Freelancing Females
Long read, but do it!
When I moved to New York, I didn’t know a lot of people. Really, I only knew my husband and less than a handful of others that I could actually call friends. Meeting new people in that giant city actually scared me (tbh) and don’t get me started on how the heck I was to get photography jobs out there. Over the last 8 years I grew a business in a city and state (Benicia, Ca) that I called home for 37 years & starting from scratch again was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Ok, now let’s get to how I made a living photographing in NY and CA without losing my mind. I’m going to start with my friend, Tia Meyers who I met a long time ago in SF. (that’s another great story, but we will stick to this one for now)
Tia lives in Brooklyn and let me tell you how refreshing it was to have someone I know live less than a subway stop away from me. She showed me the ropes. And what I mean by ropes, I mean she let me know where to get a decent cup of coffee and who had free WiFi so I can get out of my apartment and work. These things matter when you work for yourself. Especially in NY.
While having coffee with Tia, who by the way, is a freelance social media consultant, tells me she wants to start a Facebook group for other females who freelance. A safe place where women of all backgrounds and experiences can be inspired and connect with others. A few days later, she starts the group. Women from all over the world joined this online community. Designers, consultants, editors, copywriters, photographers, lawyers, musicians...this list goes and on and on!!
I helped Tia host several “meet-ups” while in NY & CA and I was happy to photograph these events pro-bono. From these events, I met incredible women owned companies. These companies, in turn, hired me to shoot headshots, lifestyle photography, website content, and product photography. It felt so good to be busy in NY and without Tia and Freelancing Females, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity that I did.
One of the most memorable jobs I had was shooting for a women owned company called, The Financial Gym. My work was published on business insider and I gained so much knowledge from these ladies on finance. It was so great!
Today, Freelancing Females has over 13,000 global members. It blows my mind!
Tia, along with the help of others, launched a crowdsourcing campaign today. We hope to raise funds to launch a website, newsletter & a resource directory.
Take a minute and watch the video and learn more about Freelancing Females.
I didn’t shoot the video, but all the photos you will see were taken by me.
And if you could spare a few dollars, we would really appreciate the support.
We are, Freelancing Females!
Thanks,
Erin
