What is Freelancing Females?

Freelancing Females is a global community of over 18,000 women providing mentorship, support, and job opportunities. We are an online and offline community that hosts events in our top 5 cities around the U.S. (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, and San Francisco).

Our mission is to support women on their journey of redefining their 9–5 by building resources, sharing vetted jobs, and offering mentorship and community. By going freelance, our multifaceted women get to diversify their skills and work on projects they’re passionate about along with clients and brands they believe in. This is the power of Freelancing Females.

What’s your background?

Before making the jump to freelance Social Media Consultant three years ago, I managed Partnerships & Community at FiftyThree and worked in Corporate Communications at JetBlue.

What inspired you to start Freelancing Females?

After realizing there was a lack of community and safe spaces dedicated to supporting women who freelance, I started working on Freelancing Females. Freelancing Females (FF) started as a Facebook group with a few friends and quickly grew into a global community powered by diverse women from a variety of disciplines.

Since its launch just over a year ago, membership has grown to more than 18,000 active participants — with 200 membership requests daily, a newly launched weekly newsletter, and a highly engaged Instagram community.

What are the greatest challenges women in your community face?

As a one-woman team, the success of your business lands completely on you. You wear all the business hats — financial advisor, tech expert, legal consultant, and more. Three of the biggest challenges can be:

1. Isolation
2. Lack of steady work
3. Knowing what to charge (more on that later)
   

Through Freelancing Females, we try to break down those barriers to your business and give you as many tools and resources as we can.

Combating isolation

To combat isolation, I highly recommend networking events or simply getting out of the house. Sometimes you find yourself in your head and in need of a refresh. If co-working isn’t an option, try a coffee shop. And designate time to enjoy yourself — when you set your own hours, it can be difficult to draw the line on your work day. Having good boundaries helps you stay fresh and inspired.

Lack of steady work

Lack of stability also comes with the territory. Rarely is one month the same as the last in freelance. It can be a beautiful thing to be continually faced with new projects and challenges you feel passionate about taking on, but it can also be challenging.

For those times when things slow down, here are some of my favorite tips:

• Let friends, family, and clients know you’re available for work. When you put yourself on their radar, you’re more likely to land projects.
• Check out networking groups on Facebook and LinkedIn — especially ours. They’re highly active with job opportunities and postings.
• Don’t forget to use social media to your advantage to showcase your work and highlight client projects.
  

There are always opportunities looking for someone just like you — a new job could be waiting right around the corner.

What are the best pieces of advice you’ve received from members of your community?

Ask questions and don’t be afraid to ask for help. When working for yourself, it’s easy to forget there are others in the same situation who are willing to share feedback and ideas. At FF we’re building for our community, by our community, and taking an always-listening approach on where we go next.

Can you tell us about the rate sheet you’ve created and how it helps your community?

The rate sheet was created after we saw the need for more transparency. #WHATTOCHARGE has been one of the most popular discussions in our Facebook group where we help women navigate different situations and proposals.

When it comes to freelance work, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all for jobs or projects, so it can be difficult to figure out pricing. We welcome everyone to contribute to the rate sheet, share it, and ultimately help create a resource for freelancers around the world.

We’re excited that you’re building your site in Webflow. What can we expect from your new website?

We are incredibly excited to have a platform of our own through Webflow and to be building it in partnership with women in the community that believe in our mission.

Our goal is to create a vetted and curated job site that will serve as a go-to resource outside the Facebook group — a place where our community can gain more insight and access to a network of women, jobs, products, and services that will support their goals.

What about Freelancing Females makes you most proud?

Our goal is to support our members as they cultivate their true passions and we’ve have some incredible stories that have come from Freelancing Females already.

Just last year we had over 40 women volunteer to help create Self-Esteem Rising, a non-profit campaign for a program that brings self-esteem classes and workshops to young women.

The campaign launched on a billboard in Times Square. It was incredible to see the work the group pulled off in just a few short weeks.

Interested in joining the Freelancing Females community?

If you’re a woman in freelancing and interested in being a part of the Freelancing Females community, apply to join the Freelancing Females Facebook group. To stay up to date with the organization and get weekly doses of inspiration, follow Freelancing Females on Instagram.