In the previous instalment of Freelancing Life we heard from Rosa about her experience of entering the freelance world. Part 2 comes from Chloe Rahall on the ups and downs, but with a happy ending.

I was freelance for 18 months, and if I’m honest, the thought of going permanent scared me a bit.  I am notoriously afraid of commitment, and having previously worked full time at an agency for a couple of years, at first I loved the freedom that freelance gave me, and enjoyed going into different agencies and seeing how they did business and functioned internally.

There’s also something really liberating about not being tied to a company, and having the freedom to turn down projects and to go somewhere else. And being freelance really expanded my skillset, as often you have to hit the ground running, and will be expected to take on a number of different roles.

However, flitting from job to job meant that I felt I was never really investing myself fully into my work- and I felt as if it had gone from being my passion, to simply a job that paid my bills- if I wasn’t busy I’d take work I hated to fill the time. I missed not only the security and stability of a perm contract, but also the knowledge that you have ownership of projects and can see them through from concept to completion.

I didn’t realize how important this was to me until I found the right company, (I was actually booked to do a few days freelance there) and realized that this wasn’t somewhere I would be glad to leave at the end of a booking.

When they asked me to stay on, I didn’t really hesitate, and now I wake up every day happy to be working with creatives whom I admire, and on projects I am really proud to be a part of.  The financial stability that comes with it is secondary to the knowledge that I am able to see projects out, and the feeling of being part of a team.

Saying that, I do, of course, make slightly less money, but I don’t worry about sorting out tax or national insurance and its actually reassuring to know that things I never thought about before, like my pension, are getting sorted.

I loved being freelance, and I worked for some great clients (and some terrible ones) but the best thing I got out of it was finding a job that I enjoyed enough to stay on fulltime; for me, when I found the right studio, I knew I wanted to stay there, and taking a perm role didn’t seem like such a terrifying commitment.

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