Find out all about why I changed my career goals…
Some of you may know that I’ve been doing for the past few years, and others might not have a clue. But, to sum it up… I have spent the majority of my life being interested in art and design. I grew up spending hours and hours editing photos on Photoshop as I used to be super into photo manipulation and photography (but more so the editing side than the actual photo snapping). I studied art & design in college and specialised in graphics and then I went to uni to do a degree in graphic design. I developed a love for illustration during my uni years and decided that I would get a career in it. I lost my way a bit once I graduated because I’d become pregnant and suddenly didn’t really have the time or energy to focus on it anymore. I carried on being a freelance designer, which I’d done alongside my degree to keep the pennies coming in but I took on pretty straightforward jobs, things like designing logos and posters or working with companies on packaging. This was mostly because I had a baby to concentrate on, but also I just felt like I had lost my ‘creative spark’ if you like, that I used to have. Obviously I hadn’t lost it completely as I was still working and designing things for my clients, but it just didn’t feel the same anymore.
After Reuben was born, I started to take blogging a lot more seriously. I had mostly taken on gifting collabs up until this point but my stats were getting higher, my following was getting bigger, and brands had started offering me payment. I spent most of 2017 building up my blog and putting my all into it, I feel like I improved and grew a lot last year, not just because of my stats, but my photography, my writing, my social media presence, everything! Towards the end of last year, I began getting some pretty big collaborations and working with some incredible brands and ever since then it’s just got better and better. I’m by no means a “big” influencer, but I think I have developed some pretty great relationships with brands and PR companies which has lead to more and more work. As the work became more regular, I found myself with less and less time to work on trying to gain new clients and advertise my design services. I used to spend the day browsing freelance sites applying for jobs and sending emails to clients, but instead I was emailing PR companies and brands, browsing social media for opportunities and working on growing my blog.
January was an amazing month for me in terms of blog collaborations, probably the best month I’ve had, and even though February was a little slower, the work is still coming in quite nicely. I didn’t want to jump in and become a full time blogger so soon but I feel like now that I’ve done it officially, I can put my all into it knowing that I need to kick my arse into gear during slower months doing everything I can, because it’s now my job. I know that I’m very lucky in how I was already a freelancer and working from home, so it’s been easier for me to work on my blog than it is for say someone who has a 9-5 job. Although, believe me, trying to earn an income and raise a toddler all on your own is not an easy task! However, the adjustment to going from two freelancing jobs to freelancing in just the one has obviously been a very smooth adjustment, if anything it’s easier for me now as I just have the one career to focus on if you get me? I had two websites before, my blog and my portfolio website. I had two separate folders on Chrome, one with all my graphic design stuff, and one with all my blogging stuff. I had an Adobe Stock membership to pay for, as well as my portfolio website and domain name, and of course I have my web hosting and domain for my blog too. There’s just so much to think about with both and I think it’s going to be much better for me career and financially wise to just have the one to focus on! I also don’t have to think about all the different pitches and emails to send to completely different clients. I don’t think I will get rid of all of my graphics resources just yet, as they do actually come in handy when it comes to blogging anyway, but I’d like to keep them incase I ever decide to go back into that area. And of course I’ll never get rid of all of my fonts – hello! They’re a must have as a blogger right?!
So to put it simply, I honestly just think that the more I fell in love with blogging and photography, the more I fell out of love with graphic design. I still have the passion for it in me, I always have to the cutest fonts, and my blog design always has to look on point, not to mention how picky I am over my blog header! I still get all geeky when it comes to gorgeous branding too, I can’t get enough of brands who have the prettiest logos and packaging! But yeah, I guess if you can turn a hobby into a career, and earn an income doing something that doesn’t feel like a job, then you have to grab it with both hands. For me, that used to be Graphic Design, but now it’s being a blogger and social media influencer, as much as some people hate that term. I’m excited to see where the next year takes me in terms of my blog. I’ve never planned to freelance forever, I was waiting until Reuben started nursery to go into a 9-5 job and jump back on my career path, but if it carries on going well I think I will focus on blogging for the foreseeable future instead, and it’s a career I would much rather have too. I always have my degree to fall back on if it doesn’t turn out how I hoped, as things change constantly in this online world and you never know what might happen.
I’d love to hear your stories if you’ve been in a similar situation to me where you’ve spent so many years doing one thing but gradually developed a passion for something different! 🙂
