Charles Commins handed his notice in at his pub management job with no plan and no business. 

His partner gave him one month to figure it out. All he knew was that he wanted to love his job.

Seven and a half years later, he's an award-winning freelance podcast producer whose almost entire client chain traces back to one decision: making a football podcast about Northampton Town.

That podcast would act as his show ground and his playground. Testing and ultimately proving to clients that he should be freelancing for them.

Along the way he's had a succession of word-of-mouth freelancing clients, realised his dream of appearing on BBC Radio, and made all of it work around being there for his family.

This episode of the Being Freelance podcast with Steve Folland covers:

• Starting It's All Cobblers To Me as a portfolio piece, and how a Northampton Town fan indirectly led to a four-year retainer
• Why and how 90% of his work comes through referrals
• The "starting from…" pricing approach: why he won't publish fixed rates, and how he edges prices up with each new client
• Work-life balance: from pub late nights to home office, to a new baby derailing everything, to finally getting it to 60/40
• The never-ending circle of freelance guilt - working, not working, being with family… there's always something to feel bad about
• Co-running MIC's Podcast Club with Vic Turnbull - 1,400 members, monthly virtual meetups, and why running a community full of "competitors" is actually brilliant
• Launching The Warrington Scoop, a hyperlocal monthly podcast, as a low-lift way to generate local business leads
• Co-mentoring with Amy: how a monthly accountability call became one of his most valuable freelance tools
• The biggest challenge: not finding clients, but believing work will come when you're in a trough

Charles is part of the Being Freelance Community - come and hang out with Steve, Charles and plenty of friendly freelancers who get what it's like!

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

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Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
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Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

Perryn Ryan didn't set out to become a freelance illustrator. 

After a degree in computer information systems (to keep her parents happy), years in tech,, and a long stint in the fashion industry, she eventually gave herself permission to just... draw stuff she liked. Nothing serious.

Then a stranger with a million followers re-shared her work, the enquiries started flooding in, and a freelance illustration career was born almost overnight.

In this episode of the Being Freelance podcast, Perryn talks about:

• How a career in fashion taught her to cost properly - including the "invisible costs" most freelancers miss
• What happened when she dived into her first illustration brief without a contract, and what she learned from it
• Why she approaches every client relationship as a partnership - but with clear limits on revisions, timelines, and communication
• Her surcharge system for clients who insist on net 30 or longer payment terms
• How her niche grew organically by simply making what she loved - flowing line art, wellness themes, women-focused brands
• Why she's stepped back from Instagram and leans on direct outreach to art directors instead
• The Illustrator's Business Journal; her writing project sharing business lessons through storytelling rather than how-to lists
• Her four-bank-account system for managing freelance finances without the end-of-year panic
• Protecting her creativity with time blocks, no weekends, and Field Trip Fridays

Enjoy a story with a few twists, a couple of false starts, and the reminder that every weird job you've ever had is probably preparing you for something.

 

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance
YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland

Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

Laura Whitehouse didn’t follow the usual path into graphic design.

While studying archaeology and anthropology (told you) at university, she started designing posters for student theatre shows. At first for free, then for £20 here and there (or sometimes just a pint). What began as a creative outlet quickly became the foundation of a freelance career.

Thanks to word of mouth clients and the help of various mentors, she built skills and confidence. 

Until five years on, one of those mentors simply told her: "Just do it".
So she did. She quit. And start freelancing full time

In this episode Laura talks about:

• Building a business through word-of-mouth referrals
• Gradually increasing her rates after nudges from other freelancers
• Showing only certain types of work online to shape perception
• Running her one-woman studio Mighty Fine
• Why she prefers working with freelancers rather than building an agency
• The reality of managing 45 projects at once
• Being completely unapologetic about chasing unpaid invoices
• Why the financial side of freelancing can be the most stressful part
• And the strange phenomenon of people wanting to “just grab a coffee” to pitch startup ideas

Laura also talks about working in film and TV graphics, co-hosting the podcast Opening Credits, and how reading fantasy novels recently helped her switch off from work in the evenings.

It’s a fun and honest conversation about building a freelance business your own way, without necessarily following the usual advice about niches, marketing strategies, or growth.

Sounds like a mighty fine idea.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance
YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland

Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

In this short compilation episode, Steve revisits conversations from across 11 years of the Being Freelance podcast archive to explore what actually happens when freelancers specialise in a niche. Full of stories of how these freelance creatives found their niche and the impact it had.

You’ll hear:

THE IMPACT OF NICHING
How specialising can make marketing simpler and sales conversations easier

Why expertise can lead to higher-value opportunities

HOW TO FIND YOUR NICHE
How to choose a niche based on experience, enjoyment or values

Why your niche doesn’t have to be permanent

Featuring insights and stories from James Barnard, Liz Painter, Katie Chappell, Ayo Abbas, Louise Shanahan, Eman Ismail, Estelle Hakner, Ebonie Allard, Hannah Dossary and Stephen Adams.

Whether you’re just starting out or rethinking your positioning years into freelancing, this episode might help you scratch that niche itch.

FULL EPISODES for each guest
James Barnard
Liz Painter
Katie Chappell
Ayo Abbas
Louise Shanahan
Eman Ismail
Estelle Hanker
Ebonie Allard
Hannah Dossary
Stephen Adams
Paul Jarvis Q&A

Hosted by freelance podcast editor and video podcast editor Steve Folland.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance
YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland

Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

For years, Mark Grainger’s freelance business ticked along nicely.

Referrals. Word of mouth. Repeat clients.

And then… things went quiet.

In this episode, we explore what happens when the reliable stream of freelance work slows down. And what it really takes to respond proactively rather than panic.

Durham-based freelance brand copywriter Mark shares how he:

- Repositioned himself from a company name back to his personal brand

- Niched by service rather than industry

- Started experimenting with LinkedIn outreach

- Refocused on building more durable business foundations

- Leaned into community rather than retreating

Mark is refreshingly honest about the uncomfortable parts of freelancing, especially business development.

“I have a business, but I’m not a businessman.”

We also talk about lifestyle businesses, pricing flexibility, work-life balance, and why it’s vital to acknowledge the harder seasons of self-employment rather than pretending everything’s fine.

If freelancing has felt quieter lately…
If you’ve relied on referrals and now need a Plan B…
Or if you’ve ever felt uncomfortable selling yourself…

This conversation will reassure you - and might just nudge you to get proactive too.

Go say Hi to Mark on LinkedIn!

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance
YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland

Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

This is the first time I've done this as an episode.

A quick behind the scenes of what I'm up to with my own freelancer business - as a freelance video and podcast editor. 

If you'd like to go even more behind the scenes, check out my freelancing life vlog on YouTube.

If I'm going to pay for an advert for my services, there's something I need to do first...

And you can do this too.

It's not about a major overhaul of your website. 
Instead sit with a fresh cuppa and fresh eyes and see as if you're someone discovering you for the first time.

If someone clicks through on LInkedIn to your profile, what will they find?
Mine is linkedin.com/in/stevefolland

Likewise to your website.
Mine is stevefolland.com

Look at your LinkedIn profile. 
Is it up to date for the work you're doing today? Do the links they click out function properly?

Look at your website. 
Are the services you want to be known for the most obvious? 
Does your contact form work? 
Is your blog active or making it look like you've gone out of business?

If you're going to shout about yourself so that people pay attention, make sure what they find is true to you today.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance
YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland

Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

Laura has been a professional graphic designer for over 20 years, but her freelance journey began in 2008 after the birth of her first child. With daycare in Manhattan costing more than rent, Laura started piecing together freelance work from home; juggling projects from a tiny dining table in a fourth-floor walk-up.

Freelancing wasn’t always smooth. But eventually, after settling in Massachusetts, it clicked.

After a particularly harsh freelance interview left her devastated, Laura made a decisive shift. She stopped calling herself Rizby Designs and became Rizbee Studio instead - a small but powerful change that reframed how clients perceived her work. And how she saw herself and her business.

Laura began positioning herself as a studio, using “we”, and gradually building a trusted team of contractors around her.

Over time, Laura discovered what she truly loved: designing brand systems, particularly for consumer packaged goods in the food and beauty industries. Finding her niche was the next big change.

Laura’s growth has been fuelled by intentional networking. From women-led business groups locally, to major industry expos across the US. Laura shares how she approaches events, follows up thoughtfully, and builds genuine relationships that often turn into work, even if it’s months later.

Laura also shares why she’s invested heavily in her business over the past few years: hiring a business coach (who’s helped her double revenue year-on-year), bringing on a social media manager, fractional CMO, director of operations, CFO, and freelance designers - all while remaining the creative heart of the studio.

Beyond client work, Laura has created something rare: a true client community. Including hosting a client appreciation dinner (first time we’ve heard that on the podcast!). She explains how fostering connection between clients has become a defining part of her business.

It feels amazing the difference defining herself as a ‘studio’ instead of a freelancer has made.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance
YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland

Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

Cold outreach can often get a freelance business started. 
But in this episode I propose even those of us years down the line don't give it the cold shoulder.

When you need to bring in clients, maybe a period of cold outreach, or even a consistent long term pattern of it, could be exactly what warms our business back up again.

Cold emails. Cold calls. Reaching out to people who didn’t ask to hear from you. It can feel awkward, uncomfortable, and very easy to put off.

But again and again on the Being Freelance podcast, freelancers have shared how proactive outreach - in many different forms - played a huge role in getting their business started, or getting it moving again when things felt quiet.

This episode is a little different from the usual Being Freelance format. Rather than a single guest interview, it’s a reflection on conversations with freelancers who’ve taken a deliberate approach to outreach.

You’ll hear how copywriter Adri Kopp refined her cold email process, worked out who she should actually be reaching out to, and set herself daily outreach targets - discovering that volume and timing mattered just as much as personalisation.

You’ll hear how fintech copywriter André Spiteri approached cold outreach as a simple, repeatable habit, deliberately avoiding emotional attachment to individual emails so he could keep momentum going.

Designer and illustrator Iancu Barbarasa shares how sending hundreds of emails wasn’t about asking for work, but about starting conversations - conversations that later led to some of the biggest projects of his career.

The episode also explores outreach beyond email. Sustainability copywriter Raymond Manzor talks about cold calling, sending physical letters with samples, and following up by phone. Standing out simply because hardly anyone else was doing it. Whilst visual storyteller Ashwin Chacko shares how self-publishing a book and proactively sharing it opened doors to workshops, conversations, and paid work.

Alongside the tactics, there’s plenty of honesty about rejection. Most people won’t reply. Some will say no. A few might tell you to get lost. And that’s all part of the process. The freelancers featured here talk candidly about learning not to take it personally, separating their identity from their work, and trusting that being in the right place at the right time often comes from showing up consistently.

What comes through most clearly is this:
Cold outreach doesn’t have to be spammy, pushy, or salesy.

And while outreach often becomes more selective as a business grows, it never completely goes away.

So even if your work mostly comes through referrals, word of mouth, or SEO, this episode is a gentle nudge to ask:
Is there still a place for cold outreach in your freelance business?

Featuring insights from these brilliant freelance guests, whose full episodes you should absolutely check out:

Copywriter Adri Kopp

Fintech Copywriter André Spiteri

Designer & Illustrator Iancu Barbarasa

Sustainability Copywriter Raymond Manzor

Visual Storyteller Ashwin Chacko

Conservation Illustrator Stefán Yngvi Pétursson

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance
YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland

Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

Katie Chappell is a freelance live illustrator based in the UK - and her story takes some unexpected turns.

After being sacked from a graphic design job, Katie slowly built a freelance illustration career through side jobs, teaching guitar, working in retail, and even becoming a nanny abroad. A 100-day drawing project helped her find confidence, momentum, and visibility - and eventually led her into live illustration and graphic recording.

Things really took off during the pandemic, when Katie adapted quickly to online events and found herself booked solid. At one point, she scaled the business into an agency-style setup with salaried staff and 24 illustrators on the books.

On paper, it looked amazing.

In reality, it nearly broke her.

In this episode, Katie talks honestly about scaling up, scaling back, pricing, niching, marketing, work-life balance, and the moment she realised something had to change. 

We also get into the practical stuff: working with a virtual assistant, setting clear prices, and why “make work, share work” is still the foundation of her marketing.

Katie is part of The Good Ship Illustration - an education and community space for illustrators, that she founded with two of her friends. If you enjoy Katie on here, do check out The Good Ship Illustration podcast!
 

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance
YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland

Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

As freelancers, it’s easy to spend most of our time in the business - delivering client work, meeting deadlines, keeping things ticking over. But if we never step back, time has a habit of running away from us. We can be swept along on a current of what people ask us to do, not thinking about if it's where we want to be heading.

This episode is a little different from the usual Being Freelance podcast format. Instead of a single guest interview, it’s a reflection on conversations with freelancers who consistently make time to work on their business - not just once a year, but regularly.

You’ll hear how different people approach this in their own way:

Some take themselves off on solo business retreats - sometimes to a hotel, sometimes just to a different room in the house — with no client work allowed. Others hold quarterly CEO retreats, stepping away from day-to-day delivery to review what’s working, what isn’t, and what they want more (or less) of.

One even does a 'Weather Report', seeing what's on the horizon for their work, personal life, creativity, and the wider world -  treating their business like something that moves in seasons.

What they all have in common is this:
They don’t leave their freelance business to chance.

Regular reviews help remove mental load, bring clarity, and often make client work feel more enjoyable - because you’re no longer carrying half-finished thoughts about marketing, pricing, direction, or next steps in the back of your mind.

You’ll also hear a very practical reminder: if you want thinking time, you usually have to put it in the diary first. Two or three hours, a half day, once a month or once a quarter - it all counts.

This episode isn’t about grand five-year plans or fancy frameworks. It’s about creating space to ask better questions:

Is this still working?

Am I enjoying this?

Is this profitable?

Is this taking me where I want to go?

Because freelancing doesn’t have to be something that just happens to you. With a little regular reflection, you get to design it - deliberately.

Featuring the insights of these fantastic freelance guests, whose full episodes you should totally check out.
Follow these links for their podcast conversations.
- Writer Rebecca Rosenberg
- Designer Brennan Gilbert
- Writer & Editor Melanie Padgett Powers
- Voiceover Emma Clarke
- Market Research Consultant Katie Tucker

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance
YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland

Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.

From an overworked designer posting “a visual diary” on Instagram to running a multi-stream creative business, Itzel Islas has built a freelance life entirely on her own terms.

After almost a decade in apparel design, she started illustrating for fun - and quickly realised people loved her colourful, playful style. “Little by little I started creating art… and then I started getting clients through it.”

Today she runs YAY Itzel, blending branding work, her online shop, Patreon sticker club, brand partnerships with Adobe and Wacom, murals, workshops and even organising pop-ups, all rooted in her Mexican culture. “I’m just chasing whatever is fun for me.  And if it sounds fun, I’m all in.”

She talks building a business organically, finding clients who share her values, and why being authentic is her biggest asset. “I’ve always seen everything I do as a big package of what is my business and how I sustain myself as an artist.”

Hosted by freelance podcast and video podcast editor Steve Folland.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You're not alone being freelance. 
Come and hang out with your BFFs (Being Freelance Friends).
beingfreelance.com/community
 

NEW TO FREELANCING? THERE'S A COURSE FOR YOU!

The Being Freelance course is made for you!
Take the course and you'll also get 6 months FREE community membership.
 

FREELANCER MERCH
Get Being Freelance merchandise at beingfreelance.com/shop

Like VIDEO? - Check out the Being Freelance on:
Instagram - Instagram.com/beingfreelance
YouTube - YouTube.com/SteveFolland

Being Freelance is hosted and created by freelance podcast editor Steve Folland.