My Life is My Own Again
A few months into this new routine of mine as a freelancer in Winston-Salem, NC, I've noticed a dramatic upbeat in my daily outlook. I'm no longer wondering if my boss is happy with my work, what kind of feedback I'm going to get, or how much longer I can handle doing the same thing for the same client day after day after day. Any success I have — and any disappointment — is my own. And that's a freeing realization.
The truth is, I'm enjoying freelancing a lot. I realized that I'm pretty damn good at maintaining my own deadlines without constant reminders from Project Management. I don't fret on light days that management will walk by and see that I've gone into the YouTube hole. I don't worry that I'm being pigeonholed into working with only the toughest clients — I get to work on all the projects I want now, from men's grooming (cool) to government contractors (interesting) to medical advancements (more fun than you'd think) to the film industry (a blast) to pro bono work for startups (rewarding). And the people who pay me seem genuinely happy to have me on board. Basically, all of the sand traps of agency employment have been filled in. And I'm digging advertising again.
My Positive Outlook is Your Reward
While my newfound daily sanity is certainly a blessing for me, it's my clients that truly feel the reward. At agencies, creatives feel at odds with everyone: their bosses, account and even other creatives jostling for recognition. But it's the clients who get the worst of it — often without their knowledge. The work they receive is being handled by people who stopped caring long ago, who joke about how pointless the assignment is, who dream of at least one "fun" thing coming their way at least once a year.
Every creative is guilty of this at some point. I know I was. And it wasn't really about the client at hand, or the assignment — it's just that when you're tied to just a couple of clients for years, the novelty fades quickly, and all you want is something new and different. It's that tiny little point that makes all the difference in the world, and it's that tiny little point that makes freelancers such a good option for agencies and businesses alike. We aren't burned out. We get to do new things all the time. We can enjoy the challenge of a hard assignment just as much as working on something that feels much easier.
There's always something new down the road, which has bettered me as a creative and as a person. In theater, you'll hear about "the illusion of the first time." As a freelancer in Winston-Salem, NC, there's no need for illusion — it's always a first time, so you'll always get the best of me. And we get to triumph together.