Welcome to the Creative Business Kitchen, may I take your order?

Bit of a vulnerable longer read, hope you enjoy! It was the day I felt the full force of the gender pay gap, one I thought I'd escaped by choosing the freelance life. It all started a few weeks before... I was a freelance graphic designer for a recruitment agency, often sent to different businesses to help with design overflow. In my recruiter’s words, I was their best recruit. The fixer. The one they sent when they wanted to make a good impression. Hair toss. This placement had landed me in...

If you were in this morning's Cowork Ketchup inside the Freelancer's Pantry, you would have been part of a discussion Feast Member Paula brought to the table. "Is everyone spending hours creating proposals for every job? How do you know it's worth it? Some proposals I'm spending hours, days, sometimes weeks on, how do I decide what's worth going the extra mile for?" Firstly, shout out to Paula, having bravely pivoted away from serving the industry that used to employ her, she's now thriving...

Yesterday I had a client go from curious on a call at 2 pm to an $8k paying client at 7:30 pm. Wild, right? This client found me via a Google search (thanks Google gods) and was looking for a designer to handle a bunch of flyers needing to be redesigned as well as some promo items for an event happening mid-Feb. Literally the thing I do day in and day out, branding rollout to create better brand experiences. Excellent. It hasn't always been this easy, landing clients and converting them on...

A month or so back I had a client request that landed in my inbox that was IDEAL for me. AAAAND if this sounds familiar, you might remember I wrote about it in an email titled "I call it a F*ck around fee" Well, Reader, I've got a juicy lil update for you. But before I do, let's revisit the specifics, because I know if I were the one reading this email, I'd be curious about the deliverables, the expectations and the dollar figures we're making a fuss about. We all love a sticky beak, let's be...

This past week I was told I was too expensive. Not once. Not twice. Three times. And to be honest, I am totally ok with it (hell, it makes for good content), simply because I'm confident in the price I provide and not willing to be available for less. Lemme break 'em down so you can nibble on the popcorn Client A, runs a HR business in the states and wanted someone to create a brand for her business. She needed help with messaging, theming, and positioning given she was trying to stand out in...

Last year, I wrapped up a job with a couple where I digitally painted and installed a mural inside a three-storey elevator shaft. Yeah. Certainly a unique experience, and definitely one I would bet I won't have again. But that job taught me so much about myself, my capabilities, my relationship building skills, and the value of problem solving. The client couple are two of the most unique, interesting and deeply wonderful people I think I've ever created for. I met them through a Good Karma...

So last week in the Finding Hungry Clients Masterclass, there was a slide featured towards the end that was all about taking a few small actions now to see the benefits later. Here it is below: This really helped brainstorm some ways that they could start taking action now to get clients later. Anyone who was at the masterclass, this was their fav part (Other than the Q&A at the end of course). This challenged them to not just listen and take notes, but take action! So here's my challenge to...

"I'm terrified I'm going to wake up tomorrow and all of my clients have decided to leave me" Relatable AF hey? This is something one of my students said to me this week and oooofff did it hit a nerve. My gut reaction was supportive, "why would they leave you? They value you! You're amazing, talented, spectacular, etc" But I would be lying if I said I'd never felt that exact feeling before. When she said it, it was like a visceral feeling appeared in the pit of my stomach, the idea that the...

If you were at our house at 4pm on most weekdays, you'd probably be popping your runners on and coming on a walk with me, my husband and our dachshund, Chorizo. Where we live in Oak Park is such a beautiful corner of the world, with tree-lined streets, cafe on the corner and the local footy club a stones throw away. On weekends you can even hear the roar of the crowd from our balcony. As creatures of habit (all three of us are), we have three set walks we go on, but all of them walk through...