Freelancer—a word we’d really love to see designers ditch, as it is undermining creative professionals in business.

This may be a bit of a loaded discussion but we feel it needs to be said.

Okay so there are a few dirty F words in design businesses.

The one we are want to expose today is—’FREELANCER’!

We don’t much like the word ‘Freelancer’—we’ve found that it can be disempowering and limiting. We believe the word ‘freelancer’ has some odd energy around it for designers. 

Although the word freelancer may have good intentions (think: freedom and flexibility), it really does comes at a cost.

We believe many designers are playing small by using the word freelancer—it prevents creative entrepreneurs from fully showing up with a CEO mindset, which we believe is crucial for success in business.

When you are full time freelancing, you are running your own business—right?! 

We might be quibbling over semantics but the term ‘freelancer’ to us feels limiting. 

When we shifted gears and pivoted our focus after having children, and scaled down our larger design studios to work as solo designers, often people would say ‘oh, you’re freelancing?’ 

Well, no—we are business owners! 

When you show up as a business owner its very different to showing up with a freelance mindset.

We were still servicing clients, sending off work to printers, building websites, sending out invoices, doing bookkeeping, paying taxes etc. Our day to day activities and commitment to our work was very similar to when we had larger studios with a bigger team.

We suspect lack of confidence has many designers hiding behind the word ‘freelance’, because it feels a little casual—possibly using it as an excuse not to take their businesses to the next level, an excuse to play small—because you are afraid to play bigger.

If when asked what do you do? Do you say…”I do a bit of freelance” or “I’m just a freelancer”?

If yes, then let’s address that. Let’s change your response to…’I am a business owner’!

Because as a freelancer you still own your business, you own the responsibility. So beautiful designer, we would love you to be courageous, be the business owner you are, be the entrepreneur that you are and own it. You are worthy.

Say out loud. “I AM A BUSINESS OWNER!” See how it feels.

This little paradigm shift comes with massive power—by really embracing it and owning that you’re an entrepreneur all of a sudden you are commanding a high level of trust and respect.

But, that doesn’t mean you can’t have the freedom and the flexibility. As the CEO you call the shots, you’re the boss. And if you have your foundations set up properly your business will be exactly what you intend it to be—whether you want a scalable model…or you choose to keep it small. Remember—your business, your way.

We can’t express enough the power that the little shift into CEO mentality gives you.

Dropping the F word takes you one step closer to thinking like a CEO and elevates the decisions you make on the daily. You are worthy of having a real, grown up business as a solopreneur. You are worthy of having a highly respected design studio.

And, for us, ‘freelance’ feels one step too close to being ‘an outsourced employee’. 

We are finding a common thread with a lot of our 1:1 coaching clients and some members of The Academy—their clients feel like horrible bosses. They don’t have one horrible boss they have a whole bunch of horrible bosses. We need to shift this, take our power back. Say I am the CEO—I set the parameters of this project and this is how its going to go. And we have so many ways to share how to do this beautifully and respectfully…so it feels like a mutual collaboration.

We’re talking about worthiness a lot because we believe lack of worthiness is the fundamental issue that can be tied to many of the problems designers have in business, including…

• client problems
• cashflow problems
• lack of sales etc.

The first step toward success for a graphic design business is to step away from the employee mindset and into CEO mindset?

When you have a CEO mindset, you are more likely to show up on a higher level in your business. And, you are much more likely to:

• Set firm boundaries
• Implement effective systems into your business that protect you and your time
• Command respect because of the energy you bring to the business

Imagine if you were showing up as a CEO. What would it look like if you were setting boundaries as a CEO, what would it look like if you were setting up systems as a CEO? What would it look like if you were commanding respect like a CEO? Imagine!

We love this quote by Rachel Rodgers of HelloSeven…

“Boundaries aren’t about saying no to other people, they are about saying yes to yourself.”

Instant CEO level up in your graphic design business

What does your email signature say?

Signing off on your email as the founder or the director of a business commands immediate respect. The recipient will know that this is your business—your are a business owner not a hired hand or outsourced employee. 

Pro Tip: Consider adding a title like:

• Founder
• Director
• Owner
• CEO

We will leave you with one last thought…

“Your playing small does not serve the world, there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you” —Marianne Williamson

Time to shine beautiful designers, you can still have the freedom and the beautiful life you want—and you don’t have to play small.