Taking a leap of faith – My journey as an independent designer

I can’t believe I am coming on 9 months of being an independent worker. I am so lucky that I get to do what I love for a living. I get to be creative and I get to work for myself. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting this to happen at all, but I’m so grateful that it worked out in the way that it did. And I am hopeful to continue down this path of freelance work.

In July of last year (2021), I was burnt out in a way I’d never felt burnt out before. I was in a new city with very few people I knew, my former partner and I were having issues, the pandemic wasn’t going away and I was feeling very overwhelmed. I was struggling from isolation and found myself completely unhappy. Why? I asked myself. Why am I allowing my life to take this course? This is not the life I want to live. The way I am living does not reflect who I am. So, I decided it was time to make a change. It was time to take a leap of faith.

It started with one text message from my roommate. It said something along the lines of

“My friend, Emily is hiring a design & production assistant. 20 hours a week. You interested?”

I wasn’t looking for something different. I wasn’t planning on leaving my job. But I thought, why not meet with her to see what she has to offer. So Emily and I met and after our meeting I thought – why not! Why not try something new and different. Why not take a leap of faith and shake up your 9-5. It’s worth a shot. So I did! I took the job and just started figuring it out. Slowly, I’ve started building a client base beyond Emily Rose Ink and here I am 9 months later, still building, growing and shaping my career. 

Thank goodness I decided to make a change. I feel 1,000% better, I’m happier and I have the energy to be creative. It’s a lot of work, but I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything!

More thoughts on my experience to come!