Community is Everything
Or how NOT to freelance
I’m writing this post from Richmond, VA where the Resonate Podcast Festival is just getting underway. People are traveling in from all over to spend the next two days geeking out about audio storytelling, sharing best practices and lessons learned, and just generally enjoying the company of so many other like-minded creators. It occurred to me that I went to my first-ever audio conference almost exactly 20 years ago - the Third Coast International Audio Festival in Chicago. It was at that conference that I first realized the power of craft combined with community - and I’ve been chasing that combination ever since.
2003 was the year I attempted freelancing for the first time. I had been working nearly full-time at Youth Radio since finishing grad school in 2001. And while I loved the work they were doing, I was only being paid about $15 / hour with no benefits. (I wonder now how that was even possible?!) After a year and a half of that I decided I needed to earn more if I was ever going to get out of grad-school debt. So I decided to head out on my own.
I had good connections through various internships and reporting relationships, but truth be told - I had no idea what I was doing. I reached out to my local public radio station where I had done my summer internship and told them I was available for reporting gigs. I reached out to some J-school profs and told them the same. And I wrote up a bunch of pitches to various shows I loved (This American Life, Nat Geo Expeditions) I cobbled together some work, but it wasn’t nearly enough to make ends meet.
The most satisfying work I was doing at that time was making B-Side Radio - a way-ahead-of-its-time podcast - with my closest J-school friends. It was fun and creative and collaborative and all the things I love about making audio work, but it didn’t pay a dime. (Actually I take that back… I think we received a handful of dimes from the original PRX Exchange where we were early adopters. 😃)
Meanwhile, my then boyfriend and I had just moved into our first apartment together in West Oakland where we had dance parties in our barely-furnished living room. He was in his first year teaching so I had many hours to myself. And while I should have been hitting the pavement and knocking on doors to drum up some work, what I mainly did was lie in bed (a mattress on the floor) and listen to Beck’s Sea Change over and over again, especially this song. (I mean, the album is gorgeous, but it’s not exactly uplifting.)
I believe the term for what I was doing at that time is bed rotting. (Anne Helen Petersen has an amazing substack post about this.)
I really believed I was doing everything I could to find freelance work, but I was essentially sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. And, frankly, I was lonely and depressed.
Pretty soon after that, I applied for and got a full-time job as an audio producer in Silicon Valley, and my life took a very different turn. (Goodbye journalism, hello $$.)
I told the end of that story in this post about getting fired.
Not quite four years later I was ready to give freelancing another go.
A few things were different the second time around.
My boyfriend and I had gotten married and moved to an apartment near Lake Merritt. We had a more stable community of friends and a better handle on adulting in general.
I had saved a ton of money while working in Silicon Valley and had gotten myself (and my husband) out of debt.
In additional to making good money, the Silicon Valley job taught me a lot about workplace camaraderie. We worked really hard, but we also goofed around, had meals and took walks together, went rock climbing after work. We had tequila tastings on Friday afternoons (yes that really happened) and lavish all-hands meetings and holiday parties. The big boss would even occasionally take small groups of us out on his sailboat on the San Francisco Bay. It was all a bit of early-aught startup fantasy, but it also showed me there was a way to be at work that was about more than just doing the work.
Good times aside, I was eager to get back to a career that felt more meaningful. And I knew I wasn’t going to earn the kind of money I’d been earning in Silicon Valley. But I saw no reason why I couldn’t maintain the level of interactivity and FUN. So in the early days of freelance attempt #2, instead of spending all my time cold-calling sources and pitching stories, I reserved some time to call my friends. I started a really basic blog where I shared random ideas about freelancing and resources I found useful. And on May 21, 2007, I posted this:
FREELANCE CAFE HAPPY HOUR
MAY 21, 2007 MIALOBEL 2 COMMENTS
I was inspired by my friend Robin who created a monthly happy hour for folks who work in the environmental field. I’ve been to his Green Drinks gathering a couple times and it’s impressive – 100 people or more. They now have monthly sponsors. Such a great idea.
So I’ve been asking around about doing a similar thing for freelancers, and it seems that there is some interest. I thought Pacific Coast Brewing Company would be a good spot, and I’ve set the first one for 5/31. The Freelance Cafe Final Thursday gathering for lonely independents like myself. A step in the right direction. Pass it on.
And an amazing thing happened. People showed up! And yes - we had fun. But also, we talked about work. We shared various freelance experiences and gave each other advice. We introduced each other to new projects and new people, some of whom became paying clients. Some people ended up with long-term collaborations that lasted for years. I put a lot of time and energy into coordinating the communication, but I got a whole lot more in return. My freelance career took off.
I kept the blog and meetups going in various iterations for more than 10 years before work and life became too busy. But now, as I recommit myself to freelancing, I once again feel the pull toward community. To that end, I recently did a few things.
I brought back the Freelance Cafe blog in the form of this substack! It feels good to put things out in the world that might help someone or make someone feel like they’re not alone in their experience. And the comments and feedback help me feel even more connected.
I invited a bunch of Hudson Valley media makers to join me for drinks one evening this summer. It was glorious and we’re going to make it a regular thing. If you live in the Hudson Valley and would like to join us, just let me know. The next meeting will be in December.
I sought out a COHORT. I wrote in my previous post about the fellowship I didn’t get. But I tried again and… success! I’m now part of the 7th cohort of the Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY - and I have 100 days to think deep thoughts about how to make journalism better. I’m so grateful to be part of this incredible international team of media movers and shakers and I can’t wait to see how all our ideas take shape over the next couple months.
I’ll be using this space to lay out some thoughts related to my entrepreneurial project, and to that end, I have a favor to ask. I know everyone and their 🐶 has a survey they want you to fill out, but it really is such a great way to get real data from the people you actually want to work with. And that’s YOU! Here’s my pitch:
A New Vision for Funding Audio Storytelling
Hello friends and colleagues. As a veteran audio producer, I've witnessed a lot of ups and downs in our industry, and as we all know, we're in the midst of a huge and painful transition right now. I've been thinking a lot about how we got here, and how the existing corporate structures have failed the creators who built them. I believe this is the perfect time to think differently about how our work is made and paid for.
Our field has always been a collaborative venture, so as I gather my thoughts on this, I would be so grateful to get your perspective on the industry and how it can serve you better. The data collected here will be used for research purposes only - I will not share your data without your explicit consent. Feel free to answer anonymously if you wish, though I'd be grateful to be able to follow up with you if you're open to that. Please also feel free to share this with anyone you know who might like to contribute. We're in this together.
So - would you consider taking the time to answer my questions? And / or send this to someone who might like to participate? I’m happy to share my anonymized data with any participants who are interested in seeing the results. And keep an eye on this space for more musings about entrepreneurial journalism and some big ideas I’ve been kicking around.
And meanwhile, if you’re a freelancer, call a friend. Make a date to co-work or take a walk between meetings. Reserve some time each week to connect with people, even if you don’t think they’ll have work for you. Send a note to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while and let them know you’re thinking of them. You never know - they might just know about a project with your name on it.