’ve taken the leap as you prepare to go on your own journey of self employment.
We first talked to designer, author and maker of things, Paul Jarvis on what drove him to freelancing and how he’s found success.
This week, we’re talking to Carly Ayres, a content strategist for a number of awesome projects and brands.
I first met Carly at an event where we both were awkwardly forcing ourselves to “network” and immediately clicked. Maybe because she’s also from Florida, or perhaps because she’s unapologetically herself, which I respect. At the time, she was leading content full-time for CreativeMornings.
About ten months ago, she made the leap into freelance and has secured some really cool projects while enjoying the freedom to continue doing what she loves. Here’s what she’s learned so far!
Finding work that you love
Q: What are you currently working on as a freelancer?
At the moment, I am super excited to be working with The Great Discontent on #The100DayProject, helping highlight and curate all the amazing content in weekly newsletters. It’s been exciting and overwhelming all at once to see all the fantastic projects people are working on, and I am looking forward to watching them develop over the weeks.
I also work on another newsletter called unti-tled (unti-tled.com), as well as heading up social media and content strategy for Collaborative Fund and a few other clients. Needless to say, I keep busy.
Making the big decision
Q: What made you leave your day job to pursue a freelance career — what did that decision making process look like?
Leaving CreativeMornings was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make. Being my first job out of college, CreativeMornings provided a great opportunity to really dig in and help develop the content strategy for a company in its early stages. I joined right when we launched the Kickstarter campaign for the new site and watched the community grow to more than 100 chapters around the world.
I will always be grateful for the incredible amount of trust and freedom I was given there, as well as the ability to be a part of the amazing community full of kind, talented folks at Studiomates. Being surrounded by so many people more experienced than myself who were always happy to offer advice and support when needed has shaped everything I’ve done since.
That being said, after a few years at CreativeMornings, I found myself with the familiar itch to try something new. I had been steadily taking on more freelance work and realized that the work that truly scared me — the work that was really pushing me past my comfort zone and challenging me — was the projects I was taking on after hours and on weekends. I realized that if I was to continue growing, that was the work I needed to be doing.
That realization made things a little bit easier, along with the fact that I now have hundreds of CreativeMornings friends around the globe willing to give me a couch to crash on.
Hitting your stride
Q: What improvements have you seen in your lifestyle since choosing to work for yourself?
Ten months later, I can wholeheartedly say that the change has been amazingly positive. If you would have asked me five or six months ago, maybe not so much.
It took me a few months to hit my stride, determining how much work I could realistically take on, figuring out how much to charge for said work, as well as developing processes and systems for tracking projects and managing workflow.
On the other side of that, I will inevitably have to jump many more hurdles and am still learning a ton, but if I wasn’t, I suppose I wouldn’t be doing this.
I can happily say that I now have a gym membership and occasionally cook myself dinner, which I feel like is a sign of somewhat successful work/life balance.
Finding a community
Q: Any surprising advantages or disadvantages to working for yourself?
I think the ability to control my own time, set my own goals, and pursue the projects that are interesting and challenging to me are all the clear benefits of working for yourself — they’re also the disadvantages.
That’s why it’s so absolutely vital that you have a community as a freelancer. Find the people who will give you advice, feedback, and help you bounce around ideas. Just as no (wo)man is an island, neither is a freelancer and I find that I need to constantly seek out other opinions and ideas.
“It’s so absolutely vital that you have a community as a freelancer”
Identifying the real cause of issues
Q: Any tips for other people considering freelance and remote work?
- Find a community.
- It’s never about the thing.
- Always assume the best, unless proven otherwise.
- Every issue is a communications issue.
- Always keep growing.
- Do some form of exercise every day.
Want to know what it’s like to freelance, but not ready for the full-time commitment? Dip your toes in the freelance pool, sign up to be a CloudPeep to check out the part-time gigs available on the platform.
