How I went from shop assistant to freelance web designer in 3 months

How I went from shop assistant to freelance web designer in 3 months

If you're going to read my blog posts every week, I want you to know who they're from. I want you to know about my past, my journey as a designer and how I can help you.

Basically, I want us to become friends!

So if you have a spare 10 minutes and you're curious about who these emails are from, read on. I'm getting brutally honest about my journey today.

The start of it all

In 2010 I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. One day I wanted to be a teacher, the next day I wanted to be a writer. So, I didn't do anything. I waitressed in Pizza Hut for a while so I could at least bring in a bit of cash, and I worked in telesales for day. (Six hours of cold calling and I was outta there.)

In 2011, I worked in as a shop assistant for Calvin Klein Jeans. It wasn't the most glamorous job but it paid the bills. My boss became seriously ill and had to leave for six months, so I took her place as manager and learned what it takes to manage a department, deal with angry customers, handle employees, work ridiculous hours and hustle towards sales goals (or suffer the wrath of Head Office if I didn't.)

I didn't know it at the time, I was learning what it took to be my own boss.

5 ugly truths about becoming a freelance designer

5 ugly truths about becoming a freelance designer

When I first decided to become a freelance designer, I had big dreams about what it would be like. At the time, I worked a boring 9-5 job that didn't fulfill me creatively in the slightest, so the thought of being paid to design and do what I love filled me with SO much joy. 

I followed lots of design bloggers and I was always in awe of the pretty moodboards they had created, the beautiful Instagram profiles they had curated, and the wonderful testimonials from wonderful clients about how wonderful the design experience was. The life of a freelance designer looked beautiful. But that's probably because I was looking at it through rose-tinted glasses.

I know there are lot of people in my community who want to quit their jobs and become freelance designers (or start other kinds of businesses), so I wanted to take the opportunity today to share a few truths with you.

My Top 10 Tips For New Designers

My Top 10 Tips For New Designers

If you're a newbie designer, you're most likely a college student itching to get their work into the world and start living the freelance life. 

Or, you're someone who has an interest or a qualification in design but you're stuck in a toxic day job that eats away at your soul. You want to quit and start freelancing. You want to be your own boss. You sometimes do freelance work on evenings and weekends, but it doesn't bring in enough money to enable you to quit your day job. 

You need the income your day job provides. After all, there's rent to pay, food to buy, a car to run... Quitting your job just doesn't seem feasible right now. Especially since the bulk of financial responsibility will lie on your hubby. Leaving him to handle most bills by himself while you build the dream hardly seems fair, does it?

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