One Year Later: My Journey as a Freelancer

by Melanie

I remember it like it was yesterday. Walking out of the office, for the last time with all my stuff. I wasn’t coming back.

A year ago, I jumped ship at my old job to give this freelance thing a try. It was a scary, bold move, but it felt absolutely right.

A year later, I am so happy I quit. I have had no regrets at all. No moments of wanting to go back. That’s not to say it has all been easy. Far from it.

What I’ve realized about being your own boss, is that it takes an incredible amount of effort to build something. But it’s worth it, because eventually you’ll see the fruits of your labor. I love that I’ve been able to think of new ideas and implement them through events and articles. I enjoy that I get to try new things and every day is something new. I am so grateful that I’m in a place where work is coming to me, rather than me being on the pitch merry-go-round.

I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief. I haven’t failed. I didn’t give up (even when I wanted to). All of my worst fears didn’t come true.

The unknown path ahead was something that contained opportunities I never saw coming.

Most of all, I’m glad I had the faith in myself to jump and actually quit. I remember speaking to my mom when I made my decision. She was nervous for me, but knew that I had made my choice. She has seen how I have blossomed and is my number one supporter. I love her for that.

I hardly ever use the word faith in my personal life, but I can’t think of a better word for what I felt when I quit. I believed it would work out before I could see it. I knew there was something bigger β€” and I was ready to search for it.

I didn’t have every step figured out. I didn’t have a year’s worth of expenses saved up. I didn’t have my debt all paid off.

There were so many things telling me “no,” but I still said “yes.”

Sometimes faith is about doing something that you know people don’t agree with and doing it anyway.

Faith is also about leaving your comfort zone and knowing that it will work out. What most people don’t know about my journey into freelancing is that when I quit, I had lined up a 20-hour per week remote writing gig. Because of this gig, I felt comfortable quitting and knew I would at least make what I did at my old job.

Quickly I realized the work was mind-numbingly boring. It was taxing, repetitive work and I was getting paid pennies per word. I was a content machine and felt depleted every day.

After a month and a half, I knew I couldn’t do the gig anymore. But it was my safeguard. It was the reason I felt comfortable quitting. How would I bridge the gap and make up for a loss of 20 hours of work per week?

I was scared and didn’t have all the answers, but knew I was unhappy. I didn’t leave my old job to be unhappy and creatively unfulfilled. So, I left and I hustled.

Luckily, it was right near the start of FinCon and after that I was booked up again. I got better paying work. More creatively fulfilling work. I made some great connections with companies that I’m partnered with today.

Something I said on Michelle’s podcast the other day rings so true. You have to let go of bad clients, bad relationships, and unfulfilling work. How can you ever let the right things come to you, when you are devoting all your time and energy to the wrong things?

You need to carve out a space to be open to new, better things. You will stand alone for a while and wonder for a second if you made the right decision. You may even be tempted to crawl back to your old clients, begging for some work.

But it’s better β€” every single time β€” to focus on better opportunities.

My freelance journey has been a roller coaster, sprinkled with a lot of surprises and successes, as well as a good dose of anxiety and a huge learning curve.

There’s one thing I know, though, I haven’t done this alone. So, thank you. I am so grateful for you (yes, you).

Melanie
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33 comments

May July 21, 2015 - 3:10 am

Congrats on one year-bravo.Wow how time flies. I am slightly jealous or your lifestyle but understand it is not all rainbows and unicorns. Glad to see you are feeling fulfilled and have been successful – I know it is hard work and probably scary at times.

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Melanie July 21, 2015 - 11:43 am

Definitely not easy! It’s okay to be jealous…as long as you use it to be productive πŸ™‚

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Kirsten July 21, 2015 - 3:38 am

It’s like you write this for me! August 7th, I leave my job. I don’t have a fraction of the work I need lined up and I’m OK with that for now. I’m looking forward to the challenge and to proving myself. I’ve steered clear of content mills and want to do work I love. It’s scary, but it’s even scarier to continue working 50+ hours a week at a job that more than pays the bills, but wrecks my life balance.

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Melanie July 21, 2015 - 11:42 am

Ahhh congrats! I’m behind on blogger news. So happy for you!!!!!

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Kara @ The Daily Whisk July 21, 2015 - 4:30 am

Congrats, Melanie!

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Melanie July 21, 2015 - 11:41 am

Thanks, Kara! πŸ™‚

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Luke Fitzgerald @ FinanciallyFitz July 21, 2015 - 5:11 am

Congrats! Thanks for sharing your story! It takes a lot of courage to take that leap. I’m glad that it has worked out. Here’s to many more years!

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Melanie July 21, 2015 - 11:39 am

Glad you liked it. Yes, here’s to many more years of adventure!

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Robin @ The Thrifty Peach July 21, 2015 - 5:52 am

Melanie, you really do inspire me. πŸ™‚

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Melanie July 21, 2015 - 11:38 am

Thanks!

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Tonya@Budget and the Beach July 21, 2015 - 7:13 am

Letting go of bad clients is so scary. Currently one of my most challenging ones is my bread and butter. So proud of you for taking the leap and trusting your gut. Congratulations on one year!! Freelanciversary? πŸ™‚

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Melanie July 21, 2015 - 11:38 am

It is scary. But there’s also nothing like letting something go to make you hustle πŸ™‚ I’m calling it my quitiversary!

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Kayla @ Shoeaholicnomore July 21, 2015 - 7:27 am

Love this Melanie! Congrats on taking the leap and sharing these fears and successes with us. πŸ™‚

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Melanie July 21, 2015 - 11:37 am

Thanks! It’s been a wild ride, but I love it.

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Kathleen July 21, 2015 - 10:44 am

This is awesome, Melanie. I love it.

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Melanie July 21, 2015 - 11:36 am

Thanks, girl! Can’t wait to see how you are doing in a year πŸ™‚

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Amanda @ My Life, I Guess July 21, 2015 - 10:53 am

Wow, has it already been a year?? Congrats for following your gut, and having it work out so well for you.
I often forget that our backgrounds are very similar (hello, theatre degrees!), which is super inspiring to me as I hope to make the leap into freelancing too! (Hopefully sooner rather than later…)

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Melanie July 21, 2015 - 11:35 am

I know! It’s flown by! You can leverage your skills to build something else and make more than minimum wage. I know it!

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Martine July 21, 2015 - 12:21 pm

Congrats on hitting the one year mark! Definitely a reason to celebrate. I look forward to what I will write when I hit my one-year mark too. Thanks for the inspiration.

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Melanie July 22, 2015 - 12:44 pm

Woo hoo! I can’t wait either. Cheers!

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Erin @ Journey to Saving July 21, 2015 - 11:40 pm

Congratulations! It’s been so awesome to watch you grow and become so successful. I had no doubt you could do it after all the hustling you had already been doing. What you said about challenging clients really resonated with me, though. Freelancing is not a walk in the park, and it’s crazy how much you learn about yourself along the way.

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Melanie July 22, 2015 - 12:43 pm

You’ve been such a great support, Erin! I love seeing you flourish, too. Freelancing is one big lesson after another, haha!

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Chonce July 22, 2015 - 4:33 am

Congrats on one year Melanie! And thanks so much for telling your story. I agree that it’s s hard to stick with work that does nothing for you and that you’re not passionate about.

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Michelle July 22, 2015 - 9:07 am

I am so proud of you!! You are an inspiration and I wish you continued success and happiness! See you in September πŸ™‚

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Melanie July 22, 2015 - 12:41 pm

Thank you! Can’t wait to hang!

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Shannon @ Financially Blonde July 22, 2015 - 9:42 am

I can’t believe it’s been a year since you went out on your own!! It feels like yesterday that you made your big, crazy. scary announcement. I am so proud of how far you have come in this past year and I can’t wait to see what you do over this next year! Congrats my friend!

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Melanie July 22, 2015 - 12:40 pm

Thank you! It’s been awesome. I love having you as a friend and colleague πŸ™‚

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Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life July 22, 2015 - 3:15 pm

Happy one year and YES to carving out the space for new and better things. That space gets filled in with bigger and better when you create the freedom for it to happen. Keep it goin rockstar!

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Melanie July 22, 2015 - 6:25 pm

Thanks friend! Onwards and upwards for both of us! πŸ™‚

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Kate @ Money Propeller July 23, 2015 - 6:44 pm

Congrats on your 1 year Melanie! I agree that sometimes faith is about doing something that you know people don’t agree with and doing it anyway and I can totally relate it.

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Melanie July 25, 2015 - 9:05 am

Thank you!

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Pira July 23, 2015 - 9:15 pm

Hi Melanie,

Just came across your blog and feel super inspired by this post. Congrats on your success as a freelancer. I’m scared to make this shift myself, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. It takes a lot of confidence and clearly you’ve got that. Keep it up!

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Melanie July 25, 2015 - 9:05 am

Confidence comes with practice, courage, and faith! You can do it!

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