Podcasts about Freelancers Union

Welcome to HALO Talks! In this episode, host Pete Moore sits down with Tom Morrissey, founder of Solo Health Collective and a seasoned veteran in the health insurance world, to unpack the complex—and often misunderstood—landscape of healthcare for self-employed professionals. With a career spanning decades at Cigna and deep experience serving everyone from major corporations to solo entrepreneurs, Tom shares how he's dedicated his life to helping small business owners and solopreneurs access quality, affordable health coverage. Despite his success in the large-account space, Tom noticed an unmet need: Small and mid-sized businesses were often overlooked by health insurers and weren't given access to innovative cost-saving or health improvement solutions that benefited the bigger corporations.  If you're a personal trainer, group ex instructor, wellness coach, massage therapist, or any professional running your own business, this conversation is a game changer. Tom explains the differences between HMO and PPO plans, why traditional ACA ("Affordable Care Act") options can fall short for the self-employed, and how his company's unique group plan model is designed to deliver robust coverage (including preventive care and nationwide access) with transparent pricing and minimal out-of-pocket surprises. Plus, hear about partnerships with organizations like the Freelancers Union, and learn how innovative features like HSAs can work for you—even covering perks like fitness classes. On the healthcare issues facing entrepreneurs, Morrissey states, "We saw the growth. It depends on who you listen to, but estimates are that there'll be 90M solo business, owners by 2028. I want to say there's about 60M now. The guys and gals that own these businesses . . . I think, especially when they're young and healthy, are the ones that get screwed the most in healthcare. You know? All they really have access to is ACA plans." Key themes discussed Challenges of health insurance for solopreneurs and self-employed. Differences between PPO and HMO health plans. Underwriting and rate-setting for solo business owners. Preventive care coverage and HSA/HSA usage changes. Brand trust versus new insurance providers like Solo Health Collective. Partnerships with organizations such as Freelancers Union. Long-term cost sustainability for healthier insurance collectives. A few key takeaways:  1. Solo Health Plans Are Filling a Major Gap: Morrissey explains how traditional health insurance often overlooks solopreneurs and small business owners, especially in the HALO space. His company, Healthy Business Group via Solo Health Collective, is designed specifically to provide comprehensive PPO health plans to solo business owners—offering an alternative with more flexibility and better coverage than typical limited-network ACA and HMO options. 2. Key Plan Advantages-PPO Access and Maximum Out-of-Pocket Clarity: Unlike many ACA or HMO plans that limit provider networks and access, Solo Health Collective offers nationwide PPO plans, granting members broader access to healthcare providers. They also have a straightforward approach: After the deductible is met, there's no coinsurance—meaning your deductible is the absolute maximum you'll pay out-of-pocket for covered expenses (with all preventative care covered in full and not applied to the deductible). 3. Plans Are Designed for Solo Business Owners With Medical Underwriting: To qualify, you must have an EIN (Employer Identification Number) and be a business owner without employees. Members go through a quick, five-question medical underwriting process, which allows the plan to provide tailored age, and location-based rates—often significantly less expensive than standard individual policies, especially for young, healthy professionals. 4. HSAs and Innovative Usage for Wellness Are Embraced: The plan supports health savings accounts (HSAs), and Tom shared how, thanks to evolving IRS guidelines and technology, people can now use HSA funds for things like fitness classes and certain wellness purchases, expanding the value of pre-tax health dollars and encouraging preventive care and healthy lifestyles. 5. Long-Term Value and Stability Solo Health Collective is built on a self-insured, level-funded model supported by robust reinsurance (Odyssey A+ rated.) This allows the collective to stabilize costs and potentially keep renewal increases lower than the industry average—especially as it pools healthier, proactive members like those in the wellness and fitness industries. The long-term goal is to create a sustainable, affordable health insurance solution specifically for entrepreneurs who have historically been underserved. Resources:  Thomas Morrissey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommorrisseyhbg  Solo Health Collective: https://hbgsolo.com   How It Works: https://hbgsolo.com/how-it-works  Freelancers Union: https://freelancersunion.org/insurance/health  Promotion Vault: http://www.promotionvault.com HigherDose: http://www.higherdose.com

Laura discusses affordable health plans and benefits for freelancers and solo business owners. Joined by Tom Morrissey from Healthy Business Group and Rafael Espinal from the Freelancers Union, they cover tips for accessing support and choosing the right coverage as an independent worker.Money Girl is hosted by Laura Adams. A transcript is available at Simplecast.Have a money question? Send an email to money@quickanddirtytips.com or leave a voicemail at 302-365-0308.Find Money Girl on Facebook and Twitter, or subscribe to the newsletter for more personal finance tips.Money Girl is a part of Quick and Dirty Tips.Links: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/money-girl-newsletterhttps://www.facebook.com/MoneyGirlQDThttps://twitter.com/LauraAdamshttps://lauradadams.com/

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 1456: Hanna True simplifies the freelancing journey by offering a straightforward, actionable guide that covers everything from identifying your marketable skills to attracting your first clients. By following her advice, new freelancers can confidently take the first steps toward building a successful, independent career without getting overwhelmed by the process. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://mappedoutmoney.com/7-simple-steps-to-start-freelancing-now/ Quotes to ponder: "Freelancing doesn't have to be overwhelming; start small, and you'll learn as you go." "You already have skills that someone is willing to pay for, you just need to find your audience." "Instead of waiting for the perfect time, take the first step now and adjust along the way." Episode references: Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/ Fiverr: https://www.fiverr.com/ Freelancers Union: https://www.freelancersunion.org/ Freelance Manifesto: https://www.amazon.com/Freelance-Manifesto-Modern-Motion-Designer-ebook/dp/B071JRYMSG Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 1456: Hanna True simplifies the freelancing journey by offering a straightforward, actionable guide that covers everything from identifying your marketable skills to attracting your first clients. By following her advice, new freelancers can confidently take the first steps toward building a successful, independent career without getting overwhelmed by the process. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://mappedoutmoney.com/7-simple-steps-to-start-freelancing-now/ Quotes to ponder: "Freelancing doesn't have to be overwhelming; start small, and you'll learn as you go." "You already have skills that someone is willing to pay for, you just need to find your audience." "Instead of waiting for the perfect time, take the first step now and adjust along the way." Episode references: Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/ Fiverr: https://www.fiverr.com/ Freelancers Union: https://www.freelancersunion.org/ Freelance Manifesto: https://www.amazon.com/Freelance-Manifesto-Modern-Motion-Designer-ebook/dp/B071JRYMSG Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We spoke to Sara Horowitz (@Sara_Horowitz), founder of the Freelancers Union and author of the book Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the ground Up . Sara was also one of our co-conspirators in Zuzalu in Montenegro last year who brought her extensive experience and wisdom from building and supporting worker-focused organizations. We spoke about the practical realities of building mutualistic organizations, the history of how workers' movements did it, and how crypto can build this through solidarity primitives.Check out a previous episode to learn more about our framework for out network state alternative,  coordi-nations.JOIN THE BLOCKCHAINGOV DISCORD SERVER HERE IF YOU WANT TO TAKE PART IN THE CONTINUED OVERTHROW AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE RISE OF COORDI-NATIONS.Overthrowing the Network State (OTNS) is a series in collaboration with Blockchaingov where we critique The Network State  by Balaji Srinivasan while also pulling out the salvageable parts and concepts in discussion with a variety of guests. You can find the first episode of OTNS where we give our initial criticisms and  alternatives here.Blockchaingov is a 5-year long, transdisciplinary research effort aimed at restoring trust in institutions at the community and global levels, by promoting better on chain and off chain distributed governance practices. Throughout the series, each discussion will include me and a member of Blockchaingov with either a new guest each episode or a discussion between us to tackle various topics from the book.Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who's work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

The BOSSES discuss how to embrace the intricacies of your finances as owners of your voiceover business. As tax season approaches, they delve into self-employment, discussing how different business structures, such as S-Corps and DBAs, can significantly impact your taxation and payment schedule. They also examine the emotional factors that can influence your approach to money management, taking into account personal backgrounds and societal pressures.  Health insurance options are also discussed, from leveraging a spouse's plan to state programs. The BOSSES also explore the merits of keeping distinct business bank accounts and utilizing tools such as Health Savings Accounts and business credit cards. Whether you're a spreadsheet enthusiast or a QuickBooks aficionado, they provide insights on tracking transactions, automating invoicing, and the smart utilization of business credit cards for cashback rewards. 00:01 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss, a V-O boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza.  00:19 - Anne (Host) Hey everyone, welcome to the V-O Boss podcast and the Real Bosses series. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza, Again back with the amazing Tom Dheere. Tom, I'm so excited to talk to you today.  00:33 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Yay, always glad to hang out with you.  00:36 - Anne (Host) Except I don't have such a fun topic to talk to you about today, tom, oh no. Well, my accountant. The other day she sent me an email saying well, anne, I'm going to be taking out thousands of dollars for your free payment, for your taxes, for your S-Corp. As April is coming along here, I thought we should probably talk about finances, and I know it's not everybody's favorite topic and I've talked about this before, but I think, getting closer to tax time, it's important for us to have an intelligent discussion right and talk about why it's so important, bosses, for you to have some financial intelligence surrounding your business, and I think, tom, you're going to be the best source of information for this. So let's talk about financial intelligence. What does that mean?  01:25 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Okay, I derive my understanding of financial intelligence versus emotional intelligence from Robert Kiyosaki rich dad poor dad books. If you've never read rich dad poor dad, it is a must read for people who are self-employed in general, and it's really great for voice actors in particular, because it talks about making decisions based on feelings versus making decisions based on facts, and part of my philosophy is that everybody has their own weird relationship with money.  01:55 - Anne (Host) A lot of people are afraid of it. That's a polite way of saying it. It's a weird relationship with money.  02:01 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Yeah, Well, yeah, because some people are terrified of it. Yeah, some people covet it, some people hate it, and a lot of that is influenced by you, but it's also influenced by what your parents taught you or didn't teach you about money, or your culture, or your home or your school or your friends kind of taught you what your relationship with money is, not necessarily what it should be. So, as the VO strategist, there's a lot of grown-up poopy stuff that I talk about.  02:28 - Anne (Host) You made me snort, sorry Sorry.  02:30 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Or maybe I should do them more over there. That was pretty funny. What I mean by that is that a lot of people try to get into the voiceover industry to get away from the grown-up poopy stuff, and what they find is that they have to do all that stuff too, yeah, but they don't know how to do it. No one has told them how to do it, or when to do it, or where to do it, or why to do it, nor being held accountable for it. And the financial literacy is a huge component of that. Yeah, understand the difference between how employees get paid versus how managers get paid, versus how self-employed people get paid, and how they get taxed is very, very different. Yes, and can I just interject really quickly?  03:12 - Anne (Host) I said my accountant right, and of course, I always talk about my accountant and how wonderful it was one of the best decisions I ever made for my business. However, even though I have an accountant, I need to be able to direct my accountant and understand what my accountant is saying. So, yes, I need to be financially literate, I need to understand what's important, I need to understand how things operate, and she can be part of my education. She can talk to me about that. But also it's definitely upon myself to be educated and smart, because if you're going to have someone helping you with your financials, then you want to make sure that you've got the right person.  03:48 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Yes, and there's a lot of ways to do that. There's a website. I'll have to find it. I'll give you the link. I think it's the AEA or AEE or it's like the American Association of Accountants or something like that, and you can do a search based on where you live and what kind of financial advisor you need help with. So there are CPAs certified public accounts who specialize in working with people who are self-employed. So because the way that someone who's self-employed files their taxes, because the way they get paid what tax, if tax is withheld, what tax is withheld, how it is withheld and all of the expenses that you can write off in deductions that you can make is completely different from a person who has one nine to five job, who gets a paycheck every 14 days and gets one W-2 in the mail every year and you take the standard deduction and you're done.  04:33 - Anne (Host) Now I have a bunch of different information right At the end of the year that if I'm paying people I need to provide or I get a bunch of information depending on how much money I've made from different clients I will get a bunch of different pieces of information that are important for my taxes, and I will also mention that, having been a DBA prior to an S-Corp, right, things are different now that I'm an S-Corp.  04:54 I mean, I used to, as a DBA, I would quarterly make an estimate on my taxes and pay it, but now I have to pay myself a salary, and so that is also different and I have different paperwork to file. I'm gonna say the S-Corp saved me a whole lot of my taxes. And again, what's the difference, right, between the different types of businesses and how can they help me when tax season comes about and how can they help save me money? And so, while I am saving money with an S-Corp versus my DBA, because of the amount of money that I'm making, it also becomes more time consuming on my part because I've got more paperwork to fill out, more things to mail in, and I've constantly, for whatever reason, the government is always coming back to me saying, hey, you owe us $13. No, I don't, because there was a number that was reported incorrectly.  05:40 And I'm not always getting it, but it certainly happens a little bit more than when I was working for a company and just had one piece of paperwork to file at the end of the year.  05:48 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Your VO bosses may be freaking out a little bit right now, but I wanna put them at ease. The question is should you incorporate or should you form an LLC, or should you stay self-employed? The answer is different, for everybody. Just because Anne is an S-Corp doesn't mean she advocates that everybody should be an S-Corp.  06:06 - Anne (Host) Yeah, absolutely, Because you all live in different right, Right exactly.  06:12 - Tom Dheere (Guest) And that has a huge effect because different states have different incorporation laws. So what benefits her living in California and forming an S-Corp? May not be good for me in New York forming an S-Corp. So that's why you need to have a living breathing CPA, not filing it via QuickBooks or stuff. You need to have a human.  06:33 - Anne (Host) And I'm gonna say yeah, and not just once a year for taxes. I really highly recommend some sort of an advisor. Now your accountant doesn't have to tell you what kind of business, but mine did because she was very familiar with working with people who are self-employed. So that helped a lot, tom. What do you recommend for people who don't have a clue, like what sort of company should they form?  06:55 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Right, okay, talk to. Well, not all. And to your point, not all CPAs are financial advisors and not all financial advisors are CPAs, right? So if you are gonna have a conversation with someone about it, I would strongly recommend you find in your state a certified fiduciary, that's a person who has literally taken an oath and certified that they will give you financial advice that is in your best interest. This is why you should not walk into some national franchise bank looking for financial advice, because there's always some guy or girl sitting in the corner at a desk who don't care if you are penniless when you retire, they're gonna try to sell you the retirement packages that will give them the best commissions. So I say, stay as far away from them as you can. Go to your credit union also. They may be able to help you. Your credit union is more of a vested interest in your financial wellbeing too.  07:49 - Anne (Host) I just caught you saying I'm gonna sell you a retirement package. Now, that's something that most voice artists, right? If you're working for yourself and self-employed, you're not even really thinking about, right? That's in addition to registering your business, paying yourself a salary or whatever it is that you're going to do. Are you going to incorporate? Are you going to be a DBA? There's also other things like retirement funds and healthcare, right and so?  08:13 - Tom Dheere (Guest) That's a whole other thing too.  08:14 - Anne (Host) Let's talk about that for a moment, Tom Sure.  08:17 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Okay. So if you have a spouse who has an insurance plan, get on it. Yeah, that's probably your best way to go. Also, sag-aftra has a fantastic health insurance program. If you are SAG-AFTRA, you need to earn a certain amount of money every year to qualify for that. So if you can get it through a partner, great. If you can get it through SAG-AFTRA, great.  08:40 - Anne (Host) If you cannot, If you work for the government too, county or state before this this county-state government employees also have fantastic plans.  08:46 - Tom Dheere (Guest) When I was a teacher yes, I had a great plan because I work for an educational institution and I have a nice pension Right.  08:51 Also, the Freelancers Union has healthcare. Nava has health insurance packages that you can look at. I, who live in New York, go through this state New York healthcare program. So my wife and I built an account. We entered all of our information, all of our assets, all of our expenses, and then it says okay, based on your adjusted income, you qualify for these health insurance programs through these companies and it will cost this amount. So that's been fantastic for us. The big thing is that if you are self-employed, you can write off legitimately, legally, ethically, a lot of stuff. Yes, yes. So when it comes to applying for a mortgage, it doesn't look good because your income looks a lot lower.  09:30 - Anne (Host) Absolutely.  09:31 - Tom Dheere (Guest) But if you are applying for health insurance, first-hand experience.  09:33 - Anne (Host) It's great for you yes, first-hand experience. If you're self-employed and then asking for a mortgage, it is something. You will have to provide a trillion pieces of evidence of the money that you make. It is very difficult, because that was my experience when we applied for a mortgage a couple of years ago, before we bought this home, and so, being self-employed, you have to be more financially intelligent than you ever thought, because you're going to have to have lots of different proof of income when do you get your income and how much income, and what are you writing off? And the cool thing is is that, yes, you can write off a whole bunch when you're self-employed. However, sometimes it makes the government look at you a little closer too.  10:13 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Yes, you gotta be careful about that Because if you take a loss too many times, they're gonna designate your voiceover career as a hobby and then financially, you're kind of boned when it comes to that. I will also give another piece of advice regarding health insurance. Is that the best advice that I can give that I give my VO strategist students is to try to get a health savings account, or HSA. This is separate from a health insurance policy. Hsa is basically an IRA or a retirement account, but the purpose of it is to put money into it and take money out of it only for medical expenses. And what's great about it is for those of us who get paid voiceover gigs where there is no withholding. They don't take taxes out. You can deposit that money in that HSA and it will not get taxed when you take that money out for a legitimate medical expense.  11:08 That money does not get taxed, it is protected and a lot of them function like actual funds, like retirement funds where you can choose. It's like an index fund or a retirement fund where you can choose Apple or Microsoft or whatever, and it will be influenced by the market and some of them are purely interest rate based, like a straight up IRA so you can have multiple HSAs. I have multiple HSAs. Some are performance based, some are interest based, and what I do is I don't take anything out of them ever, even if I have medical expenses, because what I'm going to do is that down the road you can reimburse yourself for medical expenses as long as you provide the receipts, anytime you want. So if you've got $1,000 in your HSA and you take out $500 to repay yourself back for a medical expense, you've only got $500 in there. That's growing or performing. If you do it 10 years from now, that $500, and you have $10,000 as a result of market growth and additional putting more money in. Now, when you're taking $500 out, it's a drop in the bucket.  12:10 Yeah yeah, absolutely, and when you hit 65, you can just withdraw from it like a retirement fund. So I strongly recommend a health savings account. It's very, very powerful. A lot of your credit unions may already have one, or you can go to hsabankcom and check it out.  12:25 - Anne (Host) Well, I'm also going to say now what's so important right that establishes you as a business is a business bank account, which is something I think is imperative, and also a business savings account, and I have a high yield business savings account, which is really. I don't take money out of that If I don't have to. That is really, and I don't know if it's just in the last couple of years, but I've seen more and more offerings of this with different banks and with I actually happen to have one with American Express which is doing really well, and so I have that.  12:55 I just put the money in it and I don't touch it and it just sits there and it really is doing well, interest wise, and so if I ever do need it, that's going to be kind of like my little nest egg. But talk about the importance of separating your accounts out from personal into business.  13:11 - Tom Dheere (Guest) This is so important. The biggest reason why you need to do this is so you have a clean audit trail, because if the IRS does ever come and knock in, they can look at your accounts and you can say this one, all of my business expenses went in and out of this account. All of my personal stuff went in and out of this account. They are separate because if you are mixing it all up, it's a big mess and you could get in a lot of trouble.  13:34 - Anne (Host) Yeah, and it's horrible at tax time Horrible, horrible at tax time, horrible, especially if you're not keeping track.  13:40 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Yep. These accounts are super easy to open as well. Most of us can just go online, log on to your bank online and just open the account. You don't even need to talk to a human, you just go, click, click, click.  13:49 - Anne (Host) You just transfer money and they want your money, they want your money and, as a matter of fact, they will reward you if you have a certain amount of money in that account. Free checks, higher interest, that sort of thing, lots of different. So I think you can shop around for a bank, because banks want your money right now.  14:04 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Yeah, because, like, my business checking account is with one major bank chain and then my personal checking account is with another one because the interest rate is so much higher in the other one. But I like all the benefits. Sure, the business one. That's also the same one that I got my PPP loan when the pandemic happened. So when I applied and lined everything up, I got approved in 15 minutes and the money hit my account within 24 hours.  14:25 - Anne (Host) Yeah, yeah, same. For me, it really makes such a big difference when you have those accounts separate, and I cannot tell you how easy it is to have those separate accounts when you're working, let's say even with an accountant, right, because I actually happen to have the same bank for both my personal and my business. However, they're entirely separate when it comes to my software. So how important is it, tom, to have a software that helps us to financially understand what's happening in our business? You know inflows, outflows, profit and loss.  14:57 - Tom Dheere (Guest) I'm going to give you an answer that you may not expect, but I hate those. I hate them.  15:02 - Anne (Host) Okay.  15:03 - Tom Dheere (Guest) What I do is I have I know this sounds terrible, but I have a spreadsheet. Well, of course you do what the spreadsheet does is I know because Tom dear loves a spreadsheet.  15:14 - Anne (Host) Yes.  15:14 - Tom Dheere (Guest) My spreadsheets, which you can download for free at vostratigistcom. You sign up for it, you will get the spreadsheet that I'm talking about. I log every penny that goes into my business and every penny that goes out of my business.  15:25 - Anne (Host) Okay.  15:26 - Tom Dheere (Guest) So what's also nice is I've been messing around with some formulas lately, so the 2024 version, which I have yet to upload, but if you email me at tomatomgcom I can send it to you directly is that I log the amount, whether it's me as a voice actor or as the VO strategist. I have separate columns for those revenue streams and then I have the genre of voiceover in another column and then that populates a report, a running, living report.  15:51 So I can see exactly how many e-learning things I've done this year and how much money I've made and what percentage of my overall revenue that is.  15:58 - Anne (Host) So now does that also incorporate? Now the only reason I'm gonna say to you that, yes, I realize that you hate them. The reason, one of the reasons why I like them it use QuickBooks online is that I can integrate my bank account and so if somebody's paying me through an invoice and it goes into my bank account, it automatically gets recorded and because I am working with an accountant, she can remotely log in. She's not in California. She can remotely log in and manage my finances and the two of us. I can see what she's doing and that basically works really well for me.  16:30 - Intro (Announcement) And I have.  16:31 - Anne (Host) PayPal coming cause clients can pay me via PayPal, Venmo, my QuickBooks invoicing, which is three different streams incoming, and so those three act as banks and get automatically entered into QuickBooks and it can also take the fees, cause you know PayPal and they all charge fees.  16:49 That's the one thing, and so that can be yes, that can be separated automatically, so it's not something that I have to go and say, oh, all right, so $20 was paid to me. However, I only netted $18.57 because of the PayPal fee. So all of that can be automated and that just makes it easier for me and my accountant.  17:08 - Tom Dheere (Guest) I will say that I do use Wave for my voice actor invoicing, which I have my credit card set up on that, I have PayPal set up on that and I have direct deposit set up on that.  17:19 - Anne (Host) My VO strategist revenue goes through Wix, so I don't really generate invoices manually as the VO strategist Wix does, wix does it for me, and then it collects all the payments.  17:30 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Yeah, wix is great for that, and then I have it set up where once a week it'll take all the money I earned from Wix and just put it in my business checking account. So I get an email saying here tomorrow you're gonna get a direct deposit for this amount.  17:42 - Anne (Host) And then I just I write it in my checkbook and then you know, this is all income. Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense.  17:46 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Right and I just write Wix in the right part of the side, or PP or DD or whatever. So also I'm so anal and I am so diligent with my spreadsheets and my CPA loves it because everything is auto-summed. So at the end of the year, when I don't bring my receipts to my CPA ever, I just send in one print out that has all of the expenses added up Automatically. I do very little math.  18:11 And then another spreadsheet that has all the 10.99s that I collected and all of the W-2s that I collected and then like the interest on my savings accounts or capital gains, the insurance interest and all that stuff and I just give that all to her. So I like my system. It works for me.  18:27 - Anne (Host) Yeah, no, absolutely.  18:29 - Tom Dheere (Guest) And working with the QuickBooks works for her, so it's good.  18:32 - Anne (Host) Well, yeah, I will tell you in terms of expenses, like so, my expenses. I have one business credit card and everything it's put on that business credit card, and so the statements from that credit card become my expenses.  18:45 And the nice thing is I just get a credit card that gives me all kinds of benefits. It actually gives me cash back, so again, that also is a bank that can be input into my QuickBooks and so all of my business expenses are also there, and so again, that works for me. So, and also my business checking account, obviously in savings account, are also in the QuickBooks. So yeah, I mean, I think, whether you do it via spreadsheet. Now, in terms of the amount of time, tom, that you spend doing financial things every day, once a week, once a month, how does that work for you? What's your time?  19:18 - Tom Dheere (Guest) I mean, the spreadsheet is open every day, so if an expense comes in or a gig comes in or I work with a student, I just log it as I go. It's just part of my workflow. It takes a minimum amount of time. I pay my credit card bills like twice a week. And that's the same time I'm updating my checkbooks. I send out invoices. Well, I mean, it depends. There's some clients where the second I send the audio files, I send the invoice. For some clients I wait a week for retakes.  19:43 Then I send the invoice and then I have some clients who all the work that I did in one month I'll send them one invoice for, so I don't have a set time of day or a week where I'm invoicing. It's usually that. But again, I've been doing this for so long and it's just such a part of my workflow and I'm one of the weirdos that likes doing the invoicing and paying the credit card bills and balancing the checkbook and logging the spreadsheet.  20:04 - Anne (Host) And I'm one of the people that doesn't I actually enjoy?  20:06 - Tom Dheere (Guest) it and that's fine. You're the minimum majority.  20:08 - Anne (Host) I'm the weirdo on this one, but that's okay. I mean, I think, your method with the spreadsheet. I mean the spreadsheets are so, so valuable.  20:16 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Number one yes, especially if you can find the right formulas, because, like, I like to know what percentage of my voiceover work is coming from my agent, so I know at the top of my head in 2023, 12% of my voiceover revenue came from representation Wow, and that's important, because I need to know how my business is functioning and why my business is functioning and I also learned things on a marketing level.  20:39 - Anne (Host) Yes, yes, absolutely About how my voiceover.  20:41 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Business is doing so. If I do a marketing campaign to put myself out there as an explainer video narrator and then I notice in third quarter 2023, my explainer video bookings went up by 20%, that means that marketing campaign worked. So these things all have a relationship with each other how your money comes in and out, your marketing methods, the tools that you're investing in, the training that you're investing in on a genre level All of them are interrelated. Everybody thinks they're these separate silos, and I love this one and I eat this one. I love them all because they're all related to each other. They should have a synergistic relationship. Most people coming into the industry, as you know, dump all their money into performance training, which they pretty much should at the beginning because they need to know if they can do this and how to do it. And then they invest in the demo and while they're doing that, they're investing in the home recording setup and all that stuff.  21:31 But what they're not a lot of them are doing is investing in their financial literacy. While they're doing this, they kind of wait till later or they don't know they have to work on this, because if you can start to develop your financial literacy as you are developing your performance skills and working with great coaches like Ann, when it comes time, when you've got that shiny demo in your hand and your website is up and your home recording studio is ready, you can hit the ground running, not just on audition and pray mode, but also on what do I do when I get my first gig. Oh, my God, I did the gig.  22:01 - Anne (Host) What do I? I got to do. What do I do now? Oh my God, what do I do? I got a gig. What do I do now?  22:06 - Tom Dheere (Guest) And what do I do with the check? How do I invoice them and what do I do with the check?  22:09 - Anne (Host) Well, first of all, if you go, oh my God, what do I charge? And then it's like, oh my God, how do I invoice? And then it becomes like, okay, now I've got the money and think about it. You don't want to just throw that in your personal checking.  22:18 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Right, and that's why Ann can help you with that. I can help you with that Kind of developing your financial literacy muscles and your marketing muscles, your business muscles, along with your performance muscles. So you are well rounded and when you're ready to hit the ground and really start your voice over career, you'll be firing on all cylinders.  22:36 - Anne (Host) Well, absolutely. And Tom. I just want to promote you, tom, because for all of those bosses out there that are just starting out like a lot of people out there going, oh my God, I don't even know where to start. Do I incorporate, do I create a business? What should I do? How do I even go about getting a separate account for my business? All of these questions you've got the VO strategist right here at your fingertips. And Tom is just amazing. He's been in the industry for gosh a billion years already and he didn't even pay me to say this. But I am highly, highly recommending for you to get with Tom. Get yourself a plan right, get yourself a strategy so that you can go into this as a business and not be panicked and be prepared for success. I love it. There's probably a whole lot more that we can talk about financial literacy.  23:20 - Tom Dheere (Guest) Tom.  23:21 - Anne (Host) However, I think we've really covered a lot of ground here. That I think is important for all bosses out there to understand and know that again, we're not just in the booth performing. That's not who our business is. There is that other component which I think is super, super important for us to understand so that we can go and make a profit, because that's what the whole purpose is. That's why we've become unless you're a hobbyist and I don't think VL Boss is I don't think we're talking to hobbyists here. I think we're talking about bosses. We are entrepreneurs, we are business owners, and let's get yourself prepared financially so that you can be on the road to success. Tom Dheere, is your pathway to get you started. I'm telling you, tom, thanks so much for talking with me today about this lovely topic which I know most people. I'm going to have to title this episode something completely different. Maybe I don't know, because I think sometimes, when people even see the word finance, they're like, oh God, my head hurts.  24:20 - Tom Dheere (Guest) But it doesn't have to be. Learn to love it. Yeah, love your finances. Yeah, that's what it's going to be called Love your finances Right, love your finances and have business success.  24:31 - Anne (Host) All right, tom. Well, thank you so much again for your wisdom. Bosses, big impact, simple mission, 100 voices, one hour, $10,000. If you want to know more, that's four times a year. By the way, bosses, visit 100voiceswhocareorg to find out more. And big shout out to our sponsor, ipdtl. You too can network and connect like VL Bosses, the VL Bosses that you are. Find out more at IPDTLcom. Have an amazing week and we'll see you next week. Bye.  25:01 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, ann Ganguzza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Free distribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via IPDTL.   

Did you know that 84% of independent business owners think that there should be more government resources and financial assistance to support them? The current government infrastructure makes it difficult for us not only to build but also to protect our business. In this episode, Rafael Espinal, president of the Freelancers Union, joins us to share how we can become fierce advocates for our businesses through legislative advocacy.Today's conversation is only the beginning. We will be partnering with the Freelancers Union to host a meetup at the South by Southwest event next year. We are so excited to join forces to help secure a better future for independent business owners.The Independent Business podcast is powered by HoneyBook, the all-in-one platform for anyone with clients. Book clients, manage projects, get paid faster, and have business flow your way with HoneyBook. Use the code PODCAST to get 20% off your first year as a new member.Resources MentionedThe Harris PollThe Freelance Isn't Free ActFreelance Isn't Free Five Year ReportThe Freelancers UnionConnect with the guestWebsite: freelancersunion.orgInstagram: @rlespinalEmail: respinal@freelancersunion.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can we help locally, but in a way that works economically? This is the challenge that thwarts many solidaristic startups. Luckily, Sara Horowitz has picked up the gauntlet. Sara Horowitz has been both the chair of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the founder of the Freelancers Union and the Freelancers Insurance Company and talks eloquently on mutualism. Join Grant and Sara's discussion on mutualism, in which they expound on friendly societies and the history of mutual aid societies and ask the questions: What should be the current strategy of protecting laborers? Why do local movements seem invisible to the public eye? And, what is necessary to make mutualism successful?

A.I., the writers' strike, and a crisis of imagination — Sara Horowitz, a lifelong mutualist, shares how we can build the future we want with mutualism.  Sara is the founder of the Freelancers Union and the Freelancers Insurance Company. A labor lawyer, former chair of the board of the New York Federal Reserve, and recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, Sara has been featured on NPR, and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic, among other publications. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and daughter. Sara is currently working to build the Mutualist Society. She is also the author of the book Mutualism and writes about how we need to build our next safety net in America through the local organizations we know and trust. Mutualism exists in 4 principal areas: unions, cooperatives, mutual aid groups, and faith-based institutions, which we'll explore more in this episode. Her vision and tenacity to organize and build the world she wants to live in is admirable. She's truly a visionary thinker when it comes to the economy, labor, and societal change. Her community-oriented approach stems from her grandparents, who were garment workers in the 1920s, and from her grandfather, who helped organize and was vice president of the Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. In today's episode, you'll learn more about the historical context of labor movements and how they relate to today's culture, including the current writers' and actors' strikes. Sara shares her thoughts on the future of technology, including A.I. and DAOs (or decentralized autonomous organizations), and how we can harness this technology from a mutualistic approach that centers on collectivism, community, and building collaboratively.  Explore Sara's vision of embracing a mutualistic future that can bring about positive societal change and a better way forward. EPISODE SHOW NOTES: https://creativitysquared.com/podcast/ep15-sara-horowitz-build-the-a-i-future-we-want-with-mutualism    JOIN CREATIVITY SQUARED Sign up for our free weekly newsletter: https://creativitysquared.com/newsletter  Become a premium member: https://creativitysquared.com/supporters  SUBSCRIBE Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform: https://creativitysquared.com Subscribe for more videos: https://youtube.com/@creativity_squared/?sub_confirmation=1 CONNECT with C^2 https://instagram.com/creativitysquaredpodcast https://facebook.com/CreativitySquaredPodcast https://giphy.com/channel/CreativitySquared https://tumblr.com/blog/creativitysquared https://tiktok.com/@creativitysquaredpodcast #CreativitySquared CONNECT with Helen Todd, the human behind C^2 https://instagram.com/helenstravels https://twitter.com/helenstravels https://linkedin.com/in/helentodd https://pinterest.com/helentodd Creativity Squared explores how creatives are collaborating with artificial intelligence in your inbox, on YouTube, and on your preferred podcast platform. Because it's important to support artists, 10% of all revenue Creativity Squared generates will go to ArtsWave, a nationally recognized non-profit that supports over 100 arts organizations. This show is produced and made possible by the team at PLAY Audio Agency: https://playaudioagency.com. Creativity Squared is brought to you by Sociality Squared, a social media agency who understands the magic of bringing people together around what they value and love: http://socialitysquared.com.  #FreelancersUnion #WritersStrike #WGAStrike #WGAStrong #FreelanceIsntFree #SAGStrike #Freelance #FreelanceLife #Freelancing #WritersCommunity #Soloprenuer #FreelanceProtection #DoTheWriteThing #Mutualism #LaborMovement #AI #WritersOfInstagram #ArtificialIntelligence #ArtificialIntelligenceAI #ArtificialIntelligenceTechnology #MachineLearning #FutureTechnology #FutureTech #TheFutureIsNow #TechPodcast #AICopywriting #AIPodcast #AINews #ArtificalIntelligence #ArtificialIntelligenceAI

Jeff Simmons and Celeste Katz Marston discuss workers' rights and protections with special guests Rafael Espinal, executive director of the Freelancers Union, and Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Worker's Justice Project -- plus your calls. Original air date: July 13, 2023.

Women, Shopping and Awkward Money Moments with Galia Gichon & Susan Yeagley, co-hosts of The Fiscal Firecrackers Today, I'm sharing my conversation with Galia Gichon and Susan Yeagley, co-hosts of The Fiscal Firecrackers, a weekly podcast centered around educating, entertaining and empowering people about money.  This was so in alignment for me and my mission, so it was such a treat getting to talk to these ladies. Together, Susan, being a renowned comedic actress and Galia, a personal finance expert with 20 years experience, combine their superpowers to share educational financial information in a hilarious and approachable way.   Galia Gichon is an independent personal financial expert with more than 20 years in financial services, including nearly 10 years on Wall Street and an MBA in Finance. Her career has spanned corporate bond research analyst, personal finance expert, angel investor, entrepreneur advisor, and author. She is the Founder of Down to Earth Finance, independent personal finance education. She has been teaching at Barnard College's Athena Center for Leadership, Freelancers Union for 10+ years, and Yale School of Management. Previously, she worked at Bear Stearns and Nomura Securities. Galia is also the author of “My Money Matters” which was featured on TODAY SHOW.  Susan Yeagley is a renowned comedic actress with a side-hustle hobby - wanting to learn everything there is to know about money. Susan's TV credits include playing "Jessica Wicks" on the hit NBC show, Parks and Recreation and recurring roles on CBS's Rules of Engagement and FOX's Til Death. In addition, she has guest starred on ER, Friends, Reno 911, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Miracles, Ellen, Everybody Loves Raymond and The Sarah Silverman Program. Her film credits include: Almost Famous, the Coen brother's Intolerable Cruelty, Coyote Ugly, Neil Burger's The Lucky Ones and the Adam Sandler film Blended. Most recently, you can catch her playing Parker Posey's half-sister in the Christopher Guest Netflix film, Mascots. This December, she played nutty realtor Barb Hutter, in the Sister Swap Christmas movie on the Hallmark Channel. Check out their website: https://www.fiscalfirecrackers.com/ You can find them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiscalfirecracker/ Susan: https://www.instagram.com/sukiyeagley/ Galia: https://www.instagram.com/pagesandmore/ Learn more about Meghan here: https://moneyisntscary.com/

April 13, 2023 Michael Alden Peck, Co-founder/Executive Director of 1worker1vote, and Co-editor of "Humanity@Work&life-Global Diffusion of the Mondragon Cooperative Ecosystem Experience,” and contributing author, Sara Horowitz. Michael and Sara will give an overview of the book, discuss the Build Mutualism and Humanity@Work&life campaigns, and explore next steps on the pathway to the greater common good. Michael Peck serves as executive director and cofounder of 1worker1vote. Emerging from the October 2009 collaboration MOU between the United Steelworkers and Mondragon International, 1worker1vote serves as fiscal sponsor for the 2022-2023 Build Mutualism Campaign. Peck is also co-founder and managing director of a second for-profit start-up, The Virtuous Cycle Collaboratory, a majority-minority worker cooperative and social enterprise (mission: to “flatten unequal socioeconomic curves into shared prosperity virtuous cycles”). Michael is a board member for the American Sustainable Business Network, and was the 2019 recipient of ASBC's Sustainable Leaders Award. At ASBN, Michael focuses on three campaigns: “Ownership4All”; “Own The Metrics” - Alternative ESG Human & Social Capital Assets with UNRISD + SEE and Rebuild Social Economy Ukraine through the SEE/ASBN Sustainability Collaboration Partnership announced in December 2020. Sara Horowitz, is one of the 36 contributors of Humanity@Work&life, and author of Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground Up. She co-founded the Freelancers Union and Freelancers Insurance Company; and was formerly chair of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Horowitz is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, and she has been featured on NPR, and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic, among other publications. Sara prides herself as being a lifelong mutualist. In her book "Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground Up," Sara takes a profound look at the crisis of work and the collapse of the safety net, and gives a vision for a better way forward, rooted in America's cooperative spirit. She brings us a solution to the current crisis of work that's rooted in the best of American traditions, which she calls mutualism. “Humanity@Work&life - Global Diffusion of the Mondragon Cooperative Ecosystem Experience”, published by Oak Tree Press, frames a collective labor of earned merit, vision and determination by 36 contributors in six countries, three continents, proving how solidarity, innovation, and conviction forge sustaining local and global social economy practice on behalf of the greater common good.

Today, I'm sharing my conversation with Galia Gichon and Susan Yeagley, co-hosts of The Fiscal Firecrackers, a weekly podcast centered around educating, entertaining and empowering people about money.  This was so in alignment for me and my mission, so it was such a treat getting to talk to these ladies. Together, Susan, being a renowned comedic actress and Galia, a personal finance expert with 20 years experience, combine their superpowers to share educational financial information in a hilarious and approachable way.     Galia Gichon is an independent personal financial expert with more than 20 years in financial services, including nearly 10 years on Wall Street and an MBA in Finance. Her career has spanned corporate bond research analyst, personal finance expert, angel investor, entrepreneur advisor, and author. She is the Founder of Down to Earth Finance, independent personal finance education. She has been teaching at Barnard College's Athena Center for Leadership, Freelancers Union for 10+ years, and Yale School of Management. Previously, she worked at Bear Stearns and Nomura Securities. Galia is also the author of “My Money Matters” which was featured on TODAY SHOW.    Susan Yeagley is a renowned comedic actress with a side-hustle hobby - wanting to learn everything there is to know about money. Susan's TV credits include playing "Jessica Wicks" on the hit NBC show, Parks and Recreation and recurring roles on CBS's Rules of Engagement and FOX's Til Death. In addition, she has guest starred on ER, Friends, Reno 911, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Miracles, Ellen, Everybody Loves Raymond and The Sarah Silverman Program. Her film credits include: Almost Famous, the Coen brother's Intolerable Cruelty, Coyote Ugly, Neil Burger's The Lucky Ones and the Adam Sandler film Blended. Most recently, you can catch her playing Parker Posey's half-sister in the Christopher Guest Netflix film, Mascots. This December, she played nutty realtor Barb Hutter, in the Sister Swap Christmas movie on the Hallmark Channel.   Check out their website: https://www.fiscalfirecrackers.com/ You can find them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiscalfirecracker/ Susan: https://www.instagram.com/sukiyeagley/ Galia: https://www.instagram.com/pagesandmore/    

Launching a health coaching business in 90 days is possible! With the abundance of resources and tools available in today's digital age, the right mindset, a clear business idea, and a solid plan, entrepreneurs can leverage online platforms to quickly establish the business of their dreams. By focusing on key priorities and taking advantage of available resources, launching a business in just 90 days is an achievable goal. To guide us through the roadmap to this feat, we invited Michelle Ward to the show. Michelle is  a business coach and the CEO of 90 Day Business Launch. Since 2008, she's helped hundreds of women launch their online businesses so they can become their own boss. She is often featured in New York Magazine, NY Post, The Huffington Post, Etsy, Newsweek, Freelancers Union, and USA Today. 

Today, we're excited to get to know Dr. Neil Patel, Chief Health Officer of Patina Health, a new model of primary care for adults 65 and over that reimagines the journey of aging through virtual and home-based care. Dr. Patel is a trailblazing healthcare leader who has been involved in innovation in the primary care space. Prior to joining Patina, Neil served on the executive leadership team of the Boston based startup, Iora Health, leading special projects across different regions in the US. He also served as the medical director at Grameen VidaSana, Harken Health, Freelancers Union, and the Atlantic City Special Care Center described in Atul Gawande's influential 2010 “Hotspotters” article. Neil went to college at the College of New Jersey, and went to Rutgers New Jersey Medical School for his MD. He trained in family medicine at Boston University. Patina raised 50 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Andreessen Horowitz and Google Ventures, along with F-Prime capital, Rock Springs Capital, and Viking Global Investors. In this episode, Neil shares his journey in medicine, his work in healthcare leadership as one of the founding team members of Iora Health and Patina Health, and advice he has for founders who are trying to improve healthcare delivery.

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Creating and sustaining a successful photo career is no easy feat. To help aspiring young imagemakers acquire the needed creative concepts and business skills, two New York-based organizations—ASMP NY and BKC—have teamed up to offer the innovative mentorship, education, and industry immersion program The Bridge. Open to individuals from 18- to 26-years-old, The Bridge embraces diversity and offers opportunity to underserved communities, regardless of formal photography experience. Best of all, this four-month, real world program is free to accepted students. We first learned about The Bridge during a chat with program co-founder Liam Alexander for the show ASMP-NY and the Future of Photo Trade Organizations in February 2022. Since the program's second year recently wrapped with a gallery exhibition in Brooklyn, and plans are in the works to expand The Bridge to other ASMP chapters in 2023, we wanted to learn more about this valuable initiative in advance of the next application window this spring. For this week's podcast, we're joined by Alexander, who sheds light on The Bridge program's inner workings and educational goals during the first half of the show. After a break, we speak with 2022 Bridge graduate Eli Edwards, who describes what he learned through the program, and the resulting shift in the pictures he makes, as well as in his creative point of view. To discover how to futureproof your career and learn how to apply for this free program, make sure to listen in! Guests: Liam Alexander and Eli Edwards ASMP Bridge Program photo © Saad El Amin For more information on our guests and the gear they use, see: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/podcasts/photography/celebrating-asmp-nys-mentorship-program-the-bridge Episode Timeline 3:50: Application and selection process for The Bridge Mentorship, a program designed to fill the gap in existing educational models. 9:27: Introduction to The Bridge program partner BKC, and program co-founder Justin Lin. 17:13: The Bridge Program coursework: Developing Your Creative Point of View. 20:52: Bridge Mentorship Program Core Supporters: The ASMP Foundation, Sony, and Freelancers Union, and a widening network of additional supporters. 25:17: A five-year vision for the program: Producing the future of the photo industry every summer. 26:50: Episode break 27:24: 2022 Bridge Program participant Eli Edwards and his easy application through Instagram. 32:42: Effects of the program on Eli's pictures and his new confidence in making project-based work. 36:40: Is YouTube University an effective tool for learning the ropes of photography? 40:56: How Eli's shift from social media to photography changed his creative point of view, and some social media tips. 46:38: Ways to support The Bridge program and application window for the 2023 Bridge program mentorship. Guest Bios: Liam Alexander is a fine artist and creative director who seeks to catalyze social change through artistic expression. As the current president of ASMP New York, he co-founded the ASMP NY Bridge program in 2020 with Justin Lin of BKC. He has also been instrumental in building other community focused creative projects designed to educate and inspire, such as IThou at NYU's Kimmel Galleries, The Exchange at Rush Arts, and #StrokeofGenius. Liam's own work has been featured in gallery exhibitions and art fairs throughout the US, and at the second annual Toolkit Festival in Venice, Italy. His work has been published in magazines including Nylon and Rolling Stone, and he creates projects with major brands like Wix.com, Samsung, SAP, Renaissance Hotels, and the city of New York. Eli Edwards is a photographer, videographer, writer, producer, and director. Born in Los Angeles, Eli currently resides in New York City, where he works as a freelance videographer and photographer for brands, events, and musical artists. He was a 2022 participant in the ASMP Bridge program, where he produced the photo series ‘A Community of Hoops', which is about the dedicated group that frequents New York's iconic West 4th Street basketball court. Eli is a 2019 graduate of NYU's Steinhart School, receiving a bachelor of arts degree in Media, Culture, and Communication. After college, he worked as a social media editor for Turner Sports in Atlanta as part of the Emmy-Award winning NBA on TNT team, doing content creation work with the NBA. Stay Connected: The Bridge Program: https://www.wearebkc.com/bridge Donate to the Bridge: https://asmpfoundation.betterworld.org/campaigns/bridge-program ASMP National website: https://www.asmp.org/ ASMP New York website: https://www.asmp.org/newyork/ ASMP New York Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asmpny ASMP New York Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asmpny/ ASMP New York Twitter: https://twitter.com/asmpny Bridge Program partner BKC website: https://www.wearebkc.com/ BKC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearebkc/ BKC Twitter: https://twitter.com/wearebkc Eli Edwards Website: https://www.eliedwardscreative.com/ Eli Edwards Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwards_eli/ Eli Edwards Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZenGeeks Eli Edwards TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nbathoughtseli Liam Alexander Website: https://www.liam-alexander.com/ Liam Alexander Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liam.alexander.rules Liam Alexander Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeumrulez/ Liam Alexander Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiamAlexander0  

Was the Affordable Care Act a cure-all or a mixed bag for freelancers? Where can gig workers turn for expert insurance information and coverage? How would Medicare for All affect independent workers? To find out, we spoke to Rafael Espinal and Jonathan Gray of the New York-based Freelancers Union. Rafael, a former New York state assemblyman and former New York City councilman, is executive director and Jonathan is their member benefits manager. This is the second of two episodes with the Freelancers Union.

Was the Affordable Care Act a cure-all or a mixed bag for freelancers? Where can gig workers turn for expert insurance information and coverage? How would Medicare for All affect independent workers? To find out, we spoke to Rafael Espinal and Jonathan Gray of the New York-based Freelancers Union. Rafael, a former New York state assemblyman and former New York City councilman, is executive director and Jonathan is their member benefits manager. This is the second of two episodes with the Freelancers Union. Check out the Show Notes and Transcript for background info and more!

Was the Affordable Care Act a cure-all or a mixed bag for freelancers? Where can gig workers turn for expert insurance information and coverage? How would Medicare for All affect independent workers?  To find out, we spoke to Rafael Espinal and Jonathan Gray of the New York-based Freelancers Union. Rafael, a former New York state assemblyman and former New York City councilman, is executive director and Jonathan is their member benefits manager. This is the second of two episodes with the Freelancers Union. Check out the Show Notes and Transcript for background info and more!

This time on Code WACK! Why are so many Americans choosing to freelance these days? What are some of the benefits - and risks - of choosing to work for yourself? What challenges do gig workers face when it comes to getting the basics, like health insurance and quality health care? To find out, we spoke to Rafael Espinal and Jonathan Gray of the New York-based Freelancers Union. Rafael, a former New York state assemblyman and former New York City councilman, is executive director and Jonathan is their member benefits manager. This is the first of two episodes with the Freelancers Union.

This time on Code WACK! Why are so many Americans choosing to freelance these days? What are some of the benefits - and risks - of choosing to work for yourself? What challenges do gig workers face when it comes to getting the basics, like health insurance and quality health care? To find out, we spoke to Rafael Espinal and Jonathan Gray of the New York-based Freelancers Union. Rafael, a former New York state assemblyman and former New York City councilman, is executive director and Jonathan is their member benefits manager. This is the first of two episodes with the Freelancers Union.

This time on Code WACK!  Why are so many Americans choosing to freelance these days? What are some of the benefits - and risks - of choosing to work for yourself? What challenges do gig workers face when it comes to getting the basics, like health insurance and quality health care? To find out, we spoke to Rafael Espinal and Jonathan Gray of the New York-based Freelancers Union. Rafael, a former New York state assemblyman and former New York City councilman, is executive director and Jonathan is their member benefits manager. This is the first of two episodes with the Freelancers Union. Check out the Show Notes and Transcript for background info and more!

If you're anything like me, you probably love having a nice plan for your life… Some nice stability, order, structure… some might even say you've got a tight grip on control. [guilty face] I know that space quite well. But, what happens when your solidly formed plans get thwarted by something you could never have seen coming? How do you allow room for grief that your life is going in a totally different direction and still hold on to what matters most to you? How do you take care of yourself when you suddenly have to find a new home? Or recieve a scary diagnosis? Experience a death in the family? Learn your partner wants a divorce?  My dear friend, Michelle Ward, knows a thing or two or twenty about dealing with massive life curveballs. In 2011, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in the midst of fertility treatment for the child she and her husband were desperately trying to conceive. Not only was she dealing with the new realization that having a baby would not at all be as easy as they had planned, but now that dream had to come to a screeching halt as she navigated this life-altering diagnosis. And, the curveballs kept coming. After going into remission, she was diagnosed with breast cancer AGAIN. I mean… how do you not just shake your fists at the Universe like, “WTF, lady!?”  In this week's show, Michelle and I have a candid conversation about what it looks like to reckon with new information that sends your world into a tailspin. We discuss the strategies she employed to cope, who was (and was not) a good person to lean on, and what it was like working through grief that took many different forms. If you feel like you can't catch a break, you'll want to tune and find out how to focus on the things you CAN control, even if that list feels like it's rapidly shrinking. And, believe me when I say, you are most certainly not alone. This pod explores: How Michelle wrote a bunch of songs on her ukulele to help her process her diagnosis and what you can do to process the curveballs you're up against (One song was comically called “Everyone's Your Friend When You Have Cancer”) What to do when folks in your life think you're done with your difficult chapter (ie. divorce is final, cancer in remission, etc.) and you are still racked with grief  How to know who you can trust with your story and who to stay away from Understanding that there will likely be moments when you need to take the low road just to survive   HIRE ME TO SPEAK AT YOUR EVENT! ACCESS ‘ENOUGHNESS'. POWERFULLY NAVIGATE FEAR. SPEAK UP FOR YOURSELF. I have three battle-tested (and badass) keynote speeches that are ready to be delivered to your company, organization, group, or association. If you or anyone you know could benefit from me droppin' some gems (um, like, who couldn't use some new tools?) please send them to THIS FANCY INFO PAGE on my site where you/they can message me directly about specific needs. ______ PERKS FOR THE POD-IENCE This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and The Bold-Faced Truth Podcast listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/boldtruth or simply enter code boldtruth at checkout. Hello!! Join the millions of people who have found huge relief and support from BetterHelp therapists and save on your first month while you're at it! Check it out ~> ______ ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: POD #454: [Dial An Expert] Major Life Transitions, Pivots, And Grief With Deb Cummins Stellato POD #455: [Amy Says] 6 Ways to Powerfully Navigate Transition Anticancer: A New Way of Life, by David Servan-Schreiber MD PhD  There Is No Good Card for This: What to Say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love,  Dr. Kelsey Crowe and Emily McDowell ______ THIS WEEK'S ‘DIAL AN EXPERT ‘ GUESTIE Michelle Ward helps women launch their service-based business in just 90 days so they can be their own damn boss. You may have seen or heard her in New York Magazine, NY Post, The Huffington Post, Etsy, Newsweek, Freelancers Union, USA Today, the Forbes Top 100 Websites for your Career list, EO Fire, Real Talk Radio, The Unmistakable Creative or hundreds of other media outlets. She's the teacher of Create Your Dream Career and Ditch Your Day Job, which were watched by tens of thousands of people on CreativeLive. When she's not coaching, teaching or speaking, she can be found watching her daughter play hockey, sitcom-binging with her husband, or belting out show tunes. Register for the free training at 90daybusinesslaunch.com/training and/or connect with her on Insta _____ HOW TO LEAVE APPLE PODCASTS REVIEWS: Click the “Subscribe on Apple Podcasts” button below or go HERE Click on blue button that reads “view in Apple Podcasts” which will open the podcast into your personal Apple Podcasts account Click “Ratings & Reviews” under the show title Click the star rating of choice and then click the “Write a Review” button You can also click “Subscribe” under the podcast photo to be automatically notified of new episodes ______ WANT TO SUBMIT A SHOW TOPIC? Swing by THIS PAGE and let us hear what you would like us to sound off on!

As an entrepreneur, it happens; you do the work without getting paid, not by choice! This week I shared my response when it occurred to me what I did with the feelings of disrespect, betrayal, and actual financial loss. Link to Freelancers Union, the article Freelance Isn't Free / https://www.freelancersunion.org/ Episode sponsored by Podcast Posse  Podcasters enjoy a weekly video newsletter -bite-size news stories, accountability features, 1-1 consulting, and a monthly peer-to-peer online meetup. https://podcastacademyonline.com/membership/

For our Paycheck to Paycheck series, Rose talks checks in with gig workers to see how they are fairing. First, Minister Cherri Murphy, a former Lyft driver and the lead organizer with Gig Workers Rising, discusses a new report that examines the safety crisis that some gig workers are facing.Raphael Espinal, the Executive Director of Freelancers Union, and Jason McCullough, the founder of Oak Radius Consulting and the leader of SPARK Atlanta, discuss how freelancers navigate HR benefits.Lastly, Sherry Heyl, a driver for Uber Eats and the owner of Amplified Concepts, and Tai Saint-Louis, a freelance journalist and content development consultant, and Richard Berry, a freelance graphic designer and the founder of Design Theory, discuss juggling multiple gigs amid the pandemic. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kate Davis talks with Sara Horowitz about the future of portable benefits. Sara is the founder and former executive director of the Freelancers Union and founder of the mutualists society. She is also an author whose most recent book is “Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground Up”.

Independent workers are the new backbone of the US economy.   Their rapid growth and participation in the workforce (fostered by the pandemic) has come with unique requirements that challenge the traditional banking system. What are freelancers expecting from their banks? To better understand this, we sat down with Ayal Levin, General Manager at Lily, New York who helped us understand the financial tools, services and insights freelancers want to have access to. Topics discussed in this episode: What Lili is and how they help independent workers The role banks play in the independent economy What independent workers expect from their banks How Lili and Freelancers Union are supporting freelancers The challenges of redesigning banking for the independent worker The future of banking for freelancers

I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Ruksana Hussain. She's a freelance journalist and travel writer with 20 years of experience. In this episode, we talk about how living in different countries and states has shaped who she is and what she does. We also talk about her favorite places to travel and why. And the main focus of this episode is about freelance travel writing and how to get started in this field. It's something I know very little about, because I've only ever self-published things, like my blog and my books. This is a whole new world! I hope this episode inspires you to give freelance travel writing a try, so you can inspire others with your own travel and adventures.   About Ruksana Ruksana Hussain is an award-winning journalist, writer, editor working with print and online media. With 20 years' work experience, 10 of that as a full-time freelancer and independent consultant, Ruksana's bylines have appeared in Delta Sky Lines, Business Insider, Restless magazine and Detour (United Kingdom), Luxury Travel Magazine (Australia), Visit California, Cuisine Noir, The Traveler's Table (Canada), and more. In 2020, Ruksana founded and published Traveler and Tourist magazine, a digital, subscriber-only, monthly travel lifestyle publication with the aim of diverse and inclusive coverage in terms of content and perspective, place and people, culture and engagement, through the travel adventures she has experienced. The magazine, which introduced video content in 2021, is created for worldwide readership and can be subscribed to here. Quoted in outlets such as Boston Globe, Sherman's Travel, CWAtlanta and Smart Business, she has presented as a speaker and/or panelist at schools, universities, networking groups, and on podcasts. Some venues she has presented at include Writers Co-op, Business Radio X, Freelancers Union, How to be Global podcast and more. A full list of presentations and press mentions are available on www.ruksanawrites.com Born in India, raised in Oman and now calling Los Angeles home, Ruksana has always embraced change in lifestyle and perspectives with the change in culture and scenarios around her. This has resulted in a successful career as a travel journalist earning opportunities on media trips to Japan, Poland, Mexico, Yukon Territory in Canada, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and more. Ruksana is the recipient of several diversity fellowships and journalism awards for her work and continues to cover travel and lifestyle, among other beats, as a freelance features generalist and editor.   Website  Travel and Tourist Website Freebie: Salad recipes for the month influenced by travels and/or for the busy freelancer Opt-in form: To subscribe to Traveler and Tourist magazine LinkedIn Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram   Listen To This Episode        What You'll Learn How to get started from scratch in freelance travel writing The fundamentals of a freelance writing lifestyle for writers and freelancers What Ruksana wishes she knew from the start The surprising thing that made the difference when getting started The hashtag you need to know to find opportunities The mindset you need to get started as a freelance travel writer How to balance pitching, networking, and actual writing   Related Episodes 438 Jenny Mowbray ~ Solo Travel + Adventure When You're in a Relationship 423 Lois Wagner ~ Adventures, Misadventures, and Learning Resilience 384 Halona Black ~ How to Change Your Life By Changing Countries (now with downloadable transcript!) 383 Anne Malambo ~ How Solo Travel Can Change Our Lives (now with downloadable transcript!) 367 Holly Worton ~ Finding Yourself Through Solo Travel and Outdoor Adventures (now with downloadable transcript!)   Connect With Holly Website Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest Google+ LinkedIn   How to Subscribe Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher   Help Spread the Word If you enjoyed this episode, please head on over to iTunes and kindly leave us a rating and a review! You can also subscribe, so you'll never miss an episode.

Ruksana Hussain is an award-winning journalist and solopreneur on a mission to help others, especially women, and women of color or minorities, to overcome adversity in their lives to pave a path to overall success. Based on her own experiences as an independent travel journalist, freelancer, digital magazine publisher and solopreneur, she speaks on how to chart a course to achieve your goals.Quoted in outlets such as Sherman's Travel, CWAtlanta and Smart Business, she has presented as a speaker and/or panelist at schools, universities, networking groups, and on podcasts. Some venues she has presented at include Business Radio X, Freelancers Union, How to be Global podcast and more. A full list of presentations and press mentions are available on www.ruksanawrites.comAn award-winning journalist, writer and editor with 20 years' experience, 10 of that as a full-time freelancer and independent consultant, Ruksana's bylines have appeared in California Business Chronicle, Delta Sky Lines, Restless magazine (United Kingdom), Luxury Travel Magazine (Australia), Visit California, Diversity Professional, Cuisine Noir, Khabar, The Traveler's Table, Irvine Weekly and more.In 2020, Ruksana founded and published Traveler and Tourist magazine, a digital, subscriber-only, monthly travel lifestyle publication with the aim of diverse and inclusive coverage in terms of content and perspective, place and people, culture and engagement, through the travel adventures she has experienced. The magazine, which introduced video content in 2021, is created for worldwide readership and can be subscribed on www.travelerandtourist.comBorn in India and raised in Oman, Ruksana has always embraced change in lifestyle and perspectives with the change in culture and scenarios around her. That worldview only further benefited when she moved to the United States as a 25-year-old young adult. But the challenges she faced and the obstacles she experienced having no informal or formal networks to guide her and provide direction meant that she had to navigate in a new land all on her own.Learning from her surroundings, Ruksana exploited the power of introductions, strength of referrals and recommendations to effectively network for long-lasting relationship building that has resulted in her overall success. This has resulted in a successful career as a solopreneur and travel journalist earning opportunities on media trips to Japan, Poland, Mexico, Yukon Territory in Canada, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and more.Ruksana was named one of only three recipients of the inaugural ACES Richard S Holden Diversity Fellowship in December 2020, and winner in three categories at the 62nd Southern California Journalism Awards by the Los Angeles Press Club in 2020. She is also a graduate of Ted Scripps Leadership Institute, Modern Storytelling Thread at Yale selected candidate, and Society of Professional Journalists' Dori Maynard Diversity Leadership Program fellow.www.traveerlandtourist.com

The freelancer workforce is very fragmented and having a space to unify their voice has been crucial to become stronger and advocate better for their needs. Freelancers Union is the largest and fast-growing organization representing the 56.7 million independent workers across the country and its president, Rafael Espinal, has been relentlessly working on the front lines to expand their rights and extend unprecedented protection. If you are in the business of serving independent workers and you are looking for ways to do your job better, Rafael Espinal and The Freelancers Union are your must stop on the way to excellence. Topics discussed in this episode: What the Freelancers Union is and what they do. How the freelancer workforce is fragmented and how important it is to build a community around it. The state of freelance work in America, the impact COVID-19 had on freelance workers, and the trends moving forward. What the freelance economy looks like (from gig workers to designers to construction workers). What life was like for independent workers during the pandemic. Top 3 ‘Must Have' in the advocacy agenda for the next couple of years. Advice for those that hire freelancers and independent workers to be better allies. How startups can get involved and learn more about Freelancers Union. Services or apps that Rafael feels like are missing in the space.

Zoë Lintzeris is a visual artist specializing in photography and painting.Founded on her previous work in journalism, her imagery explores the human condition and the emotional psyche within urban and rural environments throughout the world. Love, loss and resistance are key themes within her practice, and her work has been showcased on feature shoot, Silk Road Review: A Literary Crossroads, The Stuttering Foundation, and more. She has worked with 500px, and regularly collaborates with other artists and creative entrepreneurs. In 2019, she premiered her third long-term project, "The Maskyoulinity Project", at 56 Ludlow, which marked her first solo show in New York City. Her pieces reside in private collections throughout North America and Europe, and have been exhibited in group installations at several galleries and creative spaces including Clover's Fine Art Gallery, Point Green Studios, ArtHelix Gallery, 100 Bogart, Greenpoint Gallery, and 222 Bowery.In 2020, she received her Graduate Certificate in Arts in Health from Lesley University, and teaches art-making techniques that unify creativity and wellness in online private sessions and group workshops.She is a virtual resident of the House of Beautiful Business, and a proud member of the Freelancers Union and Americans for the Arts.Follow us on Twitter and  InstagramBe sure to check out our other podcasts:Mastermind Team's Robcast - Mastermind Team's Robcast is an irreverent and hilarious podcast covering all things pop culture and weird news. Let's Watch It Again - Let's Watch It Again is a movie review podcast from MTR The Network.★ Support this podcast ★

Episode Type: Listen to Learn Welcome to another episode of the Share Life podcast with Nancy Kleppel. We originally connected through the Freelancers Union and shortly after in April 2020 she joined me for an episode of Inspirational People where she shared about generosity and priorities during the new covid-19 crisis. Over a year later, today we reconnect to share what we've learned in the meantime. In this discussion, Nancy and I will reflect on the lessons learned during 2020 and the first half of 2021. Some of the topics we survey include: How do we respond when life throws at us the unexpected? Reconciling the difference between reality and our perspective of it. Learn to slow down and appreciate what we have taken for granted. Learning not to get bent out of shape about change. Mentoring others and how being present with people is of utmost importance. About Nancy Kleppel Nancy is an Architect by training with thirty-plus years collectively in the industry, with various incarnations. She's now a consultant to creative entrepreneurs and professionals who work in some capacity with The Built Environment, including architects, engineers, and a diverse group of design and construction professionals. Nancy is also a co-founder, leader, and collaborator of a two-hundred-plus member relational-oriented community, Brick & Wonder They're fostering best-in-class collaborations and helping individuals and organizations who develop and participate in projects that address the built environment better position to be prepared for the unexpected. She is also co-founder of an ongoing mentoring seminar series for Women Entering the Profession of Architecture, where she is supporting young professionals by connecting them to accomplished women architects, providing mentoring, and creating the Old Girls Network to carry them forward into long productive careers. Connect with Nancy on Linkedin here, or visit here consulting website here. Video Conversation If you'd prefer to watch this discussion, visit the following URL: https://www.jasonscottmontoya.com/personal/development/569-pandemic-year-lessons-learned-nancy-kleppel --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sharelife/support

As the US federal government considers once-in-a-generation investments in infrastructure, is it possible to also enable a new commitment to a democratic economy? Sara Horowitz is the founder of the Freelancers Union and author of the new book Mutualism, which […]

The economy has fundamentally changed, and workers have been left behind. To get into why and how, and what we can do about it, I’ve invited Sara Horowitz. Sara is the founder and executive director of the Freelancers Union and author of the new book Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground Up. After listening, learn more at Sara's website www.build-mutualism.net. Praise For Mutualism: Building The Next Economy From The Ground Up… “Horowitz gives us the model to build our next progressive institutions. Her vision provides a path forward to build the next safety net that will meet the needs of all workers in the next economy—an economy that is already here!”—Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers “Horowitz, who had the brilliant idea of founding a union for freelancers, explains in this thoughtful book how in an age of huge economic turbulence, mutualism will play a major role in building a fairer nation for every American worker.”—Steven Greenhouse, author of Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor “In describing a mutualist sector, Horowitz draws on the collective economic development strategies used by cooperative, union, mutual, and faith-based movements. I’m particularly pleased that she includes the critical bridging roles A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin played in connecting these movements during the civil rights era. This book provides wonderful insights for what to do now.”—Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, PhD, economist, John Jay College, CUNY “Horowitz offers readers an entirely new way to think about our needs as workers and citizens and about the institutions we might build to meet those needs. Here is the guidebook to a language and tradition that America must rediscover in order to thrive in the twenty-first century.”—Oren Cass, director of American Compass and author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America “In this powerful, deeply encouraging book, Sara Horowitz argues that while neither markets nor governments have been able to reduce inequality or increase inclusion, we have a third option: mutualism—or the creation of organizations that combine commitment to the public good with the ability to sustain themselves economically.”—Rebecca Henderson, economist, Harvard University --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alyssa-milano-sorry-not-sorry/message

In the latest episode of CBJ podcast, “Diversity Straight Up,” hosts Sarika Bhakta and Anthony Arrington talk with Rafael Espinal, the executive director of Freelancers Union, about freelancers in today's workplace ... who they are, why their ranks are growing and why their diversity matters. Diversity Straight Up is brought to you by GreenState Credit Union and sponsored by Alliant Energy. Additional support is provided by Collins Aerospace and the city of Cedar Rapids.

Sara Horowitz discusses her book "Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground Up." Sara Horowitz is the founder of the Freelancers Union and the Freelancers Insurance Company. Formerly chair of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Horowitz is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and has been featured on NPR and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic, among other publications. A lifelong mutualist, she lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and daughter. In her recently released book Mutualism: Building the Next Economy from the Ground Up, Sara takes a profound look at the crisis of work and the collapse of the safety net, and gives a vision for a better way forward, rooted in America’s cooperative spirit. She brings us a solution to the current crisis of work that’s rooted in the best of American traditions, which she calls mutualism. If you are looking for a new way to build collaboratively, create the new American social contract, and prosper in the twenty-first century, be sure to tune in for this broadcast.

Welcome to Conscious Conversations with Lo (me!) In this segment I have open, life changing convos with some of my closest friends (wolves) in Wellness. Each month we will explore an overall theme, and each episode will help you explore and resonate with the month's theme. This month's theme: Abundant Mindset This month we will allow our abundance to flow to us with ease. We have an amazing line of incredibly talented wolves who will be sharing their genius with you. Episode 9 features Shena Nicole. Shena is a brand consultant, speaker, and educator with 10+ years of experience in retail, fashion, luxury goods, urban apparel, and creative agency; who is well versed in brand identity development, brand psychology, conscious branding, tech, and consumer behavior. She has previously acted as a speaker/educator with NYC Business Solutions, General Assembly, Fiverr, Freelancers Union, Ethel's Club, NYU, and The Coalition of 100 Black Women x L’Oreal. Shena is also a serial entrepreneur with notable brands that have landed business partnerships with Victoria's Secret and been featured in People Magazine (online). We go over: Conscious banding Why being Black in branding matters How to tell your story Be sure to: SUBSCRIBE RATE COMMENT + SHARE this episode with your wolves! Claiming the #1 podcast for Black Mental + Spiritual wellness Want to love on Shena some more? Maybe even have your very own Conscious Convo with her? Here is where you can check her out: 1. Check out her digital products 2. Inquire about her services 3. Check out her insights via social --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lobaland/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lobaland/support

Welcome to Conscious Conversations with Lo (me!) In this segment I have open, life changing convos with some of my closest friends (wolves) in Wellness. Each month we will explore an overall theme, and each episode will help you explore and resonate with the month's theme. This month's theme: Abundant Mindset This month we will allow our abundance to flow to us with ease. We have an amazing line of incredibly talented wolves who will be sharing their genius with you. Episode 9 features Shena Nicole. Shena is a brand consultant, speaker, and educator with 10+ years of experience in retail, fashion, luxury goods, urban apparel, and creative agency; who is well versed in brand identity development, brand psychology, conscious branding, tech, and consumer behavior. She has previously acted as a speaker/educator with NYC Business Solutions, General Assembly, Fiverr, Freelancers Union, Ethel's Club, NYU, and The Coalition of 100 Black Women x L’Oreal. Shena is also a serial entrepreneur with notable brands that have landed business partnerships with Victoria's Secret and been featured in People Magazine (online). We go over: Conscious banding Why being Black in branding matters How to tell your story Be sure to: SUBSCRIBE RATE COMMENT + SHARE this episode with your wolves! Claiming the #1 podcast for Black Mental + Spiritual wellness Want to love on Shena some more? Maybe even have your very own Conscious Convo with her? Here is where you can check her out: 1. Check out her digital products 2. Inquire about her services 3. Check out her insights via social --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lobaland/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lobaland/support

This is a rerelease of episode #73, from September 2020, about the devastating effects the federal PRO Act would have on independent contractors in the U.S.   I am rereleasing this now because the House has announced its plans to vote on this act next week, the week of March 8. We need your help! We must all tell our House representative and our two senators the impact of the PRO Act on our careers. We must explain that we are not “gig workers,” that we are career professionals just like lawyers and accountants. Please tell your story about how you benefit by being an independent contractor.   The PRO Act will likely pass the Democratic House. But, in the 50-50 split Senate, there is hope, but we must get the word out and talk to our legislators and senators now.   This is a call to action!   Here is the edited version of the original show notes from September, with resources below: Today’s guest are Kim Kavin and Karon Warren, two longtime freelance writers who have built successful freelance businesses. Both are active in the fight against the national PRO Act. Kim was active fighting against a similar state bill in New Jersey, and Karon heads up the national efforts to defeat the PRO Act through the grassroots organization Fight for Freelancers. The PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize) was introduced in Congress in late 2019. The initial intent of the bill was to protect workers who are misclassified and give them the ability to join a union. However, the bill was amended to add a classification test taken directly from California’s disastrous anti-freelance bill (now law) known as AB5. That test is called the ABC Test and was written in the 1930s for factory workers. The way the ABC Test is currently written prohibits most independent contractors from working with clients. It doesn’t matter if you call yourself a freelancer, consultant, an agency, whatever — if you are a W9 independent contractor, this affects you. The rest of the PRO Act does not harm freelancers, so freelancers need to focus their efforts on getting the ABC Test part of the bill changed. The push for this bill is union funded, and Democrats—including President Joe Biden—support the bill. In California, legislators “weaponized” the ABC Test by deleting some of the original language. The ABC Test has three prongs (A, B, C) that independent contractors must pass in order to do business. It’s the B part that is the problem. B originally had two parts: Part 1 says you can’t be in the same line of business as the company that is paying you to do the work. But Part 2 negates Part 1 if you do all of your work off company premises. Most freelancers can pass Part 2. However, California deleted Part 2, leaving only the part that says you can’t be in the same line of business as the company paying you. That went into law in January 2020 in the state and destroyed careers of all types of independent contractors, who could no longer work for companies in their industry. This included respiratory therapists and other medical professionals who contract with various hospitals — they lost work when they were needed the most during the pandemic. Other careers and industries affected include journalists, content writers, editors, real estate appraisers, comedians, theater workers, symphonies and orchestras, truck drivers, translators and more. In fact, California has found more than 300 industries hurt by AB5. California freelancer writers managed to get an exemption in the law that capped their submissions to 35 a year for each client. The exemption partially helped some writers, but it also had a lot of problems — for example, content writers, blog writers and newspaper columnists could quickly and easily hit 35 submissions, ending their work for that year for that client. Forbes, Hearst and New York Times were among those who have stopped hiring California freelancers. In December 2019, the AB5 copycat bills started popping up in Democrat strongholds (blue states), including New York and New Jersey, where Kim lives. The bill was introduced in New Jersey with about six weeks to go in a lame duck session. New Jersey freelance writers organized quickly to educate lawmakers about the damage to freelance careers. In New Jersey, lawmakers seemed to pay attention when the writers explained that they were “career professionals,” who earn anywhere from $50 to $300 an hour from clients. They compared themselves to specialized accountants and attorneys. They told individual stories that showed that they were professionals, not victims. The movement created the Twitter hashtag #IRSNotABC, which represents that the IRS standard is a better standard than the ABC Test. We should advocate for the PRO Act and state copycat bills to change their language to follow the IRS standard, not the ABC Test. The IRS standard already exists. It was written in the 1980s and has been updated since. The standard has about 60 questions to evaluate the relationship between a person and a company. The IRS website says, “The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if the payer has the right to control or direct only the result of the work, not what will be done and how it will be done.” Unlike the B part of ABC, the IRS standard allows independent contractors to work in the same industry as their clients. Most legitimate independent contractors can pass the IRS standard. Laws already exist to protect exploited freelancers, and individuals can file a report with the IRS if they believe they have been exploited, like if they were hired as a “freelancer” but the company required them to work a full-time schedule and on the premises. That is not freelancing. The U.S. Department of Labor in both the Obama and Trump administrations prosecuted cases against companies who have misclassified employees. Some freelancers have said that the PRO Act or a state version doesn’t affect them for various reasons. Let’s go through some of these myths to debunk them and let independent contractors know they are in jeopardy: Myth 1: “I’m protected if I’m an LLC or S Corp.” Not true. While the test says “established business,” you must pass the B prong of the ABC Test to be able to work as an independent contractor. New Jersey advocates asked lawmakers to amend the bill to state that being an LLC or S Corp would exempt independent contractors from the law, but they would not add the language. Myth 2: “This is a partisan issue and those fighting against it are all Trump supporters or Republicans.” Not true. Karon explains that advocates are not taking political sides; they are talking about fixing this piece of legislation. It’s just a fact that Democrats, including Joe Biden, support the PRO Act and the ABC Test. Therefore, it’s critical to educate Democrat lawmakers about why the ABC Test is harmful to freelancers. Melanie’s opinion: If you are a Democrat like me and have Democrat representatives and senators, I think it’s even more critical we speak up because it’s the Democrats’ minds we have to change AND we are their constituents and members of their party. Both Democrats and Republicans can educate their Democratic lawmakers and also ensure their Republican lawmakers know about the PRO Act and will work to change it or vote against it. Myth 3: “Those vocal against the PRO Act are paid by anti-union operatives.” Not true. These are all independent contractors who have created grassroots organizations out of necessity to save their freelance careers. This myth makes it even more important that individual freelancers explain their business and their success to legislators so they can understand who we are. What You Can Do: Educate yourself about the PRO Act and how to fight against it. See resources list below. Contact your U.S. House representative and your two state senators THIS WEEK. Ask to speak to them directly or email them. You can gather a small group of freelancers in your state and request a Zoom meeting. Tell your lawmakers your individual freelance success stories and the benefits you get from freelancing. Explain how much you are contributing to the economy. Then, ask them to change the PRO Act so that it uses the IRS standard, not the ABC Test. You can share data that shows most independent contractors want to remain as such. However, keep in mind that your individual stories affect lawmakers more than a bunch of statistics do.  Share the message widely with other freelancers. Write op-eds for your local newspapers. Share on social media and retweet #IRSNotABC tweets and posts. In September, the Freelancers Union (which is a nonprofit, not a union) held a webinar with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York who supports unions and the PRO Act. However, Schumer acknowledged in the webinar that he recognizes the problems AB5 caused in California and said he is willing to work with freelancers on the PRO Act. This was a huge acknowledgement. Let’s hold him to that promise. (See press release in resources below.) Resources: Share this new video from Fight for Freelancers USA explaining the problems with the PRO Act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeSiRVOHeMc&feature=youtu.be www.fightforfreelancersusa.com Fight for Freelancers USA Facebook page — this is where you will find the most updated information and how to organize Fight for Freelances USA on Twitter #IRSNotABC on Twitter Fight for Freelancers press release “US Senate Minority Leader Acknowledges Major Problem in PRO Act” Freelance Forward 2020 — Upwork’s latest research on freelancing (statistics to use) NPR article “Jobs in the Pandemic: More Are Freelance and May Stay That Way Forever” Contently article “Does the ABC Test Already Exist in Your State, and Could It Harm Your Career?” Wrapbook blog post “Employee or Contractor? The Complete List of Worker Classification Tests By State” IRS.gov’s information on independent contractors Fight for Freelancers New Jersey The chaos in California

CNVRSTN with former NY State Assemblyman + NYC Council Member and current President of the Freelancers Union Rafael Espinal! This chat was so informative and he answered some questions I've always wanted to know about government, how it works and how to make things happen. We touched upon the importance of grassroots movements,  progressive ideas, making change happen, where the Best Dominican food in NYC is and so much more. If you want to learn more about his work, check out the Freelancers Union - https://www.freelancersunion.org/. Thanks for being a part of this Rafael! Keep crushing it out there!Rafael's Website Rafael's Instagram 

Michelle Ward, CEO of 90 Day Business Launch, is a business coach who guides creative, multi-passionate women to become entrepreneurs. Since 2008, she’s helped hundreds of these women launch their dream businesses so they can get the freedom, authenticity and fulfillment they’re seeking in their day-to-day lives. You may have seen or heard her in New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, Etsy, Newsweek, Freelancers Union, USA Today, the Forbes Top 100 Websites for your Career list, EO Fire, Real Talk Radio, The Unmistakable Creative or hundreds of other media outlets. She’s the teacher of Create Your Dream Career and Ditch Your Day Job, which were watched by tens of thousands of people on CreativeLive. When she’s not coaching, teaching or speaking, she can be found building a fort for her little girl, sitcom-binging with her husband, strumming her ukulele or belting out show tunes. Show notes: http://tamihackbarth.com/episode-75/    

In this episode of Keen On, Andrew is joined by Sara Horowitz, the author of Mutualism, to discuss job security and insecurity in America, as well as to examine whether or not trade unions can still succeed in today's capitalist society. Sara Horowitz is the founder and a former Executive Director of Freelancers Union. She has been an innovative leading voice of the growing freelance economy, creating solutions for the new workforce for over two decades. Sara founded Freelancers Union in 1995 and is now the CEO of Trupo. Trupo is building a new way to protect the freelance workforce by creating curated benefits packages just as an HR department does for full-timers. Freelancers Union is a partner and part-owner of Trupo, so Trupo’s growth will help fund freelancer advocacy initiatives for years to come. In 2008, Sara launched Freelancers Insurance Company, the first portable benefits model for freelancers, providing independent workers with high-quality, affordable, and portable health insurance. The union’s National Benefits Platform, launched in 2014, helps freelancers across America access benefits, including retirement, life, liability, dental and disability insurance. Sara was the Chair of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, received a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, was recognized as one of the World Economic Forum’s 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow, and was selected as one of the 2015 “POLITICO 50” — the magazine’s marquee annual list of thinkers, doers, and visionaries transforming American politics. Sara is also a highly regarded writer who maintains a rigorous speaking schedule all over the world. She has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Wired, The Atlantic and Fast Company; PBS’ NOW and NewsHour programs, and National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation” and “All Things Considered.” Her book, The Freelancer’s Bible (Workman Publishing Company) was named one of Forbes’ “Best Books to Boost Your Career.” The daughter of a labor lawyer and granddaughter of a former vice president of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, she is also the recipient of the Eugene V. Debs Award for her contribution in building the labor movement for gig workers. Sara is a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, NY. Thank you to today's sponsor, Literati Kids. Get 25% off your first two purchases at literati.com/keenon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you align client expectations and get the best out of them so you can deliver on your strategy? This week we talk with Michelle Garrett, who works with clients at the intersection of PR, content marketing and social media. As a public relations consultant and freelance writer, she specializes in working with B2B clients. Michelle was named a Top Digital PR Leader in 2020 and her articles have been featured in Entrepreneur, Ragan's PR Daily, Muck Rack, and Freelancers Union, among others. The PR Podcast is your view inside the public relations business. We talk with great PR people, reporters and communicators on how they weave narratives that are informative and fun. Host Jody Fisher has worked in New York City PR for more than 20 years, representing clients across the healthcare, higher education, financial services, real estate, entertainment and non-profit verticals. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @ThePRPodcast. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theprpodcast/support

This episode of The Thrifty Marketer Podcast features Michelle Garrett, Writer & PR Consultant.As a public relations consultant, content creator, blogger, speaker, and award-winning writer, Michelle's articles and advice have been featured in Entrepreneur, Muck Rack, Ragan's PR Daily, Meltwater, Attorney At Work, Spin Sucks, FairyGodBoss, ThomasNet, Forbes, Prowly, CIO, Freelancers Union, SheKnows, CommProBiz, and others. Michelle was named a Top Digital PR Leader in 2020 and her blog was on the list of Top 25 Must-Read Public Relations Blogs. She was also selected as one of the Top 13 Content Marketing Influencers to Follow. She is the founder and host of #FreelanceChat​, a weekly Twitter chat for freelancers and self-employed consultants. Michelle specializes in crafting content, strategy, and programs for B2B companies who want to get noticed. She launched her business in Silicon Valley and is now back to her roots in central Ohio. Her business is EDGE and WBE (Women Business Enterprise) certified in the state of Ohio. The Discussion PR is a field that for a common man starts and ends with press releases. Is it just that or there's more to Public Relations? Why Public Relations is a key area to focus on for organizations? What are the key results they can achieve by investing in PR? Does PR magic work wonders for SMBs? Or should they just stay away from PR? What are some of the key PR tactics SMB owners should attempt or even get the help of a PR consultant even? Top advice for SMB owners who want to take baby steps in PR tactics And moreFor more such episodes, follow The Thrifty Marketer Podcast at https://bit.ly/2EN15cJFor SMB marketing tips, visit https://bit.ly/3hHaj8V Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michelle Ward, CEO of 90 Day Business Launch, is a business coach who guides creative, multi-passionate women to become entrepreneurs. Since 2008, she’s helped hundreds of these women launch their dream businesses so they can get the freedom, authenticity and fulfilment they’re seeking in their day-to-day lives. You may have seen or heard her in New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, Etsy, Newsweek, Freelancers Union, USA Today, the Forbes Top 100 Websites for your Career List, EO Fire, Real Talk Radio, The Unmistakable Creative or 150+ other media outlets. She’s the teacher of Create Your Dream Career and Ditch Your Day Job, which were watched by tens of thousands of people on CreativeLive. When she’s not coaching, teaching or speaking, she can be found building a fort for her little girl, sitcom-binging with her husband, strumming her ukulele or belting out show tunes. Make a grown-up living with a business you love at 90DayBusinessLaunch.com. Check her website at www.90daybusinesslaunch.com

Rafael Espinal knows freelancing. His parents both moonlighted—as a photographer and a baker—and as part of the New York City Council, he helped pass the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act,” which allows NYC-based freelancers to tap into city support in resolving delinquent client payments. He’s also the youngest person to be elected to the New York State Assembly, and a former teacher. Now, as Executive Director of the Freelancers Union, he spends his days helping freelancers get organized, big picture-style.  “I knew that at some point in my life, I wanted to be part of an organization that advocated for creatives and freelance workers,” says Rafael, and the Freelancers Union does exactly that: they got started by offering insurance to workers outside traditional employment set-ups. They’ve since grown to include a networking hub, a popular blog, a directory of Black Freelancers, and service discounts for members. This week, we talk to Rafael about why COVID-19 hits them especially hard, why freelancing is an unexpected youth movement, and why freelancers definitely have power in numbers. Join the conversation on Facebook in our #imakealiving group, where you can chat about challenges, find resources for success, and stay connected with other entrepreneurs!

As Executive Director of Freelancers Union, Rafael Espinal is a huge supporter and advocate of freelancers. Listen to this episode to hear: - Information about just how important freelancers are to the U.S. - Potential threats that could impact freelancers negatively. - What we can do to make a difference!

Today’s guest are Kim Kavin and Karon Warren, two longtime freelance writers who have built successful freelance businesses. Both are active in the fight against the national PRO Act. Kim was active fighting against a similar state bill in New Jersey, and Karon heads up the national efforts to defeat the PRO Act through the grassroots organization Fight for Freelancers. The PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize) was introduced in Congress in late 2019. The initial intent of the bill was to protect workers who are misclassified and give them the ability to join a union. However, the bill was amended to add a classification test taken directly from California’s disastrous anti-freelance bill (now law) known as AB5. That test is called the ABC Test and was written in the 1930s for factory workers. The way the ABC Test is currently written prohibits most independent contractors from working with clients. It doesn’t matter if you call yourself a freelancer, consultant, an agency, whatever — if you are a W9 independent contractor, this affects you. The rest of the PRO Act does not harm freelancers, so freelancers need to focus their efforts on getting the ABC Test part of the bill changed. The push for this bill is union funded, and Democrats —including presidential candidate Joe Biden — support the bill. Kim was involved in fighting a copycat bill in New Jersey. A co-sponsor of the bill told her if she wanted to make changes she needed to negotiate directly with the AFL-CIO. That shows who is controlling and pushing these bills. In California, legislators “weaponized” the ABC Test by deleting some of the original language. The ABC Test has three prongs (A, B, C) that independent contractors must pass in order to do business. It’s the B part that is the problem. B originally had two parts: Part 1 says you can’t be in the same line of business as the company that is paying you to do the work. But Part 2 negates Part 1 if you do all of your work off company premises. Most freelancers can pass Part 2. However, California deleted Part 2, leaving only the part that says you can’t be in the same line of business as the company paying you. That went into law in January 2020 in the state and destroyed careers of all types of independent contractors, who could no longer work for companies in their industry. This included respiratory therapists and other medical professionals who contract with various hospitals — they lost work when they were needed the most during the pandemic. Other careers and industries affected include journalists, content writers, editors, real estate appraisers, comedians, theater workers, symphonies and orchestras, truck drivers, translators and more. In fact, California has found more than 300 industries hurt by AB5. California freelancer writers managed to get an exemption in the law that capped their submissions to 35 a year for each client. The exemption partially helped some writers, but it also had a lot of problems — for example, content writers, blog writers and newspaper columnists could quickly and easily hit 35 submissions, ending their work for that year for that client. Forbes, Hearst and New York Times were among those who have stopped hiring California freelancers. In December 2019, the AB5 copycat bills started popping up in Democrat strongholds (blue states), including New York and New Jersey, where Kim lives. The bill was introduced in New Jersey with about six weeks to go in a lame duck session. New Jersey freelance writers organized quickly to educate lawmakers about the damage to freelance careers. In New Jersey, lawmakers seemed to pay attention when the writers explained that they were “career professionals,” who earn anywhere from $50 to $300 an hour from clients. They compared themselves to specialized accountants and attorneys. They told individual stories that showed that they were professionals, not victims. At one hearing, a lawmaker said they were going to protect the freelancers from “nefarious” companies. Kim yelled at a New Jersey senator to stop calling her clients nefarious and exploitative. The pandemic has helped lawmakers understand how many independent contractors are out there because we got attention when we became eligible for unemployment benefits and the Paycheck Protection Program. When AB5 went into law in California, the American Society of Journalists and Authors (a membership organization of freelance writers, of which Kim, Karon and Melanie are members) filed a lawsuit with the National Press Photographers Association challenging the new law on First Amendment and other Constitutional grounds.  Karon got involved at that part, even though she’s in Georgia, a red state where a copycat bill does not exist. But Karon knew she needed to fight against the federal PRO Act, which would affect independent contractors in all 50 states. If the PRO Act passes, companies will begin outsourcing work to people outside of the U.S. The movement created the Twitter hashtag #IRSNotABC, which represents that the IRS standard is a better standard than the ABC Test. We should advocate for the PRO Act and state copycat bills to change their language to follow the IRS standard, not the ABC Test. The IRS standard already exists. It was written in the 1980s and has been updated since. The standard has about 60 questions to evaluate the relationship between a person and a company. The IRS website says, “The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if the payer has the right to control or direct only the result of the work, not what will be done and how it will be done.” Unlike the B part of ABC, the IRS standard allows independent contractors to work in the same industry as their clients. Most legitimate independent contractors can pass the IRS standard. Laws already exist to protect exploited freelancers, and individuals can file a report with the IRS if they believe they have been exploited, like if they were hired as a “freelancer” but the company required them to work a full-time schedule and on the premises. That is not freelancing. The U.S. Department of Labor in both the Obama and Trump administrations have prosecuted cases against companies who have misclassified employees. Some freelancers have said that the PRO Act or a state version doesn’t affect them for various reasons. Let’s go through some of these myths to debunk them and let independent contractors know they are in jeopardy:   Myth 1: “I’m protected if I’m an LLC or S Corp.” Not true. While the test says “established business,” you must pass the B prong of the ABC Test to be able to work as an independent contractor. New Jersey advocates asked lawmakers to amend the bill to state that being an LLC or S Corp would exempt independent contractors from the law, but they would not add the language.   Myth 2: “This is a partisan issue and those fighting against it are all Trump supporters or Republicans.” Not true. Karon explains that advocates are not taking political sides; they are talking about fixing this piece of legislation. It’s just a fact that Democrats, including presidential candidate Joe Biden, support the PRO Act and the ABC Test. Therefore, it’s critical to educate Democrat lawmakers about why the ABC Test is harmful to freelancers.   Melanie’s opinion: If you are a Democrat like me and have Democrat representatives and senators, I think it’s even more critical we speak up because it’s the Democrats’ minds we have to change AND we are their constituents and members of their party. Both Democrats and Republicans can educate their Democratic lawmakers and also ensure their Republican lawmakers know about the PRO Act and will work to change it or vote against it.   Myth 3: “Those vocal against the PRO Act are paid by anti-union operatives.” Not true. These are all independent contractors who have created grassroots organizations out of necessity to save their freelance careers. This myth makes it even more important that individual freelancers explain their business and their success to legislators so they can understand who we are.   What You Can Do: Educate yourself about the PRO Act and how to fight against it. See resources list below. Contact your U.S. House representative and your two state senators. Ask to speak to them directly or email them. You can gather a small group of freelancers in your state and request a Zoom meeting. Tell your lawmakers your individual freelance success stories and the benefits you get from freelancing. Explain how much you are contributing to the economy. Then, ask them to change the PRO Act so that it uses the IRS standard, not the ABC Test. You can share data that shows most independent contractors want to remain as such. However, keep in mind that your individual stories affect lawmakers more than a bunch of statistics do. Share the message widely with other freelancers. Write op-eds for your local newspapers. Share on social media and retweet #IRSNotABC tweets and posts.   In September, the Freelancers Union (which is a nonprofit, not a union) held a webinar with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York who supports unions and the PRO Act. However, Schumer acknowledged in the webinar that he recognizes the problems AB5 caused in California and said he is willing to work with freelancers on the PRO Act. This was a huge acknowledgement. (See press release in resources below.)     Resources:   www.fightforfreelancersusa.com   Fight for Freelancers USA Facebook page — this is where you will find the most updated information and how to organize   Fight for Freelances USA on Twitter   #IRSNotABC on Twitter   Fight for Freelancers press release “US Senate Minority Leader Acknowledges Major Problem in PRO Act”   Freelance Forward 2020 — Upwork’s latest research on freelancing (statistics to use)   NPR article “Jobs in the Pandemic: More Are Freelance and May Stay That Way Forever”   Contently article “Does the ABC Test Already Exist in Your State, and Could It Harm Your Career?”   Wrapbook blog post “Employee or Contractor? The Complete List of Worker Classification Tests By State”   IRS.gov’s information on independent contractors   Fight for Freelancers New Jersey   The chaos in California  

Freelancers Union has grown extraordinarily since it's launch in 1995. Set up to support freelancers in New York, there are now 500,000 members across the United States. In this episode, Ed chat's with their President, Rafael Espinal, to learn more about who they are, how they support their many members, and we compare notes about freelancing in the US v UK especially in this Covid-ridden year. https://www.freelancersunion.org/ #FreelanceHeroes

BCR100-PART 2: Our second guest for out outdoor podcast on West End Avenue was former NY City Council Member, Rafael Espinal. Rafael is one of our favorite guests. , He has been with us many times and Alan covered his run for City Advocate a year ago. We have celebrated his many accomplishments as City Council Member for District 37 in Brooklyn. And now Rafael Espinal is the leader of the Freelancers Union. We talked about his many accomplishments with a Council Member, his new job as head of the Freelancers Union and possible future political aspirations. Talking with Rafael is always fun.CONTACT US -- barcrawlradio@gmail.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

BCR100-PART 1: This three-part BCR episode celebrated its 100th episode on a Manhattan street. West End Avenue was closed to traffic and so BCR took to the street to celebrate the resiliency of our UWS Neighbors as we face-down a most deadly pandemic. PART ONE: Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer talked about her attempts to guide the mayor and governor to make the wisest decisions for our amazing urban population. Did you know that over a period of time Gale and her husband, Cal Snyder, had 35 foster children?PART TWO: A blast from the past. Former City Council Member, now head of the Freelancers Union Rafael Espinal dropped by, shared a beer, and we caught up with his recent activities as head of the Freelancers Union and looked back on his accomplishments in city government.PART THREE: We talked with two young women running for the NY City Council in 2021 -- Johanna Garcia for District 10 in Upper Manhattan -- and -- Sara Lind for District #6 -- the Upper West Side.Also -- with us were our Upper West Side neighbors on the "BCR Kvetch Mic." See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Inspirational People Welcome to another episode of inspirational people with Nancy Kleppel. We originally got connected through a recent Freelancers Union event via Trupo, which she has been a member for almost 20 years. Nancy is an Architect by training with thirty plus years collectively in the industry, with various incarnations. She's now a consultant to creative entrepreneurs and professionals who work at some capacity with built-in environments, including architects and engineers. Nancy is also a co-founder, leader, and collaborator of a one-hundred-plus member relational oriented community, Brick & Wonder. They're helping organizations better position to be prepared for the unexpected (highly relevant now!). In this discussion, we talk about how the crisis is affecting us and what we can do to respond. In addition to exploring cultural systems, we also dive into how this pandemic has forced us to reconcile our priorities and why generosity and relationships matter most. My favorite part of the interview is the final section of our discussion. Connect With Nancy: Connect with Nancy on Linkedin here, or visit here consulting website here. Learn more about her group for creative entrepreneurs, Brick and Wonder, here. Check out the mentioned article on the New Yorker here. Watch this interview here: https://www.jasonscottmontoya.com/inspiration/people/511-nancy-kleppel --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/growyourlife/support

If you've lost work or contracts because of the coronavirus pandemic or need information about how to seek federal aid, we're speaking with Rafael Espinal, the president of the Freelancers Union, to learn more. As the president of the organization, Espinal has been advocating for freelancers' rights and support, and informing the community of independent workers nationwide about what they can do to seek relief and maintain economic and financial well-being. He joins us to speak about unemployment insurance, grants and programs available to freelancers, and where you can go now for assistance.

The widespread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) throughout the nation has placed uncertainty on us all. We are asked to quarantine ourselves and work from home. For some, the challenge is how do I schedule my work my day, with kids at home. For many, it means canceled events, lost wages and fear of not having jobs to return to once this is all over. Making a living as a freelancer and independent contractor has its rewards, but also has its challenges. When we don't work, we don't get paid. We also don't qualify for unemployment insurance and as of today (3.24.20) freelancers are not included in the COVID-19 aid package.  Today's guests Rafael Espinal President of the Freelancers Union talks to us about his efforts in making sure that freelancers and gig workers receive unemployment insurance. He's making great strides. Since speaking with him, Sen. Chuck Schumer's office reached out to the freelancers union and is pushing to expand coverage. How can we push this forward to congress? The Freelancers Union is urging the government to extend relief for freelancers impacted by COVID-19. Click here to learn how you can raise your voice.   To learn more visit www.freelancersunion.org 

How can women advocate for workplace equality when they don't have a salaried 9-to-5 with benefits? With help from Freelancers Union founder, Sara Horowitz, Cristen and Caroline troubleshoot sexism for the self-employed, contractors and tip earners. Unladylike: A Field Guide to Smashing the Patriarchy and Claiming Your Space is available now, wherever books and audiobooks are sold. Signed copies are available at podswag.com/unladylike. Follow Unladylike on social @unladylikemedia. Subscribe to our newsletter at unladylike.co/newsletter. And join our Facebook group! This episode is brought to you by Third Love [thirdlove.com] and Truly Grass Fed [trulygrassfed.com]. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can women advocate for workplace equality when they don't have a salaried 9-to-5 with benefits? With help from Freelancers Union founder, Sara Horowitz, Cristen and Caroline troubleshoot sexism for the self-employed, contractors and tip earners. Unladylike: A Field Guide to Smashing the Patriarchy and Claiming Your Space is available now, wherever books and audiobooks are sold. Signed copies are available at podswag.com/unladylike. Follow Unladylike on social @unladylikemedia. Subscribe to our newsletter at unladylike.co/newsletter. And join our Facebook group! This episode is brought to you by Third Love [thirdlove.com] and Truly Grass Fed [trulygrassfed.com].

Sergio Bologna è probabilmente la persona più interessante con cui analizzare lavoro nelle sue molteplici sfaccettature. Storico, militante, consulente, Bologna è allo stesso tempo un lucido testimone del Novecento e un attento osservatore delle più aggiornate trasformazioni del mondo del lavoro, in Italia e nel mondo. Per Bologna l'idea di lavoro si lega indissolubilmente al conflitto: materiale, sociale, politico. La nostra conversazione ha preso avvio da due domande chiarificatrici: parliamo del lavoro come generica attività umana o di lavoro per conto di terzi in cambio di mezzi di sussistenza? Si parla di lavoro come espressione di sé, delle proprie aspirazioni, dei propri talenti, o si parla di lavoro salariato o retribuito da un soggetto terzo?Da qui l'intervista si è dipanata lungo traiettorie che ci hanno portato dalla Freelancers Union di New York al sindacato delle partite Iva di ACTA https://www.actainrete.it/cosa-vogliamo/, dalla alla struttura della logistica nella supply chain delle industrie multinazionali, al mutualismo come possibile risposta alla strutturale precarietà del lavoro intellettuale. Questa intervista è stata registrata presso la libreria Verso di Milano, che ringraziamo di cuore. Per dare uno sguardo alla bibliografia di Sergio Bologna:Catalogo Derive Approdi https://www.deriveapprodi.com/autore/sergio-bologna/Catalogo Asterios http://www.asterios.it/autori/sergio-bolognaContatti:podcast.tina@gmail.comCredits:Musiche, Massimo CarrozziRegistrazione e montaggio, Lorenzo Picarazzi

Tips on how to get your articles published with Michelle Garrett If you want to get your articles published, it's always good to take a look at your social media presence and website before you put the pitch out there. To pitch publishers start with verticals because I think that is such an opportunity because there are a lot of them. They need to fill those pages. I think PR is more important than ever, because in this day and age of scandals and missteps that can go viral in a matter of minutes. Do you have a crisis communications plan in place? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ SHARE THIS EPISODE: HOW TO GET YOUR ARTICLES PUBLISHED [just click to tweet] HOW TO GET YOUR ARTICLES PUBLISHED If you want to get your articles published, it's always good to take a look at your social media presence and website before you put the pitch out there. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Doug: Well welcome back listeners to another episode of Real Marketing Real Fast. Today we're going to talk about all things PR. Public relations, getting earned media, crisis management, what to do when something goes wrong, how to get out and get ahead of that. And to help us understand that today I have my guest in studio is Michelle Garrett of Garrett Public Relations. She is a PR consultant and writer. You'll find that Michelle works at the intersection of PR content marketing and social media. As a public relations consultant, content creator, blogger, speaker and freelance writer Michelle's articles and advice have appeared in a wide variety of publications including entrepreneur Forbes, Muck Rack, Ragan's PR Daily, Meltwater, CIO, Freelancers Union, ThomasNet and Fairygodboss among others. Doug: Michelle was named one of the top 13 content marketers influencers to follow and the top 50 content marketer world influence. Her blog was named one of the top 25 must-read public relations blogs by Muck Rack. I connected with Michelle on social media. I've been following her for quite a while. Been very impressed with the content and reached out to invite her to the show. So I'd like you to join me in welcoming Michelle Garrett to the Real Marketing Real Fast podcast today. Well, Hey, welcome to the Real Marketing Real Fast podcast today Michelle. Super excited to have you on the show. Michelle G: Thank you so much for having me, Doug. I'm excited to be here. Doug: This is just another example. If you read my email that I sent out to you on Tuesday, I talked about being social in social media and the importance of being on a platform and actually talking to people opposed to this blasting your message. I connected with Michelle. I started following her on Twitter. And from there, I went to her website, and I just really loved the content she was sharing. So I sent her a note on Twitter, a DM saying, "Hey, would you be interested in be being on the Real Marketing podcast?" And she said, "Yep." Here we are. It just proves that social media is not dead. The social media still works if you work it. Doug: I'm happy to have this conversation. But today we're going to talk about you and your superpower and helping your clients. Do you want to give us a bit of background Michelle, and kind of what you do and how you help people? Michelle G: Sure. Well, I have been at this a while. I believe strongly in the power of public relations. I guess more recently, I think, social media and content marketing, and all of that has come into the picture. And really, a lot of those things are what PR pros have been doing for years now. So I really work with clients on various projects, but they always involve a component of getting the word out there, increasing visibility. Then we talk about what are the best ways to do that because there are so many ways to do it these days. It can be very overwhelming if you don't really have somebody to kind of guide you through that.

Melony Hill Is The Definition Of A Woman In Control Of Her Life And Career. Melony created and executed the Crazy Like A Fox Tour, the first-ever National speaker series focused on bringing awareness to the mental health of black women. Through her love and passion, Melony has expanded the conversation on black mental health.Constantly counted out by society due to emotional instabilities and a traumatic upbringing stemming from domestic violence, sexual assault and more, Melony has reclaimed her life and inspires others to do the same. In 2010, Melony was diagnosed with a slew of emotional illnesses such as depression, anxiety disorder, PTSD, and dissociative identity disorder. To add to her daily struggles, Melony also was diagnosed with chronic pain from Fibromyalgia. Never one to let an obstacle deter her from her goals, Melony has thrived, despite her mental, physical and emotional limitations. Her organization, Stronger Than My Struggles, aims to heal through the written and spoken word, offering resources, support, and services to survivors from all walks of life. Being declared legally emotionally disabled hasn’t stopped Melony from thriving, pursuing her passions or career goals. She hosts a series of workshops in the Baltimore area including a free weekly therapeutic writing workshop, Writing for My Sanity, which she named after her book of poetry. Taking her mission to connect others with their purpose seriously, Melony leads the Baltimore branch of the Freelancers Union, a national organization with over 350,000 members nationwide. In September 2018, she was voted National Curriculum Lead for the Freelancers Union nationwide.Email: melony@strongerthanmystruggles.comWebsite: strongerthanmystruggles.comSocial: @strongerthanmystrugglesSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/AMERIKANTHERAPY)

In this episode, Clint Clifton talks with Daniel Im about church planters and the lessons they learn from the gig culture. Twitter: @danielsangiFacebook: @daniel.im.authorInstagram: @danielsangiWebsite: danielim.com Transcript[00:00:00] Albert Miller: This is the church planning podcast. Thank you for tuning in every week. We sit down with leaders who are shaping church planting efforts. Here's your host Josh Turansky and Clint Clifton.Josh Turansky: All right, welcome to the church planting podcast. My name is Josh Turansky, and I'm joined in Studio by Clint Clifton plant. Great to see you. All right, so we're going to jump right in to introing this episode. It's conversation that you had with Daniel Im. Yeah. Daniel has a background in working for Life Way.Clint Clifton: Yeah. Josh Turansky: And so let's talk about that first. You're familiar with Life Way. Our audience may not be, what is Life Way?[00:01:00] Clint Clifton: First of all Daniel Im and Daniel Yang, we mentioned this on the Daniel Yang interview that we just had but they're both Asians, they’re both from Canada, they both are in church planting and they get confused all the time. Josh Turansky: Where they met each other.Clint Clifton: They both worked with Ed Stetzer but they are there are two different individuals though and they have the same first name, but this is this is Daniel Im. He wrote the book No Silver Bullets and he's now leaving Life Way to go pastor a church that he was previously on staff in Canada and so we talked about that stuff in the interview but but yes Life Way is where Daniel has been working, he’s been leading NewChurches.com which is Life Way’s, you know church planting resource peace and Daniel is he's a brilliant guy just very bright and has been you know in Canada working in the hard soil. So he he definitely understands the church planting landscape and some of the hardest parts of North America and and it's a really sharp mind great thinker. [00:02:00] Life Way, though Life Way is the research resource arm of the Southern Baptist convention and it's not normally known because Life Way has had up until recently all these retail stores and so people know it as like the Christian bookstore, but it's actually a part of the Southern Baptist convention. It's an entity assistance subsidiary of the Southern Baptist convention. It's one of only two of the Southern Baptist convention subsidiaries that are profit producing. So it actually dumps into the Cooperative program every year so missionaries around the world and in the United States benefit from the sales of books and bibles and other resources to Christians around the country. Yeah, but it was originally started as the Baptist Sunday school board in the idea was the purpose was to produce curriculum and materials for for southern baptist churches.Josh Turansky: And they're still doing that.Clint Clifton: And they're still doing that. Yeah gospel project is maybe something you've heard of that is Life Way product. Many many others [00:03:00] but gospel project may be the most notable.Josh Turansky: Yeah. Another thing that comes up in this conversation is the gig economy. Yeah gig culture. This is huge for church Planters. Clint Clifton: Yeah, interesting. Just just some statistics for you 55 million Americans are freelancing right now in our country. It’s at an all-time high and people are. Are gigging a lot there. You and I were talking just a few minutes ago. There are a lot of ways to do that. Now that are just offered to us on a platter. I mean, you mentioned a few like Goose call them out againJosh Turansky: Uber and Lyft.Clint Clifton: Yeah. Yeah Uber. Yeah super and all the subsidiaries or I was noticing even that make office which is kind of like we work is owned by Uber and make office is really a place that helps, you know, gig culture thrive.It's like you don't have to have your own office. You can have another office with a bunch of other creatives or designers or or you know business folks Josh Turansky: I have a friend. Started a co-working space. Yeah and planted his church out of his [00:04:00] co-working space. It just graduated from the co-working space into a school because they outgrew it but that was his side gig and it well, I mean, it's his income.Clint Clifton: Yeah. Yeah. I mean so many, I remember just having my mind blowing when I was first in church planting by this guy who's simultaneously, this is in Stafford, Virginia so simultaneously started a mortgage company and a church at the same time and you would go into the office during the week and you'd have like mortgage brokers on one side of the the cubicle and a pastor on the other side of cubicle and they were all working in the same space when there's like 15 or 20 people in there some of them are on the phone and trying to sell you a mortgage and some of them are our counseling you because you just defaulted on yours. I mean it was like it was wild and I remember just having my mind blown like wow, this is a thing, you know, that's really working and actually initially the mortgage company did really good, but the church didn't and it grew really slowly and then as time went on [00:05:00] the church really got Traction in the mortgage company struggled in the crisis that happened at the end of the 2000s with the housing market. And so the it was just a beautiful like thing and but but the gig economy or good culture is happening all over the place. Interesting statistic, also the majority of freelancers, and this research is from the Freelancers Union, but the majority of Freelancers who left a full-time job made more money within the first year of their their full-time dedicated focus to their to their gig than they did in their previous job, so it's amazing just to think about that the freelancers are dumping a trillion dollars into the economy through their freelance earnings right now. So Josh Turansky: Incredible.Clint Clifton: Lots of stuff going on in that in that realm almost everybody I know, you know has something they have some kind of online thing. They do it's us-born books. It's you know, I mean, do you just I mean [00:06:00] I literally from you today I bought an item that your wife made and sells on Etsy. Yeah, and you just delivered it to me like and when you came here today, I hope this doesn't come out before my wife's birthday is not like she listens to the podcast anyway, you get the point. I mean everybody no matter where you are in the country everybody is experiencing this the gig culture is strong and what we talk about here is it has a profound effect on the church and on church planting in particular because as the our country gets more expensive. It becomes more and more difficult to to finance our ministry, especially in these very expensive very needed urban areas.Josh Turansky: Yeah, I'll just say really briefly. I've been able to do some side work and what that's allowed me to do is to be able to as a church planter pass money off to people around me. Yeah, and so it's allowed me to it's basically. I'm able to get workers in the church because I'm [00:07:00] able to employ themClint Clifton: Pay them through some other means. Josh Turansky: Yeah, that's great. I'm glad you covered this in the interview. Let's let's jump right into your conversation with Daniel Im.Josh Turansky: Hey church Planters. Your calling is to plant a church, but churches are also a business of Xillia partners with you to provide one time and ongoing Business Services enabling you to stay focused on Mission. Visit Auxilia Partners to learn more about the finances HR, and legal compliance services offered and schedule a free consultation. That's auxilio.partners and mention The Church Planting Podcast to receive a 20% discount.Clint Clifton: Well, Daniel. Thank you for joining me for this conversation today. Daniel Im: Yeah, I'm glad to be with you Clint. Clint Clifton: Well, Daniel, you're a really interesting guy to me. I watched you from afar. And can you describe kind of what you were doing at Life Way when you were with Life Way so that so [00:08:00] that we can kind of the listeners aren't familiar with you can kind of help understand. Daniel Im: Yeah, so for the last five years I was serving at Life Way basically started something called nutritious.com with Ed stetzer and we were trying to figure out how Life Way we'll could resource church planting multi-site and multiplication. That was the that was the Whiteboard dream and then after that it was okay, Daniel, what do you want to do, what can we do and for me, Jim Collins always talks about what in the world can you be the best at right and for Life Way being a resource provider is like well Life Way has a life research and a and you know, the only statistically verified and validated Church planter assessment yet Life Way's not planting churches Life Way's not assessing anyone. They have an assessment, but they're not assessing anyone. They're not funding anyone. So not wanting to go, in that way and neither wanting to go down the seminary route. I was just okay, how do we [00:09:00] create resources? So that's where I was like, well, you know, when you think about what Life Way can do. Life Way can be is one of the world's most premier resource providers and Life Way can publish and they can create resources and articles and courses and just and trying to do it broadly. So that's why when we start a newchurch.com, it wasn't Life Way new churches, it was new churches. Yeah and what ended up happening over the last five years was just the just just being able to broadly resource across denominational Network the active church planting resources around church planting multi set of multiplication. Clint Clifton: W hen you think about church planting what what's happening at least In Our Lifetime and right now and they have Angelica world is there's a lot of growth happening in church planting. So if you think about it like an. Please don't send me emailsI know it's not an industry. I know this is not business. But if you think about it, like an industry, it's a very growing industry. It's an industry that has a bunch of infrastructure scaffolding kind of being built all around it. Now. It's an Enterprise so to speak and there's there's everything from you know, funding mechanisms to to all sorts of written resources and online resources and and all these organizations that exist to supportChurch Planters specifically and and even now there are organizations that exist to support sending churches specifically and [00:17:00] so. All of that is coming online the last 10 or 15 years and some interesting things are happening. We're getting vernacular settled like everybody we have language and we know what it means and it's like industry language when other people here, they don't know what we're talking about and we know what we're talking aboutIt's so Insider language, but there's also so there's some areas that have like solidified. I feel like especially especially in the last five years or so. There's some areas of. Really settled like that's the industry standard. So to speak where five years ago. You couldn't have said there's an industry standard for assessment for our for example, so but now but I wonder you I can't see what you can see because you're working with a bunch of different groups and denominations at at Life WayWhat are those kind of gaps that aren't solidified yet or maybe still need to. Need to have Focus put on them. And so I just I just wonder what comes to your mind initially when we ask that question. Like what's [00:18:00] still in development anything come to mind? Daniel Im: Yeah. So let's let's maybe talk about the to size spectrums of church plants, rightSo we have the house church that has been going. I mean it's been going for a long time right long time. But if you look at kind of Our lifetime right you think. 90s 2000s Wolfgang Simpson, you look at that whole house Church Network movement that was going going going didn't really go to wear or have the I think broad impact that people hoped for and and Francis Chan right now what he's doing in San Francisco. Is that right? It's House Church that he's doing from apartment to apartment. So there's definitely that current that's continuing to go. And I know there are a lot of people were like, oh, what do you think about letters to the church? Right Francis is new book and and going along that way and I'm like man, I love the vision of the church that he's written about and I love what he's doing but it's still it's not there's no church planting movements in North America or in the [00:19:00] west. Right? Right. That's not yet. Fully proven. And yeah, so I hope it is I hope it does grow to that but they're so there's that undercurrent and then there's that other current that the complete all the other side where that is obsessed with and and really was a outgrowth of of the church growth movement Church Health movement breaking barriers. Just this whole idea of launch large, right and I feel like when you use the word industry, I feel like the industry quote-unquote around the launch large methodology is very mature and it's well-developed. That's true. And if you and there are several organizations that if you go with them that is what they do and they will help you, Fund you, I mean you're going to have to fund at least four or five hundred thousand dollars. If not more you're going to launch with over 200 people and the methodology is really well documented. There's a lot of dissertations on it as well on the larger your launch Team the larger your church is going to be several years later. So that's that's [00:20:00] really good too. The issue though is when you try to do that sort of methodology in a Metropolitan City in a big state like a New York right like a New York City. Unless you're Hillsong, right? It's going to be really hard to do a launch large 400 person. Event because you're not going to find a venue for 400 people on a Sunday morning unless you have a ton of money And then are you even a church plant? Right. So there's there's obviously that and then you look at where these organizations in these denominations networks are succeeding at launch large and where they're not succeeding. I think that's interesting to note. So in terms of a black hole what sort of church planting methodologies work in New England, right what sort of church planting methodologies work in Tacoma, Washington, right or up in Maine or or right there in Salt Lake City? [00:21:00] Or in Edmonton Alberta, right or in Vancouver Montreal. So I think that's a thing where a lot of people are trying to use these mature methodologies in larger cities like that. Yeah, and it's not necessarily proving as effective as if it were done in the South or in Texas or in larger is like that. Clint Clifton: Yeah, that's a great point. So, I mean I'm thinking of the the the person who had could test that idea that a methodology or a model so to speak would be. Better in you know, suburban area or a rural area that it would be in an urban area I mean I hear you say that I'm like, of course that's obvious. It's clear. He just observational it's clear, but I think you know. I think most of the proponents of a model there are some people out there in church planting that are that are really like Pro Mini models, but not most people most people are really attached to a and [00:22:00] an approach or a yeah, I mean most of them would sort of push back on the idea that their model wouldn't work in any context. So anyway, you could like substantiate that or house that substantiated in your mind. Daniel Im: Yeah, so. Part of it is you look at who are you? Okay. So let's kind of reverse engineer a large launch where a large launch would work very well with an unknown Pastor. Okay, so I'm not talking about celebrity Pastor who is famous already or other career? And does that thing right? That's that's a very that's an anomaly. So let's say you are a. Unknown I hate using that word. But I think we all understand what that means. Yeah, you're not a famous. You're not Instagram famous person and you plan to church because God has called you to plant a church and you are planting a church in a wealthy Suburban neighborhood, Yeah, okay versus you're planting a church [00:23:00] in a not yet gentrified. Urban area that is very low income and subsidized housing, right? Okay. Let's say in both situations. You can get 200 people. Let's let's just say let's just say you can get 200 people. I don't know how but let's just say you are able to gather 200 people who are going to come to your launch your one of your launch Services one of your preview Services. How in the world are you going to pay back and fund everything? In both scenarios in one if you're in a wealthy neighborhood. Yeah, that's one thing but in the other when the average income is $20,000 for household. Yeah, how do you expect to continue to run a full programmed three full-time staff Church. Yes, you're fully funded for the first three years. But how do you expect to continue to do that? Unless you're fully relying on outside funding, right? Right and a lot of the launch [00:24:00] large methodologies are completely reliant on a three-year fully funded large staff launch, which is really good. If you're in the right neighborhood and you're doing that but it's not necessarily sustainable because in the research that we did with new churches and Life Way research man, if you don't get to self-sustainability in the first three to four years, it's highly unlikely that you'll get there right based on the sampling of who we surveyed Right. Now here's the thing. That's interesting to observe or I think something that I'd love for people to just keep their fingerprint on and to to see if I mean and if you come up with examples, please reach out social media email whatever to let me know who is doing this well, but I have yet to meet a church or find a church who is knocking it out of the park simultaneously in church planting and in Mercy MinistriesLike I'm not just talking about churches that are doing both it's fine to do both a lot of churches are doing both but with the churches that are like men they are multiplying [00:27:00] like every year or every two to three years. Yeah, right. They are they're not just writing a check. They're sending people out there training Planters they're going out but they are also they have a thriving Ministry to the city Urban ministry as you know a city to the least of these and they're really measuringI don't I don't know. I mean, do you know Clint? Clint Clifton: No, I don't actually I mean it's I and it feels like the reason that doesn't exist right now. At least from my vantage point. And again, my perspective is smaller than yours because of who I who I primarily work with but the reason that's not true is because the the of Angelica world at least the tribe that I run in they they areSo suspect of this The Becoming social becoming a so social they lose the gospel. Yes, and so it's a very, you know, it's almost as if when you're in a room full of the folks, I usually run with it. In the angelical, you know world [00:28:00] and somebody gets up and starts talking about social stuff. It's almost like the air gets sucked out of the room and everybody becomes tense and like okay, this is going a directionI don't feel good about like this. This smells fishy, you know, and so there's there's not and I so I can't think of an example and I think if there was somebody that was crushing it on social front. Most of Angelica lz-- at least on my side of the aisle would be suspect of what they were doing on the gospel front or on the multiplication frontSo Daniel Im: yeah, it's interesting thing too that I want to keep on observing because. It's God. Jesus calls us to do both Clint Clifton: a tie every day and everybody agrees about that. Yeah, yeah, because that's what I mean up. It seems like an industry black hole in terms of like nobody has figured it out yet in a there's not like thisI mean you think about like if you think about like things of the past this makes sense like you think okay. Okay, the attraction will think okay. Alright that [00:29:00] we are mind goes to Willow Creek it goes to you know, like if we're thinking 90s era job growth so it goes. Saddleback like we have a thing to think of yeah and in and there's several things now that I look out and I go we all kind of feel it's right, but I don't have a big thingI can think of and go. Oh that's it. Even in even for in chance stuff, you know, I mean with the letters to the church. I think everybody like I can't think of a better book launch, you know, then he did with that though. Everybody was so spun up about that so fast, I felt like even people that have been like long time in the church planting world where all like man, this is amazingThis is great. But I was just you know from my. Finished when I was thinking like but show me the church, like where's the church that we all go to and go they're crushing it. And if you look under the I mean, hopefully it becomes the church that Francis is leading but. Yeah, I don't know. I mean we're all kind of waiting to see [00:30:00] you know, Daniel Im: yeah, you're rightYou're right. I think you know Clint I love what you've done at Pillar church. And I mean we Ed and I even wrote wrote about you and the work that you've done in planting missional churches. And I mean, I've talked about you and the work that you did at Pillar tons of times with others because I think that's just such a that's such an amazing picture of a kingdom mindsetFor you guys to reach the Marine Corps. All right, and for you to reach that them where they're at where you guys were at and you to discern what was happening as the Marines continue to come to your church, but you do then flip that out into a church planting strategy. So in terms of another black hole, I would say okayHey instead of everyone trying to reach everyone who is God called you to uniquely reach in your city. Clint Clifton: Yeah Daniel Im: yesterday. Yeah yesterday. I interviewed Knoll. Hey Cannon, so he's at Riverview and he's Acts 29 guy Lansing Michigan and and they do multi site and they do church planting and and meant how he put [00:31:00] it yesterday in the interview of so clearWell at the time of this recording right what he said was when it comes to multi-site they'll only do multi-site. When in Lansing when people can actually say hey, this is Lansing. I'm from Lansing and we're he can actually address and prophetically address Lansing right his area the moment. He goes beyond Lansing even within Michigan to like Ann Arbor or Grand Rapids or this that he can't address Lansing anymoreHe can't address because people in Grand Rapids will not say they're from Lansing. It was there from Lansing and he said the moment it goes beyond that. That's when they're planting. That's where they're planting. And I love that tension between that logo local that local and that broader approach toward multiplicationSo that's another one of those those black holes that I see. Yeah, Clint Clifton: And I actually think. Now we have the praetorian project is actually expanded to begin working with that army bases as well. And we're looking incredible. Clint Clifton: Yeah. Yeah. It's been fun. But looking for Navy and stuff like that, but I don't I think that it would not have gotten traction, especially in my experience level and kind of where I was at the time of getting it started had we had we broadened out just one more concentric Circle. I [00:34:00] think the fact that we were aiming at such a. A specialized group. Yeah helped us be better at what we were doing and it helped us communicate what we're doing in a more powerful wayYeah, and I don't know if it's a you thing or what but when I I remember having angst feeling like we're limiting ourselves by doing this, you know, and and actually now the older I get the more I feel like limited limits or so good limits helps Focus like they're just they're really what we need to really do something good. Daniel Im: Yeah percent. Yeah, Clint Clifton: okay. So talking specifically about the area of church planting that is what seems to be kind of growing to me is this like we talked about this a little bit earlier in a previous conversation today about like team church planting. Yeah instead of just. You know through the 90s and early 2000sIt was just kind of like the church. Everything was about the church planter and [00:35:00] even in the x29 kind of ramp up when x29 is really, you know, hot and heavy that it was all about. The planter SBC is definitely been all about the planter and it's kind of like it's kind of like if we have this thing then that's what we needSo it seems like. People are accepting the team thing a little bit more but there doesn't seem to be any literature produced for them or a way to talk about it. That's the common way like how we don't even know who to call that group of people right now, right the team all we know is to say the team.Daniel Im: yeahOkay, you know, what's interesting about this. I feel like we can talk about it for me a few different perspectives. You obviously can reverse-engineer larger churches that have teams. And that are doing team leadership and what that looks like and I think there's validity and there's a lot we can learn from thatThe only issue is that's not very helpful to a church plant that doesn't have the budget [00:36:00] to have a big team like that. So when you think about it from that perspective, you have these churches like Austin Stone like Village like Summit, you have a few of these Village and Summit both established churches that move toward more multiplication. They're very both teams structured Austin Stone that was planted Matt Carter but has but within their first couple of years actually moved very much toward a team model Riverview Church withNo, he can and he's been doing it a long time and has really neat model around team Ministry. He didn't plant the church, but he has been there for 28 years and leads it toward a team model. So there's a lot of these examples and larger churches that I've larger budgets and our Mega that are doing team [00:37:00] in terms of a church plant, rightI've friends out in La who co planted. Right, they were fully funded in ela well-funded because it’s LA, co-planted and recently one of them stepped off not because of anything. Their relationship or just because it wasn't working there other reasons. Yeah. So now there is a solo lead planter. Yeah Pastor that they're now going to hire someone else to now all that to say David Fitch is probably the one that I would encourage people to look up when it comes to Bible and when it comes to team model of ministry, he's at a Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. I believe it's in the somewhere. I think it's in Chicago. I forget specifically where he's at. But but what he's done is he's actually been a part of a team Ministry a team leadership Ministry that t hey are sustaining and they are doing it by vocationally, but the reason they've been so successful in terms of [00:38:00] internal metrics wise in terms of health and long-term ministry as because he has a lot of people that are all Bible occasional. Clint Clifton: Yeah, Daniel Im: right. So it's not just one person that's by vocational and their helpers but these are everyone all these people who are giving a lot of time and energy by vocationally into this workYeah. Yeah Hugh halter as well right in his book Bible Clint Clifton: right that that's the that's the kind of thing that I think we need like. 30 examples are 50 examples for to start to be like, okay. This is a thing that's really really happening out there because I actually know know what's happening. I can think of some examplesIt's not like definitely standardized yet, but it's the most hopeful thing in church planting to me. Because one of the things that's been really exceptional about our work at Pillar. That's unusual when I when I compare it to other church planning work. Is that regular everyday Christians are those marines that are [00:39:00] moving from Base to BaseThey inevitably get to be a part of those teams not because they signed up for it or because they're even that spiritually mature. But because they're a part of our church and they get orders to another one of our Church's I mean Uncle Sam tells them to go there so they can't really say no and then they go there and of course they're going to not look for a different church and the community what if they're going to go right to thatSo it's it has our work has inevitably involved the everyday Christian who's just involved in the in the church, but if you don't have a mechanism built into the life of your Movement Like That. It's Gotta Be You No, More defined. And so anyway, I'm just I'm just excited about that area because I feel like it is bubbling under the surface and I think when we get to the place where we have a bunch of examples and everybody validates it as a real thingThen I think we're going to have groups of friends getting together and saying let's go start a church. I mean, yeah, they just to Seminary buddies or something like that. Daniel Im: Yeah [00:40:00] and the unique thing about what what the praetorian project and what you've done it pillar is you didn't I mean the money questionYeah. The money question was solved. Clint Clifton: Yeah. Because Daniel Im: yeah, so that when it comes to team Ministry if we want to see well-trained, right and several friends who are well-trained theologically grounded have experience. They're not just 21 year olds who don't want to go to Seminary and they don't want to serve in an established routeSo there go plan to truly, you know, when you have well qualified trained individuals who are saying hey, let's go together. And let's go plant a church as a team. The thing that we need to solve is K 5 10 years ago. Did you get an education that was employable outside of the church? Yes, rightAnd I think if that is solved if that is salt and I think in the next 5-10 years anyone who's receiving a call to Ministry, they understand that okay. [00:41:00] Okay, is this degree? The one that's going to help flow or do I need to get another one first if that is solved I think we're going to see more of that the other thing though Clint so I have a book coming outMy next book is coming out in February and it's called you are what you do and six other lies about work life and love now. The reason I'm bringing this up is the seven lies that I talk about in the book our bait have basically written it risen to the surface because of the gig economy. Because of the the prevalence of the side hustle, so if you think about America, right just for example how like Amazon Prime just think of America and Amazon Prime like who doesn't have Amazon Prime, you know, it's just like it's really hard to youJust assume. Everyone has Amazon Prime and the reason is because half of America has Amazon Prime and the other half is probably using their moms. Clint Clifton: Somebody Amazon, right? Daniel Im: Yeah. Yeah, but half of America has Amazon Prime. So now think about that if half of America, right [00:42:00] 50% of America has this and we think everyone has it the gig economy people having a side hustle doing multiple jobsThat's almost at forty percent of America. Clint Clifton: Yeah. Daniel Im: Right. So if that's the case and if that's how normal it's become right, I mean I just I basically talked about these seven lies that have risen to the surface because of that but prevalent, you know relevant to our conversation is I actually thinkThat because of the rising side hustle in the gig economy. We are probably closer to a team model of planting than we might realize. Clint Clifton: Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I mean, I didn't know all that about the gig economy that you just said, I mean, but I definitely have seen the rise of a sudden decide household for sure and even in you know in my church and in the church Landing world, even in the military, I mean we’re Marines you who you think of it as more full-time than a marine, right? Yeah, I mean, but but these [00:43:00] guys are side hustling as well. You know, I mean, it's just normal, it's normal. It's totally normal and it does it does play a lot into especially especially in the age bracket that a lot of the guys in our church render in that lightAge bracket where there may be good enough at their side hustle that they're making substantial money on it, but they're not so good that it matches what they're making in their other job and their real job. So they're on the fence of like they're maxed out first of all their back style, but they're on the fence of should I should I just take the plunge and do this full time and they're scared to deathTo do that, you know because of all kinds of reasons. So Daniel Im: yeah and honestly Clint this is I would love to see this right and maybe some of your listeners are going to maybe God is already stirring in their hearts to do team model of ministry, right and and maybe this will spark something but I would honestly whether you have you know, a trade ticket or an employable skill or not, or maybe you just have a seminary degree or a bible college degree, right and you are moving forward and [00:44:00] you feel cold to plant if you got if you and three or four other friends, let's sayAll of you are theologically trained and feel called to plant right if you and three other friends, let's say for just to make a good good number four of you want to go plan to church right and you can find someone who can fund one full-time position. Then what I'd encourage you all to do is every one of you Uber 20 hours a weekHmm Uber 20 hours a week and each of you take 25% of that a hundred percent salary. Yeah and go and do it. Clint Clifton: Yeah. Yeah, you're totally right and their churches it's funny because at NAMM specifically there are churches try and dams on The Cutting Edge of church planting. Oh, yeah if there is a Cutting Edge in Turf Landing, right so names names has advanced as anybody but when we've got guys coming to our assessment saying describing what you just described. Okay. Hey, this is how we're planting our church and Nom Noms like you like Springs pop out of our ears. We don't know how to [00:45:00] compute that like, what do what do we do with that? We don't know where's this guy fit and it's like we have these very we built these systems around the singular Church planter and for years, they've been talking about specifically an assessment and they've been talking aboutOkay. Can we assess teams or can we assess pass? All pairs or pastoral partners and then ultimately like philosophically were I guess yes. Yes we can but then practically speaking the system isn't built for it. So it's all clumpy and it doesn't work right, you know, so so yeah, man what you're saying is so so true and if there's anything that I feel like is the way things areIt is I mean it start you see little glimmers of it even in the large church. It's like the teaching teams becoming the prevalent and so the congregations are becoming more accustomed to a rotating teaching team. I think the you know, every time a pastor Falls to a moral failure and a church collapses or some kind of [00:46:00] other failure integers collapsesEverybody goes woo, we better not have one guy in charge. Yes. That's that's bad. You know, and so all that stuff is contributing to the what I hope is God at work to make Church Plant a little church planting a normal part of the Christian Life and yeah and and are in our nation's. Daniel Im: Yeah. That's that that idea of a Permenter Church planter or Superman Pastor. I mean, that's just that's all hubris. Right, that's all just getting to your head and it's and part of it is the American obsession with celebrities. Yeah that as seeped into the church. Which Eugene Peterson anything he writes. I mean, the guy is antithetic, you know, he is so anti thatYeah, and because it's like well, what does it look like to be present? What is it look like to not be disembodied but embodied where you're at, so. Yeah, I'm really encouraged by how that's going. I mean even just practically speaking my years in Nashville. I was a teaching pastor at my churchThere's no [00:47:00] senior pastor at our church. Yeah, we had campus pastors who led locally their staff. We had a few of us who were teaching pastors who would teach at both campuses, but there was no single point of leadership now having been in it and having had worked in it for about four years. It's greatIt's really really great the downside is it slow? Yeah, right. So I worked with the elders for a year to develop the set of core values for our church a year. Write a took a year for most other churches. It would have taken two three four months out of Max. Clint Clifton: Yeah, right. Yeah, I think yeah, I think you're you're like really onto something the more the harder the higher you put the authority like as the pyramid goes up and comes to a peak the higher you put the authority the more unstable over it is, you know, it's so so when you push that Authority down its kind of balanced out or leveled out over a group of people is that the churches are more likely to be [00:48:00] like kind of rooted but they're also not very agile. And yeah, it's interesting. I planted pillar and we have very much a team approachWe've always shared the pulpit with a bunch of bunch of different guys, even from the very beginning of the church. We have a big eldership and. And deep bench of leaders basically always doing leadership result. And that's a really good. It's created a really healthy culture at the church, you know one leader doing some stupid or screwing up is not going to not going to really significantly mess it up, but on the other hand, I went about five years ago and started working with McLain BobAnd those guys are so agile if for such a big church, it's amazing because all the decision making is is in one room essentially like I mean you they can get they can get together in the afternoon and decide they're going to do something simple minute tomorrow morning. Yeah, and to me that sounds scary and like because I've been in this environment where you know, I get indigestion sometimes and have an idea and I want to implement itSo I just I don't trust my own [00:49:00] decision making on stop until it's like borne out with other leaders in our church. But yeah, anyway, we got off track a little bit but I think I think the point is that that's an area that's in development and I see I feel like it's growing a lot and developing a lot.Daniel Im: Yeah. No, I'm excited about what's going to come.Clint Clifton: Yeah, me too. Well Daniel, it's been really kind of you spent so much time with us. I know you're I know you're ramping up for big things in your life right now. So just thank you so much for for hanging out with me for a little bit today. Daniel Im: Yeah, it's honestly, I love I love you the work you're doing the kingdom work you're doing so I'm just grateful to be able to have this time to chatClint Clifton: Well, thank you, Daniel. All right blessings on your new Endeavor man. Daniel Im: Awesome. Thanks. Josh Turansky: Thank you for listening to The Church Planning Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review of your favorite podcast. Josh Turansky: Today’s episode of the church planting podcast is sponsored by new city Network the [00:50:00] church planting Ministry of MacLean Bible a special thanks to today's guests Daniel M for taking time to join usJosh Turansky produced the show Zukey Bastien was our showrunner and her husband Nick was our editor. Thanks to Hudson Turansky and Marvin more Who provided administrative and web support for the program and last but not least. Thank you for listening all the way through to the very end of the church planting podcast.Hey, if you'd like more information about the show, feel free to visit our brand new website www.churchplantingpodcast.org, there you can find all of our past episodes as well as notes. The links from today's show. Be sure to tune in to next week's podcast. We will be talking with Kevin Smith who's the president of the BCMD.

The nature of work has changed. Less people are working for companies and more are designing their own careers as freelancers. Why the big change? What are freelancers looking for that they can’t get at a regular job? How do big corporations feel about this trend? How do freelancers save for retirement and secure health insurance? What tools are freelancers using to help them run their business and become more productive? Also, Caitlin Pearce, the Executive Director of Freelancers Union, is here to share:- The state of freelancing in the US- Can people really make a good living as freelancers? - Who are the top paid freelancers? - What are the fastest growing freelance job categories?- Why a freelancer would want to belong to a group like the Freelancers Union

In this episode, I share two thoughts on how side-hustle the right way, while working fulltime. Stats According to a Bank Rate study, 4 in 10 Americans having a side hustle and earn over $8K annually through that side hustle. 35 percent of the U.S. workforce, or 55 million people, were freelancers in 2016, according to the Freelancers Union. Let's Connect Connect Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joealexlemon/ Connect LinkedIn Sales Culture Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/18268726/admin/ Interested in learning more about our podcasting services? info@salesculture.work Reach out directly at www.SalesCulture.work --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sales/message

On today's show we play audio from an event with the Freelancers Union at Lightbulb Grip & Electric in Brooklyn. They talk about the rights of freelancers In New York City and what they can do to help you get PAID.Steve Carmona gives his thoughts on the talk because it's HIS SHOW.Sponsored by https://lightbulbgrip.com/ @lightbulbgripSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/greenlungstudio)

Michelle Ward, PCC, has been offering dream business guidance for creative women as The When I Grow Up Coach since 2008. You may have seen or heard her in New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, Etsy, Newsweek, Freelancers Union, USA Today, the Forbes Top 100 Websites for your Career List or 150+ other media outlets. She's the co-author of The Declaration of You, which was published by North Light Books, and the teacher of Create Your Dream Career and Ditch Your Day Job, which were watched by tens of thousands of people live on CreativeLive. When she's not coaching, teaching or speaking, she can be found building a fort for her little girl, sitcom-binging with her husband, or belting out show tunes. Discover, launch or build your dream business at whenigrowupcoach.com. Michelle shares her amazing story of rock bottom and how she picked herself up and moved forward…part of her journey involves a ukulele!! Tune in to find out! How to stay connected with Michelle Ward Business Name: When I Grow Up Coach LLC Email Address: michelle@whenigrowupcoach.com Phone: (917) 678-7461 Business Website: http://whenigrowupcoach.com Skype ID: @WhenIGrowUpCoach LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whenigrowupcoach/ Twitter: WhenIGroUpCoach Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhenIGrowUpCoach/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whenigrowupcoach/ How to stay connected with The Fearless Women's Mentor https://www.facebook.com/fearlesswomensmentor https://www.instagram.com/fearlesswomensmentor Private Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/469907980196976/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fearlesswomensmentor/support

In this class we talk about the many freedoms that come from owning a flexible, location-independent virtual business. We share five different kinds of freedoms that you can embrace in your business so you're living the lifestyle you've always wanted. We also discuss six ways that you can make sure you are staying free and alive in your virtual business.   Podcast Outline:   0:00 - Opening thoughts 1:18 - Introduction to the topic of “Freedom” 1:39 - Top three reasons for freelancing from the “Freelancing in America” survey: 1:52 - To be my own boss 2:01 - To have flexibility in my schedule 2:04 - To work from the location of my choosing   3:05 - How the freedom lifestyle was marketed in the past 5:54: Five Different Types of Freedoms:   6:04 - #1: Personal Freedoms 6:52 - Story about micromanaging boss 8:11 - Craig and his family's personal freedom   12:24 - #2: Location Freedoms 12:32 - Story about a FreeU student's location freedom 12:53 - Craig's location freedom   13:05 - #3: Financial Freedoms 13:30 - Story about a FreeU student's journey   14:18 - #4: Relationship Freedoms   15:15 - #5: Time Freedoms 15:48 - Benefits of the Pomodoro Technique   17:08 - The importance of self-care 17: 58 - Six Strategies to Stay Free in Your Business   18:11 - #1: Do meaningful work that you love and that you're good at. 18:41 - Type of work 18:58 - Autonomy of work   20:07 - #2: Know your big WHY.   21:03 - #3: Set clear boundaries 21:09 - With yourself 21:52 - With clients   22:50 - #4: Own your business; don't let it own you. 23:21 - An example of the need to unplug   24:01 - #5: Be productive. 25:00 - Freelance University course recommendation   25:14 - #6: Connect with like-minded people   26:23 - Summary of Six Strategies to Stay Free in Your Business 27:15 - Closing thoughts Resources and tools discussed in this episode:   “Freelancing in America Survey”: https://www.upwork.com/i/freelancing-in-america/2018/   Freelancers Union: https://www.freelancersunion.org/ Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/ Zumba: https://www.zumba.com/en-US/ Freelance University: https://www.freelanceu.com/university/   Freelance University Courses: “Setting Boundaries and Building Healthy Client Relationships”: https://my.freelanceu.com/courses/setting-boundaries-and-building-healthy-client-relationships “Creating Effective Systems for Your Business and Your Clients”: https://my.freelanceu.com/courses/creative-effective-systems-for-your-business-and-your-clients

Our guest today is Michelle Ward, founder of When I Grow Up. She has been offering dream business guidance for creative women as The When I Grow Up Coach since 2008. You may have seen or heard her in New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, Etsy, Newsweek, Freelancers Union, USA Today, the Forbes Top 100 Websites for your Career List or 150+ other media outlets. She's the co-author of The Declaration of You, which was published by North Light Books, and the teacher of Create Your Dream Career and Ditch Your Day Job, which were watched by tens of thousands of people live on CreativeLive. When she's not coaching, teaching or speaking, she can be found building a fort for her little girl, sitcom-binging with her husband, or belting out show tunes.

Freelancers are typically losing $6,000 annually due to non-payment. In this episode, Caitlin Pearce, Executive Director at Freelancers Union, talks about what you can do to avoid this scenario, how to protect yourself and your income, and how you can earn more by presenting a professional image of your company. Freelancer's Union is the US's first and largest organization representing the rights and interests of independent workers, offering benefits such as health insurance, community hubs in over 30 cities, advocacy, as well as resources to its over 375k members. Listen to the episode to learn: Why you should always show up with your own freelance contract - Rather than relying on the contracts the client provides, Caitlin explains why you should have your own version too. How to get taken more seriously and land bigger deals - Presenting your brand as professional through your proposals, contracts and invoices can all show your client that you're serious about your work. How having a contract can ensure you don't lose out on payments - 71% of freelancers have had trouble getting paid. Learn how to use your contract to protect yourself. How scoping in the contract phase can help you earn more - Using your contract to scope out your project in detail, including how much value you're providing for the client and what the restrictions are on your work, can help you avoid scope creep which can be a huge profitability killer. How to get started with a contract if you don't already have one - The Freelancer's Union and AND CO created a template contract you can use to get started. Learn how you can earn more as a freelancer in this episode of the Six Figure Freelancer Audio Course.

Chuck Leddy is a former print journalist turned B2B brand storyteller. He's written for B2B brands such as GE, ADP,  Cintas, American Express Open, and many more.  In this podcast you will learn: How Chuck navigated the fall of the journalism industry and became a freelance content marketer Why you need to network with your competition and why it’s guaranteed to grow your business Amazing writing tips from a professional who’s been at the top of his creative game for years About our Guest, Chuck Leddy Chuck Leddy is a former print journalist turned B2B brand storyteller. He's written for B2B brands such as GE, ADP, Cintas, American Express Open, and many more. He's also an active member of both Boston Content and The Freelancers Union. You can read his musings on marketing and life on his blog at at www.ChuckLeddy.com. Find Chuck on: Twitter: @ChuckLeddy LinkedIn About our host, Adam Rogers Adam Rogers is the host and producer of the Boston Content Podcast. By day, he is a content marketer at Shopify, the ecommerce platform. By night, he is still Adam Rogers but it's nighttime. He loves writing, but he's sure it hates him. He's a lover of books, music, guitars, and his wife Lacey. Find Adam on: Twitter: @AdamRogersUK LinkedIn

Today the guys sit down with Rianka Dorsainvil, the founder and CEO of “Your Greatest Competition.” Rianka is a Certified Financial Planner who has worked and continues to work with multi-generational high earners and low-income families. Rianka created YGC after realizing her mission didn’t align with the different financial firms she had worked for in Corporate America. In this episode you’ll learn what to do before quitting your job to pursue entrepreneurship, how to avoid “lifestyle creep,” and how to use the YNAB (Why You Need a Budget) app and how Rianka is using her podcast to bridge the diversity and gender gap in the finance world, which is dominated by Caucasian males. Highlights: Rianka being the first college graduate in her family. Personal Finance 101. How Rianka dedicated her career to help her sick Nana. Getting debilitating migraines on your way to work, at a job you hate. Truly loving what you do, gives you the tenacity to not give up when you’re struggling to grow you’re business. Cutting back your lifestyle and saving money before you leave your 9-5 job to pursue entrepreneurship. As soon as you become laser focused on your small business, things start happing for you. The universe aligns. “Lifestyle Creep.” Joining the Freelancers Union to get health and disability benefits while self employed. Bridging the race and gender gap in the finance world. Key Takeaway: Working with a financial planner shouldn’t be dictated by how much money you have, but rather a desire and motivation to want to live a more fruitful life. Paychecks & Balances Website: https://paychecksandbalances.com/ https://www.patreon.com/paybalances Instagram: @paybalances Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paychecksandbalances Twitter: @paybalances Rianka Dorsainvil Website: http://www.yourgreatestcontribution.com/ Podcast: http://www.riankadorsainvil.com/2050-trailblazers                              

Episode 4: We welcome Author/Motivational Speaker Melony Hill June 8, 2018 Hosts: Imani Williams, Kinte Fergerson @KinteF Guest: Melony Hill Melony Hill is a survivor many times over. Constantly counted out by society due to emotional instabilities and a traumatic upbringing that led her down a path meant to destroy her, she has reclaimed her life and now, seeks to help others do the same. Through Stronger Than My Struggles, she aims to heal through the written and spoken word, offering resources and services to survivors from all walks of life. As the author of 8 books, a life & business transition coach, speaker and advocate, Melony Hill is determined to impact the lives of survivors worldwide. 2018 has come in with a bang, Melony has been featured by a local Baltimore paper, , iconic TIME Magazine, local television show, Bmore Lifestyle TV and a slew of other print and online publications. Melony is not only a college lecturer and public speaker but also hosts a series of workshops in the Baltimore area including a free weekly therapeutic writing workshop. Taking her mission to connect others with their purpose seriously, Melony leads the Baltimore branch of the Freelancers Union, a national organization with over 350,000 members nationwide. More at http://www.strongerthanmystruggles.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sapphirethesexy1/ http://www.youtube.com/c/sapphirehill http://www.sapphirethesexyone.tumblr.com www.twitter.com/STMSBmore http://www.instagram.com/strongerthanmystruggles http://www.pinterest.com/strongerthanmystruggles Website http://www.strongerthanmystruggles.com/ http://www.sapphirespotlightontalent.com/ Social Media FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/Blackartistsconnectedwriters/ FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WritersBAC

Almost half of millennials do freelance work—that is, they work as contract laborers, often in fields like writing, design, and computer programming—and the majority of those workers are women. The idea of ditching the office, the 9 to 5, and the butthead coworkers can be so tempting, but is this life all it’s cracked up to be? How do you find community when you don’t have to go anywhere to do your job? And what are your rights as a freelance worker? First, we talk to Danielle Corcione, a freelance journalist who recently looked into how #MeToo intersects with the lack of labor protections for freelancers. Then, we speak with Emma Denny, a lawyer who specializes in workplace harassment litigation, on what the options are for folks who want to fight back against sexist workplaces, both physical and digital. And finally, we go to The Coven, a coworking space for women and nonbinary folks in Minneapolis, MN, and talk to the founders about how they took the work of building a safe and equitable space into their own hands. SHOUT-OUTS The frustrating truth I learned about co-working spaces after I was sexually harassed in one The Gig Economy May Strengthen Men's 'Invisible Advantage' at Work “Freelancing in America,” the survey sponsored by Upwork and the Freelancers’ Union

For much of the past century the 9 to 5 job with benefits at a firm was what most people associated with financial stability. But as technology reshapes the labor market, more people are branching out on their own. A new report by Freelancers Union says freelancers will be the majority of the US workforce within 10 years if the current trend continues. In this podcast, Sara Horowitz, Executive Director of Freelancers Union, says freelancers are adapting to the changing nature of work. Sara Horowitz, founder and Executive Director of Freelancers Union

Today’s guest is Bryce Bladon, author of Hell to Pay 2: Everything a Freelancer Needs to Earn Good Money, and editor-in-chief of Clients From Hell. He joins Charlie to discuss the differences between being an entrepreneur and a freelancer. So many creative professionals get stuck and confused because they are unsure about what type of business they’re building, and why they’re choosing that kind of business. Key Takeaways: [2:02] - Bryce thinks that freelancing is going to be the way of creative professionals in the future. Based on surveys conducted by the Freelancers Union, it is predicted that more than 40% of the US workforce is freelancing in some capacity. While it may take different forms, freelancing essentially means personal self-employment. [3:23] - Is there a difference between an entrepreneur and a freelancer? A freelancer is typically selling skills or services in their one-person (for the most part) business, while an entrepreneur is usually trying to start a business that will grow and scale, and may possibly be interested in selling it. Historically, freelancing is the way most creatives were employed. [6:01] - Now, we are seeing more of a renaissance of freelancing (and entrepreneurship), as some aspects of today’s workplace make it hard to employ really specialized talent. Advances in technology and changes in mindset have also given rise to many tools and platforms that are empowering for creators. [9:25] - The defining difference for Bryce between an entrepreneur and a freelancer is how each business scales. While there is overlap - maybe the entrepreneurial spirit is in a freelancer, or the meaningful, personal touch may be there as an entrepreneur builds his business - the difference lies in what your ultimate goals are and how you see yourself doing this three or five years down the road. [13:40] - Another big difference is that entrepreneurs typically take more financial risks, acquiring investors and hoping to gain profit. For a lot of freelance businesses, they are able to work on a smaller scale and get paid for the work they produce. Bryce talks about some of the lifestyle and work style differences between the two. [15:43] - Charlie talks about how the nature of entrepreneurs and freelancers has changed, and how perhaps our definitions need to expand to include more types of businesses. There is some grey space between the two extremes of entrepreneurs and freelancers, where the term solo-preneur seems appropriate. [20:05] - Labels aside, it all comes back to what you’re trying to do. There are different trajectories based on what your goals are. Once you determine what you’re trying to achieve, you can figure out what business models are going to work best for you. [21:28] - There are some skills that a freelancer should have: some amount of marketing, business, and accounting skills would be helpful to help them promote and manage their services. These skills are arguably more important for entrepreneurs because they are usually trying to build a big business, and need a solid foundation to keep building up. [24:08] - As you creative people think about your pathway forward, one way of thinking about it is specialist versus generalist. An entrepreneur needs to be a better generalist that thinks about several things at the same time. A freelancer will need to be a better specialist, that hones their skill to be better than whatever is out there. [28:30] - Another big difference is that almost anyone can freelance in some capacity, but not everyone can become an entrepreneur, at least at the start. There needs to be an appreciation of the risks you’re going to be taking before you take them. [30:00] - Many businesses start by selling a service, and this can sometimes morph into selling a product. Starting with selling a craft or a skill is something that most people can do. Building products around that requires a different skill set with a different mentality around it. [36:24] - No matter where you are on the spectrum (entrepreneur, freelancer, solo-preneuer), most people’s first business either fails or is not the business that ends up being sustainable in the long-term. Where you start is very rarely going to be anywhere close to where you will be when that business matures. [37:57] - The scale of risk that you might take when starting a freelance or service-based business is much lower than making a product and all that that encompasses. [41:11] - Charlie and Bryce talk about how startup companies differ from many of the other freelance/entrepreneurial companies out there. It is not logical for all businesses to grow tenfold. You have to think about what makes sense for the individual business in terms of what you hope to accomplish. You need to be able to answer the question, am I building a business that I will want to be in in five years? [43:16] - Many people get into the freelance business for personal growth reasons. Though they may not be more financially independent, they are enjoying a higher quality of life. The real payout for Bryce is the idea of independence, and what you can do with it, and how you spend your time with regards to the business. [46:43] - The market and opportunities for freelancing are only getting better these days, and that’s a very exciting thing. Freelancing is a great vehicle for autonomy, mastery, and purpose. In some of the smaller companies that are emerging, you get an opportunity to have the freedom of creativity with the security of getting a paycheck. When you drop the six-figure expectation, you can find a balance of work that works for you, your clients, and your life and relationships at the same time. [49:03] - Bryce’s challenge for listeners: Find and reach out to somebody who is doing something that inspires you or that you would like to do someday. Say something nice about what they’ve done and what it has done for you. Mentioned in This Episode: Productive Flourishing Bryce Bladon Clients from Hell Drive, by Dan Pink Hell to Pay 2, by Bryce Bladon Leave a Review

Ilise Benun, of Marketing-Mentor.com, chats with Caitlin Pearce of Freelancers Union (join for free if you aren't already a member) about the new, free and easy-to-use contract building tool they developed in partnership with And.co to help the self employed protect themselves from non-paying clients. (This episode is sponsored by Twenty20.com – get photos that don't suck by starting your own 5-photo trial account now at Twenty20.com/mmpodcast)

How to get a client to pay you, how to get a testimonial from a client, and what to do when your work is stolen by another freelancer. Do you have a question of your own? Shoot us an email!  Want to support the show? Leave us a review on iTunes! -- Freelance FAQ: How do I ensure a client pays my invoice? Always start with a deposit -- typically 50%. This guarantees your time and services. Before sending over the final project, ensure you collect the remaining 50% first. (You don’t need to do this exact split, but collecting 50-100% upfront is the most straightforward way to ensure timely payment and a quality client) Use a contract, and in it, stipulate that the intellectual property is yours and usage is illegal until payment in full is received. Clarify your payment schedule and refund policy in the same contract Attaching payment to milestones is an excellent practice for larger projects If a client is curious why you don’t offer refunds, clarify the time investment and that you have to turn down other work to complete this project. Make it as easy as possible for the client to pay (e.g. Paypal, Stripe, Bonsai). Automate reminders for the client to pay. Until the client signs the contract and pays your deposit, do NOT start work. This stage is where you spend your time understanding, evaluating, and explaining things to the client. Once they pay, you should take a more active role. As always, don’t give them any legitimate reasons not to pay you. Communicate, be on time, and produce quality work. Clients who have issues paying at the start are likely to have issues paying you at the end of a project. Trust your gut in these instances. As you get more experience, learn what to charge for, and what to offer as a free bonus. Friendly emails and phone calls will cover you the vast majority of the time. The more direct the communication method, the harder it is to ignore.   Freelance FAQ: How do you get testimonials from clients? Ask for one after a successful client engagement. Reach out to past clients a few weeks or months down the line; see how the project is doing. While you have their ear, ask for a testimonial. Make it as easy as possible for clients to give you a testimonial. Make your request short and to the point. Offer some light direction Follow up if you don’t hear back within a week. If a client reveals they’re dissatisfied with your work and they won’t give you a testimonial, don’t treat this as a loss. Follow up; ask about the issues they experienced with you and what you can do to improve.   Feedback from the Inferno: What do I do about another freelancer who stole my work? (This segment originally premiered over at The Freelancers Union.) I know you’ve addressed clients stealing work before, but I’m in a slightly different situation. Another photographer – one who I’ve never met – has one my pieces in his portfolio and he’s claiming himself as the creator. What should I do? Do I have any recourse, or should I just let it go? – A picture-perfect freelancer   No need to take the Elsa philosophy; there are three things you can do. Start by writing a polite request for them to take down your work. After that, you can file a DMCA takedown. Here’s a basic breakdown from the NPPA on how to do that. All you need to do is find the ISP hosting your image and draft your takedown notice. Finally, you can hire a lawyer to send them a cease a desist. I wouldn’t recommend this one; it’s not going to be worth your time and effort, and attorneys – in addition to being expensive – tend to take cases like this one in very specific circumstances, e.g. if you’ve registered your photo before the infringement. One thing you should not do is go straight to shaming the perpetrator online; take the high road before you consider the low one. It’s important to stick up for yourself and take necessary steps to protect your work, but it’s unlikely that this will in any way cost you work or somehow tarnish your reputation. Starting an online mob, however, has the potential to do both these things, so tread carefully. --  Questions? Episode ideas? Talk to Clients From Hell or Bryce Bladon on Twitter. Or shoot us an email!  Clients From Hell on iTunes | Soundcloud Subscribe on iTunes | Android | RS

A freelancer wonders what to do after his best client's best friend refuses to pay his invoice; Bryce offers advice for charging clients.  Do you have a question of your own? Shoot us an email!  Want to support the show? Leave us a review on iTunes! -- Freelance FAQ: How should I charge my client? The basic answer is, “if you want to earn X this year, you need to be making Y for every hour you work.” My rule of thumb: Take what you want to earn in a year and drop the zeroes. If you want to earn $45,000 this year, you need to be earning, at least, $45 for every hour you spend on your business. The logic behind this rule of thumb: There are about 2,000 billable hours in a year (40 hours a week x 50 weeks in a year – we’re losing two weeks for holidays). You cut those billable hours in half, because at least 25% of your time will go into business upkeep, and the other 25% will go into taxes, insurance, and retirement (which adds up to 50% of your time – half). Thus, take what you want to earn in a year (e.g. $60,000) and divide it by the 1000 billable hours (e.g. $60/hour). Remember, these are ballpark estimates, not fine-tuned figures. Besides hourly, there are numerous ways to charge a client: Daily Can begin charging for value (not time) and you get to focus on one thing at a time You can’t be flexible with your day; this billing rate doesn’t work with every situation Weekly More flexibility to charge for value and not time; it is very results orientated. Weekly rates are more applicable to consultants and results-based work; the time investment for some weeks can wildly exceed a typical 40-hour workweek Monthly A monthly rate offers regular income that bolsters a long-term relationship with clients It’s similar to being a full-time employee, with the pros and cons associated with that. Typically, you’ll have to charge more than a full-timer would and it can be difficult to communicate to a client why that is. Per deliverable This style of billing is directly tied to a product or result; your rate and time commitment are completely irrelevant. Scope changes and negotiation are commonplace Per project Your billing purely by value; there’s less need for oversight and micromanagement regarding your day-to-day activities However, there’s an immense amount of planning involved; if you miss something, you eat the cost. You should know your hourly rate even if you do not intend to charge by the hour. Your hourly rate informs all other forms of billing, typically as a bare minimum you need to be making. Experience will teach you how you like to work, and how you like to work will influence the ideal way for you to bill your clients. Despite weekly billing having a higher potential income attached to it, monthly billing works better for my clients and me.   Feedback from the Inferno: My best client's best friend stiffed me – now what? (This segment originally premiered over at The Freelancers Union.) My biggest client referred his best friend to me. That friend stiffed me on my invoice. What can I do without ruining the 15+ year relationship I have with my client? In a nutshell, my best and biggest client referred me to his close friend for some IT work. It came as an emergency. I did my best, and I got my client’s friend up and running again. Over two visits, the friend accumulated $1600 worth of time within a few days. Both of his checks bounced. His business went bankrupt, and he claimed creditors to be relieved from, but I wasn’t one of them. I got his word he would pay me and that he appreciated the work I did for him. Time went by. Nothing happened. I asked my client about his situation and from what I saw, my client was also one of the people his friend borrowed from. I’m unsure if he was someone he was relieved from. When I asked my client if I should pursue it, he said I should drop it that I would probably never get the money back. That $1600 isn’t chump change. With the economy like it is, I could sure use it. I don’t want to alienate my client, but it burns my ass that his friend got off, especially since he’s rich and lives in an exclusive neighborhood, nice cars, has another business which is flourishing, etc. Additional context: the freelancer who wrote in has been in IT since 1994, and he started his business in 2004. There are no contracts involved in most of his work, as most of his clients have long and personal relationships with him – often spanning over a decade. – A freelancer with a burnt butt   Honestly, it seems like you've already reached the conclusion on this: it's frustrating, but that money is likely gone. A lot of time has passed, and there was no contract in place. It's certainly possible there's a route you can take to regain that lost $1,600, but I don't see a way that's worth that amount of money – almost all of them will cost you in much more damaging ways. I respect the crap out of the style of work you offer – close relationships, time-honed offerings, constant support – but it's a style where a contract-free experience should only be offered to proven and qualified clients. As you stated (this was in a separate email), it's the newer clients that take advantage of your stalwart offering. I'd suggest taking a look at how you qualify these new clients and if there's a way to offer an expedited contract or down payment. Here's how I deal with this: I have a simply-worded and short contract template that I use for clients I'm unsure about. I fill in the blanks with the client, and that ensures we're both on the same page regarding it (e.g. what results do they expect? what services do they need? who's my main contact? who's in charge of payment?). My first meeting or two with the client is spent gaining an understanding of their issue, offering my solution, and engaging them for the work. My third meeting is a 5-45-minute engagement where we fill in those contract blanks and ensure we understand each other. I'm protected, my client is protected, and we’re both clear what I'll be doing with them. Plus, that contract-creating experience is my built-in client-qualification system. I also suggest you check out the Freelance Isn’t Free act. I think you’ll be interested in supporting it. Otherwise, I wish you the best with your future clients. I know a principled business (with such a remarkable pedigree) will do just fine in the long run, so my final piece of advice is this: don't sweat the crappy experiences. They seem to be few and far in-between. --  Questions? Episode ideas? Talk to Clients From Hell or Bryce Bladon on Twitter. Or shoot us an email!  Clients From Hell on iTunes | Soundcloud Subscribe on iTunes | Android | RS

What to ask a prospective client and advice for a freelancer caught in a client's love triangle.  Do you have a question of your own? Shoot us an email!  Want to support the show? Leave us a review on iTunes! -- Freelance FAQ: What questions should I ask a client? When you first meet a client, you need to: Determine if the prospect is a good fit Diagnose their problem Decide if this will be a mutually beneficial relationship Don’t overwhelm your prospect with 1,001 questions in the initial email, but do ask them sooner than later. From there, you need to determine: Budget: Can the client afford your services? Authority: Does this person have the authority to make buying decisions? Need: Does the client have a genuine need for your services? Timeline: Does the timeline work for you and your client? I always try to figure out the negative consequences of not having a solution and the positive implications of having a solution to frame all future conversations. Regardless, here are some general questions to ask a prospect or client: For what reasons are you looking to hire a new freelancer now? What triggered your decision to hire a freelancer? What’s made this so urgent or important? What experiences, good and bad, have you had with other freelancers? What do you want to be different this time around? What results do you expect to see from the work we do together? What are your company’s goals? What’s your most important priority? What’s your most urgent priority? If they’re not the same, ask: What will it take to focus on the most important priority? How can the urgent priority get downgraded? What’s your company’s biggest marketing challenge? What’s keeping you from overcoming or meeting that challenge? What internal resources do you have to apply to this challenge? How well are your competitors doing? What are your competitors doing that you’re not and wish you were? What do you want to be the best at? What do you want your company or department to be renowned for? What are you willing to stake your reputation on? What’s the average lifetime value of a customer? What’s your customer acquisition cost? What’s your current marketing return on investment? What’s your process for choosing a consultant or agency? Have you used this process before? What worked or didn’t work? What will you do to get a different result? Who’s involved in making the decision? Who signs the contract? If you don’t hire a freelancer or consultant, how will you meet this challenge? What will you do? How will you know we’ve been successful? If we don’t address this issue, what will it cost your company? If we deliver on agreed upon goals, what’s that worth to your company? What problems do you see down the road that could obstruct or constrain our working together? What makes you lose sleep at night? Or what do you need so you can sleep at night? You may have field-specific questions that you find your regularly asking clients. Based on those repeat findings, you should create an onboarding questionnaire that you go through with clients when they first engage you.   Feedback from the Inferno: How do I deal with my client’s controlling boyfriend? (This segment originally premiered over at The Freelancers Union.) My client’s boyfriend insists on attending all of our meetings, business or otherwise. For context, I’m a male, and my client is a female. We know each other from school, but we recently reconnected when she found out I started freelancing, and she wanted me to build her budding businesses’ website. My client has insisted that this isn’t a big deal – the boyfriend should be treated as another source of feedback – but the dynamic makes me uncomfortable. I told her that she doesn’t have to worry about me trying anything, but she says that’s not really the issue. She insists that the boyfriend has “her best interests” in mind and just not to worry about it because she “really wants to work with me on this.” What should I do? – A third-wheel freelancer   I had to email this submitter back to glean a bit of additional context. To summarize: the client and her boyfriend have both cheated on one another, and the boyfriend is not there for his business expertise; the client and the submitter hooked up once “while drunk at school”; by school, the submitter means he and his client attended university together. One thing that immediately set off warning signs for me is that you’re having meetings with this client that fall under the umbrella of “otherwise.” Working with friends is something that I probably wouldn’t recommend. Working with a former hookup is something I would almost always discourage. Working with a serial cheater (that you have a history with!) while she’s in a troubled relationship (with a controlling boyfriend!) sounds like the motive the detective will give when he finds your dead body. Point being: none of this sounds like a good idea. Even if you weren’t involved with this client on the pretense of this being a client-freelancer relationship – and I’m not convinced you wouldn’t be, as you failed to mention you had sex with this client in the past in your initial email – I would still encourage you to get as far away as possible. It sounds like this client needs to separate their personal and professional life. And I think the same could be said about you. --  Questions? Episode ideas? Talk to Clients From Hell or Bryce Bladon on Twitter. Or shoot us an email!  Clients From Hell on iTunes | Soundcloud Subscribe on iTunes | Android | RS

A boss from hell claims ownership of a would-be freelancer's free time; Bryce offers advice for transitioning from a traditional full-time job to self-employment.  This episode... How do I go from the nine-to-five to freelancing? What should I do about a boss who won't let me have a side gig? Do you have a question of your own? Shoot us an email!  Want to support the show? Leave us a review on iTunes! -- Freelance FAQ: How do I transition from the 9 to 5 to freelancing? Before you make the full-time freelancing plunge... Know your finances Have 3-6 months of savings before you commit Start moonlighting Freedom to learn and experiment. When you do start freelancing… Communicate with clients (but don’t create unnecessary work for them) Meet deadlines Always give your best work (if you can) Research how freelance taxes work in your state Look into insurance options Create a schedule, system or process for work. Occasionally re-evaluate what is and isn’t working. In particular, look for time investments that aren’t showing any returns Always evaluate your work/life balance Evaluate your income to expenses   Feedback from the Inferno: My boss won't let me have a sidegig -- what should I do? (This segment originally premiered over at The Freelancers Union.) I moonlight as a freelancer and I know my boss will have a problem with it if he ever finds out. What should I do? I have done freelance writing here and there for almost 10 years. I enjoy doing it, and I want to really get serious about it. Here's my problem: I work full-time as an administrative assistant at a law firm, and my boss is not at all supportive of me doing anything that he thinks might take me away from my job. And let's be honest, he has a point - I do intend to leave when I've got my freelancing off the ground. For now, I need the money, and it's not a terrible gig, but it isn't where my heart is. I already have one client that I got by word of mouth, and I know I need to advertise my services to gain more clients – which is scary enough, as I am an introvert – but I'm scared to put myself out there lest my boss discovers what I'm up to and uses it against me. I would love just to be honest with him, as I have with my office manager, but past experiences have already taught me that's not an option; as examples, he fired another assistant partly because that assistant divulged that he was going to night school to become an EMT; he also was wary of me getting my CAP-OM certification until I described how it would benefit HIM. I already dropped hints a long time ago that I really wanted to pursue writing, but that was dismissed and never referenced again. Many others within the firm have ventures outside of the office, including my boss and all of the partners. But for them, the firm is an anchor. For me, it is a stepping stone. My question is twofold: is there a way for me to advertise myself stealthily so that I can get clients without my current boss finding out? Or, in the event I just say screw it and put myself out there, how can I prepare to deal with the fallout? I appreciate any help you can give - I am reaching out to you because I have heard you say to start freelancing part-time before jumping in with both feet, and I figured maybe you'd have some insight into a situation like mine. I'm tired of holding back and missing out on clients and money because I'm afraid a simple Google search will cost me my job before I'm ready to leave. – A moonlighter on a mission   First of all, this is easily one of the best-written emails I've ever received. You clearly have the chops to make it on your own as a freelance writer. Second, your boss is an absolute douche. With that out of the way… Finding Work There are tons of ways to market yourself without actually exposing yourself. In nearly a decade of freelancing, roughly 80% of my work came from clients I never actually met. Word of mouth, job boards, local meetups – they’re all great ways to find work when you’re first starting out. For your first few jobs, simply letting the world know (via twitter, facebook, etc.) you’re available for work is a great way to secure some warm leads. However, that last bit of advice tickles your main issue… On being googled I almost always suggest a freelancer use their name as their business, and I think this should still be the case for you. I understand the fear of Googling – and it's a valid concern – but the idea of this boss owning your name online is utterly ridiculous. Plus, your freelance site doesn't need to be salesy or revealing. Giselle's illustration website is a great example of this. To address this potential name issue, maybe you can focus on your first or last name to start. Remember, most of your potential clients will be directed to your website through you; very few clients will find you by googling "freelance writer" or whatever. Preparing to go full-time (AKA dealing with the fallout) Simply put, I recommend 3-6 months of savings for ALL your living expenses is set aside before you make the full-time freelancing leap. I also recommend at least three positive client experiences before you make the plunge. Ideally, some of these clients will offer recurring work. Other resources Here are two articles I always recommend for this stuff: How to Start Freelancing Without Quitting Your Job An Experienced Freelancer’s Guide to Finding Clients Also, if you ever want to use my Start Freelancing course to get a boost, I included a 75% off coupon in that link. --  Questions? Episode ideas? Talk to Clients From Hell or Bryce Bladon on Twitter. Or shoot us an email!  Clients From Hell on iTunes | Soundcloud Subscribe on iTunes | Android | RSS

This week, Bryce answers common (and not so common) questions about freelancing.  Do you have a question of your own? Shoot us an email!  Want to support the show? Leave us a review on iTunes! -- Freelance FAQ: Where do I find my first clients? Start with people you know. Announce via social, email, etc. that you’re starting to freelance Reach out to individuals you know that may have need of your services Feel free to reach out for work, but also ask to pick their brain e.g. does your business hire freelancers? What do they look for? Etc. Reach out to nearby businesses, especially if you have a positive relationship or a connection to someone higher up Local or nearby businesses have the benefit of face-to-face connection. You can succeed with an entirely remote client list, but when you’re just starting out, the flexibility of a local connection should not be underestimated. Attend networking events Reach out to hiring managers, creative directors, etc. Feel free to reach out for work, but also ask to pick their brain e.g. does your business hire freelancers? What do they look for? Etc. Sign up for job boards and apply for jobs that you feel capable of tackling. Job boards require a lot of experience and thoughtful positioning to be regular and profitable sources of work. However, when you’re just starting out, they’re an excellent source of low-commitment experience. Try to find a unique position point. For example, there are very few freelancers boasting about their webinar experience -- there were all of six on a job board with over 100,000 freelancers on it. The more specific the job board is to your skillset (as a designer or developer), the better. Pitch publications   An excellent source of portfolio pieces and income   Join online groups related to your craft or services. Market yourself in directories. Reach out to job listings for full or part-time work related to your service and see if there’s a way you can help until they hire their permanent fix. I’ve actually had clients close job listings after working with me and then putting me on retainer. Work for free Set boundaries and expectations Work for a testimonial, referral, and quality portfolio piece Ensure you want to do more work of this type Ensure you’re getting something of value out of this engagement; otherwise, you’re wasting your time.   Feedback from the Inferno: Where do I find my first clients? (This segment originally premiered over at The Freelancers Union.) I have a client that insists I do all my work at his office. He insists on this arrangement because he doesn’t really “trust web people.” He admits part of this is just not “getting it” – if I’m there, I can explain things, and he knows I’m honestly billing him for the time. I really don’t like working at his office: it’s inconvenient to travel to and from there, I have to bring some of my equipment, and my client likes to breathe over my shoulder while I work. The worst part about this over-my-shoulder work is that he’ll sometimes start to give me a massage. I’m not the only one he does this to, but it’s both literally and metaphorically uncomfortable. How do I tell him to stop doing this without ruining the relationship? – A real hands-on freelancer   The subject line of this email was “my clint likes to touch me - I do not.” At first, I thought that was a lot of unsolicited information about a submitter’s uncomfortable relationship with a man named Clint, but boy did that stop being funny once I realized that was a spelling error. I was unbelievably relieved to discover you’re both male and that this touching is seemingly non-sexual. It’s still 100% not okay that the client is doing this, but this dynamic could be far, far worse. From what you wrote to me, it sounds like you have an out-of-touch-with-the-times client – both technologically and socially. And it sounds like you could do a better job of pushing back and making sure the working arrangement works for you. Schedule a one-on-one meeting with your client to discuss how you work together. Decide beforehand where you draw the line. I suggest not working in that office altogether, but you can compromise on him simply respecting your personal space. Do your research and prepare for this meeting. You should try and anticipate your client’s potential concerns, and you should have your reasons on standby. For example, address why this client doesn’t trust “web people.” By now, you should have established a working relationship, so some trust should be there. If it’s simply a matter of hours, offer to use time-tracking software. If it’s due to a lack of understanding, ask if there’s a contact at the company who would better understand your deliverables – work that is mutually understood is much more likely to meet the client's goals effectively. Whatever happens, don’t back down from where ever you drew the line. If all you’re going to push back on is the touching – and I encourage you to have more ambition than that – speak to how it makes you feel and try not to accuse or embarrass the client. Do this one on one, and be straightforward; it’s not okay that he was in your personal space, but it sounds like no one ever tried to course correct him, and he’s ignorant about how inappropriate it is. If you still don’t want to rock the boat, invest in Mad Max-style shoulder pads. Jokes aside, if you feel genuinely uncomfortable or physically threatened, cut things off with this client. A big part of freelancing is doing your work, your way – and it seems like this arrangement doesn’t empower you on a personal or professional level. And try to work on sticking up for yourself! It sounds like a lot of your complaints about this situation came from you rolling over whenever your client requests something. --  Questions? Episode ideas? Talk to Clients From Hell or Bryce Bladon on Twitter. Or shoot us an email!  Clients From Hell on iTunes | Soundcloud Subscribe on iTunes | Android | RS

Welcome to episode 10 Freelancers are often subject of the dreaded "work for exposure" offer. ***If you like the show, we would appreciate a very short review on iTunes. It helps other freelancers find this podcast*** We talk to Samita Sarkar, author, freelance writer and editor who tells us about the best ways to approach clients who ask for free or spec work before committing to full pay. She has been published by the Huffington Post, Entrepreneur and the Freelancers Union, among others. Follow her on twitter @samitasarkar and her site: BlossomsWriting.com For more advice and hands-on tutorials visit www.carlospbeltran.com/tips

53 million Americans--one out of three workers--can be classified as freelance entrepreneurs. A career as a freelancer offers lots of advantages. You work when and where you want. You set your own prices and keep the profits. You choose your clients and your coworkers. (And yes, you can work at home in your pajamas!) A career as a freelancer has its challenges, too. You have sole responsibility for finding clients, project management, business operations, contracts, taxes, marketing, scheduling, and everything else in what is, essentially, your own small business. This week on Find Your Dream Job Mac chats with Rebecca Shapiro, an artist, illustrator, and career freelancer. Rebecca has worked with the Portland Freelancers Union and is the author of Work Independently & Live Connectedly: 52 Steps to Freelancing Freedom. She shares her experience in the gig economy and offers advice for starting and maintaining a successful career as a freelancer. In this 32-minute episode you will learn: The importance of community, relationships, and collaboration in freelancing The mindset and technical skills you need to thrive as a freelancer How to shift out of the “worker” mentality, into the “freelancer” mentality Why you need to set healthy boundaries with clients How to find customers for your freelance services Income expectations when you become a career freelancer This Week's Guest: Rebecca Shapiro (@rebeccashapiro)Principal, Rebecca Shapiro Art and Rebecca Shapiro IllustrationAuthor, Work Independently & Live Connectedly: 52 Steps to Freelancing FreedomPortland, Ore.You can also connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn and Instagram. Listener question of the week:  Do I need both an e-portfolio and an actual (physical) portfolio? Do you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode? Please send your questions to Cecilia Bianco, Mac’s List Community Manager at cecilia@macslist.org. Resources referenced on this week’s show: DoubleYourFreelancing.com The Business of Freelancing Podcast Wordpress SquareSpace Rebecca Shapiro Illustration Rebecca Shapiro Art Portland Freelancers Union CreativeLive SkillShare Work Independently & Live Connectedly: 52 Steps to Freelancing Freedom Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond): The Complete Mac’s List Guide If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you’d like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac’s List Managing Director at ben@macslist.org. -- Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support!Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com -- Full Transcript Mac Prichard:    This is find your dream job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want and make a difference in life. I'm Mac Prichard, your host and publisher of Mac's List. Our show is brought to you by Mac's List. Your best online source for rewarding, creative and meaningful work. Visit macslist.org to learn more. You'll find hundreds of great jobs, a blog with practical career advice and our new book, "Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond". Thanks for joining us today. This week on Find Your Dream Job we're talking about freelance work. If you see three random people walking down a street in the United States, one of them likely does freelance work. Thirty-four percent of Americans, 53 million people in all, are freelancers according to a 2014 survey. Now, a career as a freelance worker offers lots of advantages. You work where and when you want. You set your own prices and you keep the profits. You choose your clients and your coworkers and, yes, you can work at home in your pajamas. A career as a freelancers has its challenges too. You do all the administration and marketing for your business and this could take up to 25% or more of your time. You can't bill those hours to your clients. You also have to produce more revenue. Charging an hourly rate that equals your old annual salary won't cut it because now you have to cover your own sick leave, vacation, benefits, and payroll taxes. This may mean that you have to earn two to two and a half times the amount of your former salary. In the next thirty minutes we'll address these and other important issues for freelance workers. Whether you're about to strike out on your own or you've been working for yourself since the Carter administration, Ben Forstag has found a website with ideas you can use to make any freelance business more efficient and profitable. If you're a freelance worker who is an artist, designer or film maker I don't have to tell you the difference a portfolio can make in landing your next gig. One reader asked us however, "Can I just present my work online or do I need a printed portfolio?" Cecilia Bianco has the answer. Let's start as we do every week by checking with Mac's List team; Ben Forstag and Cecilia Bianco. Cecilia, Ben how are you two doing this week? Ben Forstag:   I'm doing awesome. Cecilia Bianco:  Doing good Mac. Mac Prichard:    Good. Well, it's a pleasure to see you here in the studio. This week we're talking about freelancing and I have to ask you both, have either one of you worked as a freelancer? Cecilia? Cecilia Bianco: No, I haven't but I've definitely considered it and I know a lot of people who have. Mac Prichard:    There are no freelance babysitting jobs in your past? Cecilia Bianco:  No. Mac Prichard:    Okay. I haven't worked as a freelancer myself. I have taken the odd contract job while I look for a permanent position. Like you, I haven't worked as a freelancer. How about you Ben? Ben Forstag:   I've taken odd contract jobs between permanent positions, but when I think of freelancing I think of the folks who are doing this as an ongoing career. I've never done that. Actually, my wife is a freelancer and she has a rule in our house that one of us has to have a full-time, permanent stable job. Since she's already got the freelancing gig that leaves me to come into work everyday. Mac Prichard:   Yeah. Well, we're glad to have you. My wife, too, is a freelancer and we have the same arrangement. I imagine when we talk to our guest expert this week we'll hear more about how that can help a couple because often when one member of the couple has a permanent job they bring benefits, health insurance and other advantages to the table that help freelancers get going. Let's turn to our regular feature with Ben, who every week is exploring the internet looking for podcasts, books and other tools you can use in your job search. Ben Forstag:    Let me say up front that I don't know a whole lot about freelancing as a permanent career. In preparing for today's show, I reach out to some of my friends who are freelancers and asked them for suggestions about what blogs they read, what podcasts they listen to and so forth. Today, I want to recommend a blog and an accompanying podcast that are designed to help people address some of the challenges that are inherent when they're running a freelancing business. The blog is called doubleyourfreelancing.com and it's written by Brennan Dunn, a long-time freelance software designer. The blog tackles questions like how to find clients, how to market yourself, how to price your services, how to manage projects and workflow, how to do your estimated quarterly taxes which I know is a challenge for my wife, and other basic tips on how to improve the efficiency of your freelancing business. Brennan only posts a handful of times each month, but each entry is really nicely written, well thought out and comprehensive. Some of the posts are almost long form in their length. You could spend fifteen, twenty minutes going through some of these posts. I particularly like the post entitled, "The best networking hack I've ever used." I'm not going to share with you what that hack is. You'll have to go and read the blog, but I thought it was a really interesting approach in how to make lasting connections with professional contacts. In his case, this is how to make connections that will turn into future business. Brennan's blog has an affiliated podcast called, "The Business of Freelancing" which is available on iTunes. The focus here is on interviews with fellow freelancers and the discussions surround how to improve clients relations and business practices. It's a well produced podcast and they release episodes every two weeks or so. I suggest you check out these two resources. The blog is doubleyourfreelancing.com and the podcast, available on iTunes, is "The Business of Freelancing". Mac Prichard:    Thanks Ben. I had a chance to look at that website this week when you flagged it for us. I was impressed by the quality of the information and the large number of articles. I know people like to get content in different ways, so not only are there articles but there's a podcast. For those who like structure, there's also a course with a curriculum that looked very useful as well. Now it's time to hear from you, our listeners. Let's turn to Cecilia Bianco our community manager. It's time for her to answer one of your questions. Cecilia, what do you have for us this week? Cecilia Bianco:  Our question this week is, "Do I actually need an e-portfolio and a printed portfolio?" Personally, I think everyone should have an online portfolio. It's a more in depth and visual version of LinkedIn where you can expand on your skills, your past work and your personality. It's a great tool to show a potential employer why they want to interview you before they actually meet you. It's a brief look into who you are as a professional and it can be really important in securing an interview. Ben Forstag:   Cecilia, let me interrupt here. I know LinkedIn has a projects section, can you do most of what you're talking about on that tool? Cecilia Bianco:  Yeah, you definitely can do most of this on LinkedIn but an online portfolio is more of a personal website where you can showcase your brand and your personality in a more creative way. There's easy ways to do this using WordPress or Squarespace. Both platforms are super easy and low-cost. I think I pay $30 a year for my customized site. I think that being able to create a well put together personal website shows your skills as far as creativity and visual storytelling, which is another bonus to it. It's another thing for when employers Google you, because we know they all do, it adds something to Google when your name's searched and it's a great tactic to control your online reputation. Mac Prichard:    What about printed portfolios, Cecilia? I know most employers are going to Google people and look at their LinkedIn profile, but when you have a meeting with an employer do you think it makes sense to bring one in? Cecilia Bianco:  I think it depends on what field your in. Printed portfolios are really only necessary, in my opinion, for people in a visual field like photography or graphic design. Otherwise, it's really challenging to make it appealing to an employer. To bring in a portfolio full of written content is not that fun to look through and it's not that fun to create. In my senior year, we were required to make one and I majored in public relations, so a lot of my work was news releases and written content. Printing that out and arranging it nicely in a portfolio was pretty difficult and it just doesn't seem necessary in a written field when you can display that information online in a more appealing way. I think printed portfolios are necessary for some fields and not for others. Well, what do you think about that actually Mac because you run Prichard. Are you impressed when someone brings in a printed portfolio? Mac Prichard:   Generally, it's someone who is a designer and they will have a book with samples of their work. I do enjoy going through the book with them. The advantage of that is they're telling a story and they're sharing examples of their work to make their points about that story. I have seen those portfolios at a university that writers have used and I think there is some advantage in, again telling that story, it's a way of doing it but it's not the only way. The short answer to your question, Cecilia ,is I think it's a must for designers and photographers. There could be some value for writers, but I think there's so many opportunities to do that online and there's only so many hours in the day. I agree with you. I would give precedence to an online portfolio. Cecilia Bianco:  Yeah. I agree. Mac Prichard:    Thank you, Cecilia, and if you have a question for Cecilia you can email her day or night. Her email address is cecilia@macslists.org. The segments by Ben and Cecilia are sponsored by the Mac's Lists Guides, publisher of our new book, "Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond". The Mac's Lists Guide can be the tools you need to get the job you want. We show you how to crack the hidden job markets, stand out in a competitive field and how you can manage your career. The book has eight chapters and in each one experts share job hunting secrets like how to hear about jobs that are never posted and what you can do to interview and negotiate like a pro. To download the first chapter of the book for free visit macslists.org/macslistsguides. Now, let's turn to this week's expert. Rebecca Shapiro is the author of, "Work Independently and Live Connectedly: 52 Steps to Freelancing Freedom". She's also a former regional organizer for the Freelancers Union and a fine artist, illustrator and community manager. Rebecca offers experiential art in public spaces and for events and she also makes custom illustrations for medical textbooks, e-books, murals and cards. Rebecca, thank you for joining us here today. Rebecca Shapiro:   Thank you. Thank you for having me. Mac Prichard:    Yeah, it a pleasure to and thank you for coming to the Mac's List studio. Let's start with freelancers in general. Is there a typical freelance worker out there in America today? Rebecca Shapiro:  Well, actually there's 53 million of us in the United States right now. One out of three workers is an independent worker, so they're a freelancer whether they're working part-time or full-time. There is a typical freelancer out there and I think there's a bunch of us because we are finding ways to create livelihood for ourselves. Mac Prichard:    Okay. I think when people hear freelance they think a writer, someone in the creative field. What other kinds of careers might lend themselves to freelance work? Rebecca Shapiro: Well, that's a really good point because when I first started working with Freelancers Union I always considered myself an entrepreneur because I couldn't find any other word to describe what I was doing. I thought freelancers applied to copywriters and maybe a graphic designer, but really it's anybody who's working independently for themselves, like I said full-time or part-time, so it could be taxi drivers, babysitters. It could be somebody who is a copywriter, I've worked with a lot of copywriters, illustrators, web programmers. It's everybody. Anybody who is creating income for themselves is considered a freelancer. Mac Prichard:    Now, you're the author of a book about freelancing and you have practical tips in that book about what freelancers can do, in fact, one for every week of the year. What's striking about your book is its emphasis on community, relationships and collaboration. Can you tell us more about why you focus on those themes? Rebecca Shapiro:  Probably because if you don't have relationships you basically have yourself and you're unemployed. You need those relationships to have partnerships with other people so that you can work on projects together, to have clients and healthy robust relationships with those clients so they keep coming back. Then, the other relationship that I think is really important is the relationship with yourself. You really have to know yourself. I joke sometimes that working for yourself is almost like a spiritual path because you have to have so much awareness about who you are, the way that you work and what you like and what you don't like in order to have a healthy freelancing business. Mac Prichard:   Now, every time there's a recession I think when people lose work they think, "Well, maybe this is the time to strike out on my own." Is there a particular kind of mindset you need to be successful as a freelancer? Rebecca Shapiro:    Absolutely. You and I spoke about this earlier, I really have a soft spot for the people that have been laid off and have either been so discouraged that they can't find work or just kind of give up and they decide to go into freelancing. I think it's really important when you find yourself in that position, or if you're just choosing to go out on your own, that you find a community of freelancers in which to participate because you can have conversation with people and find out what's working and what isn't for them and build experience for yourself and figure out like, "Okay, this piece might work well for me. This piece isn't going to work so hot." You can put together, cobble together, this business for yourself so that you're successful. Mac Prichard:    Learning how to be a freelancer it's not only a mindset, but it requires a set of skills. I run two small businesses, Mac's List as well as a public relations company, and I had worked for large organizations for many years; non-profits and public agencies. I needed to learn how to create and run a business and that was different from the technical skills I had. Do you find that successful freelancers have to go through a similar process? Rebecca Shapiro:     Absolutely. In fact, the learning curve is really pretty big. That again is why the relationship building piece is so important that you sort of find your tribe or your educational group or your mentors that are going to help you be successful with your freelance business. Part of that is also finding your support team. For example, taxes is something I'm not interested in nor am I very good at so I see my relationship with my CPA as a collaboration. It's a very good one and he makes sure that I don't get into trouble and that I save a lot of money on my taxes. That's one example. If you can find ... I think it's really important for you to to be able to realize if you're going out and becoming a freelancer or starting out look for communities that you can jump into and then definitely look for ways that you educate yourself on as many things as possible. Some good places to look would be the classes at CreativeLive or on Skillshare. They have a lot of entrepreneurial business freelancing type classes that they teach as well as specific skills that you might need. Let's say that you wanted to go into graphic design but you were kind of wobbly in one area of it. You could look for some specific classes that would help you build up your skillset. Mac Prichard:  Okay. There are resources out there to help you with your technical skills, whatever service you might be offering to clients, but you also need to connect with others in the community to work on your business as well. Rebecca Shapiro:   Absolutely. I think the more support that you can get for setting up a healthy structure for your business the better. If you can learn how to do things like time management ... At lot of times when people ... And this is a key point, a lot of times when people are leaving their desk job they try and recreate that environment working on their own and it's not a very efficient way to work. Learning how to shift out of the worker mindset into "I actually run my own business mindset", there's a difference between those two. When you can go to groups, for example Freelancers Union has I think sixteen cities around the country where freelancers of all different types get together and they communicate and talk about their businesses. Then, you can learn from those people that are doing it well. Also, a lot of them are very honest about the mistakes that they make. I think that's really valuable. These conversations are part of having a healthy freelance economy in each of our cities so when we can have these honest conversations about what works well, but also what kind of mistakes to avoid and personal stories about what went wrong can really help you figure out how to run your business better. Mac Prichard:  As you talk about learning those skills, I'm reminded that old habits die hard. When I was in my early thirties I had the good fortune to go to graduate school full-time and I worked in government for almost ten years. It was a masters in public administration program. It took about a month, there were a group of us who had worked in government, even though classes didn't start until 9:30 we all showed up at school at 8:00. We just were trained to do that and it took us a while to get into the student mindset. I imagine it's challenging for people to get into that freelance mindset if they treat it, as you say, just like a job. Rebecca Shapiro:  It is. The more that you can read ... There's so many great blogs out there including Freelancers Union. If you just Goggle freelancing resources there's a lot of great information out there that will help you start to think about running your freelance business differently. It helps you start to shift your mindset so my recommendation is read as much as you can and talk to as many freelancers as you can and it'll start to get you changing those habits that you talked about. Mac Prichard:    You have a book and it has actionable steps, and we'll be sure to mention it in the show notes, but Rebecca of those fifty-two steps are there two or three that you always recommend that people can use if they are starting out as freelancers or maybe they're experienced freelancers and they just want to take their business up a notch. Rebecca Shapiro:   One that I frequently run into, especially when I was working with freelancers, is to set healthy boundaries. That's part of taking care of yourself, but also it's also part of taking care of your business. When you can set healthy boundaries and let your clients know that you are not available 24/7 every single day of the week, you don't end up resenting them and you end up being able to take care of your time so that you have time away from your clients and doing actual work. It also helps your clients know that you value them and that you also take your business seriously. Setting up those healthy boundaries is really important and an easy way to do it is just to have a policy where you talk about your payment policy and when you're available and all that sort of stuff. You can put that on your website. You can put it in your contracts. You can have it in your face to face conversation when you're talking with a client before you get started because so many freelancers make the mistake of bending over backwards. Especially when they're starting out, they'll do everything for their client. What you've done is you've successfully trained your client to realize that you're going to go two hundred extra miles for them. You can't sustain that and then you end up screwing up later on down the road. Everyone gets really frustrated and disappointed so it's better to just set healthy boundaries right in the beginning. Mac Prichard:  I think that's excellent advice. I work with other public relations agency owners and small business owners and they all tell me that they expect vendors, whether they are freelancers or small businesses to have contracts and scopes of work and to send out invoices at a certain time. I would say to freelancers or people who are thinking about doing this who are listening, this is how business is done. It's normal. Your customers won't be surprised when you do set those boundaries or set those expectations. Rebecca Shapiro:  One of my boundaries, and I've had to turn away work, is I use a contract. I always use a contract. There have been some high profile people that have said, "I don't want to sign a contract." I've actually stepped away from the work. It's a hard decision but it's a policy that I have because I know that the contract ... So many things change over time of the project, it's hard to remember where you started and the contract is a way to protect yourself as well as the relationship with your client. I'm really glad you brought that up. Mac Prichard:   I, running my own small business, made the mistake once of not having a contract and we can share horror stories about that after the show. Rebecca Shapiro:  Yeah. All it takes is one time. Mac Prichard:   Yeah, you learn. I'm conscious of the fact that our time has come to a close and just thinking about our listeners who are thinking about doing this and they may have very practical questions. Why don't we just go through a short list? Rebecca Shapiro:   Okay. Mac Prichard:    Your best advice for people who are thinking about getting started, what are one or two things they could do right away or they should address? Rebecca Shapiro:   Okay. The first thing that they should do is they should go find a group. Go find their tribe. Whether it's Freelancers Union or maybe it's a co-working space, there's a lot of co-working spaces that have a community component and an educational piece to it. Get online and in person and look for those types of communities. That would be the first thing that I would absolutely do. Then, the second thing I would do is get really clear on what it is, what is the product or service that you want to provide for somebody? Then, look for other people that are doing something similar in your community that you could actually sit down and just talk to them. Find out how their doing it. You know, it's funny it's really hard for us to ask for help, but I've found that almost everybody wants to help. It's kind of a nice way for people to realize that you're not invincible and that you're accessible. Ask for help and people ... I've actually have never found somebody who's said, "No". Mac Prichard:  That's been my experience too, but I'm glad you're bringing that up because I think a lot of people hear that advice and think, "Well, why would a potential competitor give me advice? Why would they be helpful?" What's been your experience there, Rebecca? Rebecca Shapiro:    I'm a big advocate of collaboration versus competition. In the traditional business realm it's more like you have to be bigger, better, faster, badder than your competitor. When you're a freelancer you're both a person and a business and so this can feel contradictory. I find that going to your competitors, even when they're working in the same field you each have different strengths, and you may find that you can create a relationship where you can work together. I've had that happen to me several times and they've turned out to be really satisfying working relationships and even a couple of them have turned into personal friendships. Don't be afraid to go talk to people that are in your field. Conversely, I encourage freelancers, because we like to hang out in our field especially when we are networking, to step out of that comfort zone and look in different fields and pick one person every once in a while that you can work with that's vastly different that you are. What you can do is look for strengths in that person and strengths in yourself and see where you can meet up. Mac Prichard:   That's how you get started and collaboration is very important. Don't be afraid to reach out to competitors for advice. What about finding customers? How do people find customers who've never done this before? Rebecca Shapiro:  Gosh, that is such a good question. There's a couple ways. One, of course, is to have an online presence. You guys have talked about this actually in some of the past podcasts that you've listed that I found was really a great resource. Also, again when you go to these networking events ... Don't let the word networking make you blanch and kind of shy away, just reframe it as an opportunity to make friends and meet interesting people. Most of my work has been through word of mouth and so going to these events, going to conferences, meeting up with people for coffee it gives you a chance to get to know one another. You never know. It's what I call building a reciprocal network. You never know where that relationship is going to lead. Again, I've found most of my clients through word of mouth and through other people, so that relationship piece is one of the key ways that I find my work. Mac Prichard:    What about people who have had a traditional job and they want to match their old salary. Is that realistic in the first year? How do you do it? Is it something that you have to invest time in? What do you see out there? Rebecca Shapiro:   That's a really good question. I see both. Every once in a while there's that unusual person who just, they do fabulously well. When I was at the Ted conference earlier this year, there was a gentleman who was talking about businesses and whether they flew or didn't fly. It was all about timing. The ones that really took off, it was just perfect timing. It didn't matter if their brand was spot on or anything, it was just timing. I think sometimes that plays a really huge part in somebody being massively successful. I would encourage, this has been my experience as well, it takes a while. Be patient and definitely plan for unexpected contingencies like new relationships or maybe you have kids or maybe there's unexpected events that happen, people die, or there's accidents or things like that that may have an impact on your work. You want to plan ahead for those, but I think it's really important to look at this as like this is a long term relationship that you're having with yourself and what kind of things you want to put out in the world and your business. It takes a while to build that up. Especially if you're just starting out. Mac Prichard:    Okay. Well, thank you Rebecca. Anything else you'd like to add? Rebecca Shapiro:  Just that I am really pleased that you all are doing this. I think it's a really great resource. One of my favorite things to do is to look at other business models and ideas and lift them and apply them to my own life, and so even though some of the former podcasts have been about more traditional job finding, there's been some really terrific suggestions and tips in there that I've been able to apply to my freelancing work. I really appreciate the resource that you guys offer. Mac Prichard:   Thank you. I appreciate you being here and sharing your wisdom with our listeners. You can learn more about Rebecca at her website, it's rebeccashapiroart.com. You can find her book on Amazon. The title again is, "Work Independently and Live Connectedly: 52 Steps to Freelancing Freedom". We'll also include links to these two resources as well as Rebecca's LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter accounts in this week's show notes. We're back with Ben and Cecilia, so what did you two think? What were the most important points you hear Rebecca make? Cecilia Bianco:  I really liked her points about networking and having the mindset that you're just going to a party to make some new friends and not looking at it as an awkward business gathering. I thought her points about that were really great. Mac Prichard: I agree Cecilia. When people hear networking I think they break into a cold sweat sometimes. It's about relationships. We're all human beings and we all enjoy and get energy from connecting with others and that's what happens when you network effectively. Ben Forstag:      I think the key point was that when you're freelancing you're essentially running your own small business. When you're making the decision of whether you want to go in the freelance direction or not, thinking about all the other pieces that have to be wrapped around that; the accounting, the business practices, the invoicing, the contracts. All of that. It's kind of the whole small business package so it's a big task. Mac Prichard:    It is. I do find in large organizations there are people who have spent their careers in jobs but they have an entrepreneurial bent. They know how to set goals, build teams, collect resources. I say that because if there are listeners out there who are thinking to themselves, "I don't have the skills it takes to run a small business." Take a second look at your experiences and your background and what you're doing, even if you're in a large organization. You may surprise yourself. Probably, if you are successful, have many of those entrepreneurial skills. Ben Forstag:    Definitely, and I think it has to be said that this is a direction the labor market is going in in general. You hear people talk about the Uberization of the economy, that we're all turning into essentially gig workers where we kind of do the patchwork, DIY career thing. Having these skills and having the backbone to engage in that "I'm going to do it on my own approach." I think that's a real asset you could have. Mac Prichard:   Okay. Well, thanks. Well, thank you all for listening. We're grateful to the scores of people who've left ratings and reviews for our show on iTunes. This helps others discover the show and helps us help other job seekers. If you have a moment, please visit us on iTunes and leave a rating and comment. We'll be back next Wednesday with more tips and tools you can use to find your dream job. In the meantime, visit us at macslist.org where you can sign up for our free newsletter with more than a hundred new jobs every week. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next Wednesday.

During the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009 millions of people lost their jobs and hustled to survive. Since then, the economy has regained more than 8 million jobs. Still wage growth remains low and many simply can’t find a full time work. On this edition of Making Contact we’ll hear from a panel of labor experts on the state of labor market especially for part-time and low-wage workers. The Panelists include former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse, Ann Boger, Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy for the Freelancers Union; Tsedeye Gebreselassie, Senior Staff Attorney for the National Employment Law Project; and Rick McGahey, the first voice you’ll hear. He’s a Professor of Professional Practice and Director of Environmental Policy and Sustainability for The New School for Public Engagement. The moderator is David Gray, Senior Fellow at New America NYC.

During the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009 millions of people lost their jobs and hustled to survive. Since then, the economy has regained more than 8 million jobs. Still wage growth remains low and many simply can’t find a full time work. On this edition of Making Contact we’ll hear from a panel of labor experts on the state of labor market especially for part-time and low-wage workers. The Panelists include former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse, Ann Boger, Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy for the Freelancers Union; Tsedeye Gebreselassie, Senior Staff Attorney for the National Employment Law Project; and Rick McGahey, the first voice you’ll hear. He’s a Professor of Professional Practice and Director of Environmental Policy and Sustainability for The New School for Public Engagement. The moderator is David Gray, Senior Fellow at New America NYC.

This Week’s Episode This week, I’m interviewing Danielle Chalson from Makewise Designs. Danielle is a knitting designer, as well as an intellectual property lawyer.  Danielle can be found online on Ravelry (as makewise, on her designer page, and in the Makewise Designs group), her website, and Twitter. Key points from this episode: Develop an intellectual property mindset. Take advantage of free and low cost resources. Review your contract. Speak to an attorney when appropriate. Postpone a rush to judgement. Treat your business as a business. About Makewise Designs Danielle operates Makewise Designs as a part-time business and doesn’t currently plan to expand to full time. She self-publishes her (mostly) knitting patterns and designs for magazines a freelance basis. Danielle is also an intellectual property lawyer. Develop an intellectual property mindset When interacting with another business or customer, ask yourself if you are doing anything that may impact on their rights, as well as if they are doing anything that may impact on your rights. If you approach business interactions with this mindset, you may anticipate and prevent problems. Take advantage of free and low cost resources Danielle suggests these free informational resources for U.S. based businesses: The United States Copyright Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office Danielle also mentioned several free and low cost organizations that may be able to advise indies about their intellectual property rights, or refer them appropriately: Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, an organization that provides “arts-related legal aid and educational programs about the legal and business issues that affect artist and arts organizations” in New York. Freelancers Union, a national organization that provides insurance and other services to self-employed people. The local Better Business Bureau may be able to refer you to a lawyer that has experience working with freelancers, home based businesses, or indie businesses. Understand your contract Danielle recognizes that often indies receive contracts from companies they freelance for and are not always the initiator of a contract. She recommends reviewing the contract carefully to consider: Possible areas for negotiation, including compensation and timelines. Assignment or transfer of ownership. Danielle says, “the more rights you assign away, the less control you retain.” Licenses. Term (how long the contract lasts). Breach provisions. Errors or differences from an initial/prior conversation or agreement. If you approach the contract with the intellectual property mindset and review the contract carefully, you can frame any questions or concerns you have in a way that isn’t confrontational or combative and benefits both parties.  Speak to an attorney when appropriate Most indies prefer to take a do-it-yourself approach to as many business operations as possible. While hiring an attorney may be the right choice in a variety of situations, Danielle suggests that you consider obtaining legal representation when dealing with a much larger company that is likely to have a team of lawyers; when you begin hiring employees for the first time; or when your business has been confronted with an intellectual property or contract issue that you haven’t been able to resolve it on your own. Postpone a rush to judgement Some seeming violations are misunderstandings or related to poor communication. Danielle advises taking a deep breath and trying to stay calm before engaging the other party. At the same time, she mentioned the importance of keeping notes with dates: what is the other person/business doing, how long has it been going on, and how widespread is the problem? What communications have you initiated and how have they been received? If you still can’t resolve the issue, consider seeking legal advice. This same approach can be helpful if other indies (or their fans) are leveling accusations at you. Treat your business as a business Danielle recommends understanding the business implications of your work in yarn industry while still keeping in touch with your creativity. If you treat the business end as a business and understand your own rights and responsibilities, your confidence will grow. You will feel more comfortable negotiating contacts, dealing with violations, and staying level headed if you are on the receiving end of an accusation of intellectual property violation. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Danielle! If you enjoyed this episode The Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show is no longer broadcasting. Episodes are available as a service to the yarn community. This episode originally aired in September, 2014. Be aware that content may be outdated. If you'd like to chat with other yarn-related business owners, join the Creative Yarn Entrepreneurs Facebook group. Support Marie's work by buying one of her books, Make Money Teaching Crochet: Launch Your Business, Increase Your Side Income, Reach More Students (Amazon | Gumroad) or Design It, Promote It, Sell It: Online Marketing for Your Crochet and Knit Patterns (Amazon | Gumroad).  

Katie Lane is an attorney who writes a blog called Work Made for Hire. She advises creative freelancers and artists on how to protect their rights and get paid fairly for their work. She recently took the plunge herself, going full-time as a self-employed person. We'll talk about what led her into this specialized career and the kinds of things that people who want to or are pursuing work on their own should consider. We take a brief, deep dive into copyright, too. Sponsors & patrons This podcast is made possible through the support of sponsors and patrons. We're sponsored this week by Cards Against Humanity, which just launched a site where you can buy directly from them, including their Bigger Blacker Box and their 2012 and 2013 holiday packs, the profits from which are donated to charity. Thanks to patrons Bryan Clark, GravityFish, and Brain Rutledge for supporting us directly through Patreon! You can back this podcast for as little as $1 per month. At higher levels, we'll thank you on the air and send you mugs and T-shirts! Show notes The US Copyright Office has a circular that defines work-for-hire rules (PDF). Katie notes that regardless of what contract you sign, you can reclaim rights after 35 years. It's a very specific process. This has been an ongoing issue with the rights related to early creators of well-known comics characters, like Superman. The phonogram right is a set of audio rights separate from copyright. I explain it at length at the Economist. For extensive and interesting details about the duration of copyright in America, depending on what kind of thing is under discussion, when it was created or registered, and other factors, consult this chart by copyright guru Peter Hirtle at Cornell University's site. I wrote a pile of words on the tax and licensing issues (in America) around crowdfunding. You can apply for and receive an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS through a simple online process -- no, I'm not kidding! It's great! The @for_exposure Twitter account is a riot, posting messages about people asking for work from others for free. Katie recommends taking a look at these sites: Zencash: Helpful best practices (and a service) for getting paid and on time. Docracy: An open-source contract site, where you can examine others' contracts and upload your own. Shake: It's a way to create, sign, and send legally binding agreements via an iPad or iPhone. Contract Creator: A tool from the Freelancers Union that guides you through creating a model for most or all of what you need.

Ronnie is joined by Sara Horowitz, Founder and Executive Director of the Freelancers Union. The Freelancers Union is a nonprofit organization that represents the needs and concerns of independent workers.