Hey, you.  And when I say ‘you’ — I mean it in the way of greeting you as a lone wolf who has arrived at the party solo. I do not intend to lump you in with the rest of the crowd.  I mean, let's be honest here — we’re freelancers for goodness sakes.  We always roll solo.

We frequently hear that ‘Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion’ are essential to business success but what are the realities from a freelancer’s perspective? Are minorities fairly represented amongst blended workforces and what are the challenges faced by freelancers in this space?

You know what I love the most about being a copywriter?  Yes, I love the words. Yes, I love the creativity and imagination.  Yes, I love some of the exciting projects I get to be a part of.  And yes, I love it when my work is published and it’s there for the whole world to see — although I secretly dread it too. I also love that I dread it…it reminds me that I care.  I love all of these things that come with the job. But you know what? — none of them come close to what I really love the most.  The solitude.

There’s a new beauty trend taking hold of the internet. Long gone are the days of using make-up to conceal your blotchy face in the bathroom at work, now the make-up artists of Tik-Tok have made tears fashionable. 

In this informal online talk between Freelancer Club and Ladies, Wine & Design (Southampton), we explore the various experiences and methods of designers & creative freelancers in order to learn from each other and form connections.

Life as a freelancer brings up a lot of very unique challenges that may not crop up as regularly if we were working a normal 9-5 job. Imposter syndrome, burnout and compare & despair frequently impact freelancers. Whilst working for ourselves is incredibly rewarding, these challenges can very easily stop us from achieving all that we envisioned when we made the decision to go freelance.

Hey there mi familia, how the hell are ya? It’s been a while.  Just shy of 2 months ago…I was in a pretty different mindset and this last Freelancer Club piece came pouring out of me.  I was pissed, I was done, I was over it. I had an axe to grind with the bullsh*t us highly-skilled, hardworking freelancers deal with on a daily basis from the snobbery in society that looks down upon us from its ivory-tower. Like a loyal boxing coach, I stood proudly by the freelancer’s corner for yet another fight.  Actually, oh contraire…I put the gloves on and entered the ring myself. This was my fight, and I felt indomitable.

If the pandemic has taught business managers and founders anything, it's that we must learn to trust our teams. COVID has expedited what we in the freelance sector have been predicting for a while. A full reevaluation and restructuring of our workforce to integrate remote working, a better work-life balance and less emphasis on the factory model. Now, as companies settle into a new way of working, have we done enough to incorporate an ethical freelance hiring process into our blended model?