socialize with the like-minded
The biggest thing I was looking forward to before heading to Designer Vaca was to get a chance to meet a whole bunch of ladies who are pretty much just like me. As a freelancer you can get pretty isolated in your little home-office-cave and forget what it actually feels like to socialize with other like-minded people.
I am still in touch with some of my design school friends but most of them are working full time as in-house designers for a variety of companies. Although they may occasionally freelance on the side they just don’t “get it” sometimes. It was so refreshing to talk to some of the girls about my struggles and ideas and have them react with a huge energized smile, totally getting where I was coming from.
I’m going to try to make an effort to stay in touch with some of the ladies I’ve met, and most importantly, try to attend meet ups and events in Vancouver and meet more freelancers.
I’d love to hear how you find like-minded people in your community. How do you stay social as a freelancer and make sue you don’t hide away in your rabbit hole all winter?
This post is part of my on-going “Freelance Life” series.
I’m sort of lucky because I can rant and rave to my husband about what’s going on and he “gets” it. However, he doesn’t always understand what it’s like to be a woman in the design industry and how we’re perceived differently. He definitely is favored in client-meetings at times and it’s only because of his gender. We both have the same level of expertise in our field so it’s slightly frustrating which is why I try to chat with as many ladies during the week via social media or coffee meetings to get their perspectives. I think being in touch with other ladies who do what you do is extremely important.
Couldn’t agree more. It’s so refreshing talking to other creative ladies and business owners.
Also, that really sucks with the gender thing. My boyfriend is a programmer so sometimes I work alongside him, I luckily haven’t had that issue much. But it is annoying when we go to the apple store and they talk to him even tho I may be the one actually purchasing something. It’s sad that gender issues still come up at times.