Freelance Fun?
By Natalie Turner-Sylvester
Caryn Coley, founder of IDEA Suite (est. 2018), gave us a masterclass all about freelance and how to legally and officially set yourself up as a freelancer.
A brief background of IDEA Suite:
Caryn told us that she frequently experienced being the only person of colour in a work environment and this did not sit well with her. She witnessed the nepotism and under representation of BAME people around her and decided to do something about it. Subsequently, she came up with the idea of IDEA Suite to enhance diversity amongst institutions and introduce fresh and recurrently under recruited talent.
She told us about her journey, where she began in advertising and PR which has given her transferable skills in order for her to establish her own business. She said that with freelance “everyone can do it, but not everyone can do it well” and therefore highlighted the importance of hard work and perseverance.
We had a debate and spoke about the pros and cons of freelance vs a 9-5 job. This was interesting, and Caryn says how being a freelancer is liberating but can be challenging and it requires a lot of work. This is because you are your own boss and therefore have to manage your own finances and finding your own clients etc.
Quotes of the masterclass:
“The world is literally your office” – better get used to it if you want to progress eh!
“Network Network Network”
“Let your creativity flag fly”
“Self-care is the key”
“How long have you got? Complacency will be your biggest downfall” – I agree. There is never time for complacency, you can always try harder, keep learning and improving.
I will round off with this quote that reached out to me and reassured me that it is okay to:
“Don’t think if you have one failure that it’s the end of the road, it’s not.”
- You just have to dust yourself off and try again. -
