Freelance Heroes Day 2020

Event Information

The Freelance Heroes community is a 10,000-strong, supportive and encouraging community of peer support and a platform for personal development. Never closed for business, members share experiences, ask questions and network with people who are in the same freelancing boat.

On Friday 6th November 2020, freelancers from all over the UK gathered virtually to learn, be inspired and open doors to opportunity through networking and collaboration.

It was the first time we’ve hosted #FreelanceHeroesDay virtually and it was bigger, better and more accessible than ever! If you missed it, this is a great opportunity to catch up and learn from awesome speakers who enlightened us on relevant topics as voted for by the community itself.

This year we focused on YOU and how you can build resilience and power through challenges to achieve freelance success. We covered topics such as work-life balance, personal growth, mental health and personal success.  Catch up on the day Freelance Heroes Day 2020 and view the slides from the speakers too.

The 3 Rs: Reflect, Recharge, Refocus.

Presentation by Andrea Goodridge – You may be hesitant to put time aside for yourself, as you may feel guilty. So, you plod on, thinking you’ll get round to it. But the reality is …you don’t! Your diary is really busy. There’s hardly a space when something isn’t booked in, as you rush around at 100mph. It leaves you with a lack of energy and feeling like you’re not making a difference, despite all your hard work. This doesn’t mean you don’t have what it takes to be a great freelancer. It means you’re not putting yourself first. Well, you can start right now, with the three ‘R’s framework Andrea uses with her clients and believes should be part of every freelancer’s toolkit to help with your focus, clarity and resilience.

About Andrea: Andrea Goodridge has 20 years’ coaching experience supporting leaders and business owners across the public, private and not for profit sectors. The core of her support is helping you focus on leading yourself first, so you’re then in a better position to lead your business with confidence.

Connect.Learn.Grow 

Presentation by Alex Hughes – Alex is a firm believer that these are the three core values when it comes to personal growth as an entrepreneur. Hear Alex’s experiences, be inspired and adopt some of his tips in your own entrepreneurial journey.

About Alex: An award-winning entrepreneur and founder of Shift Momentum and Shifties, Alex has spent the last 4 years building a portfolio of businesses and continues to support 100’s of people to build their own version of success.

The things I have learned about marketing and business from other people

Presentation by Joe Glover – Joe spends his life learning from others – that’s one of the reasons he started the now global Marketing Meetup. In this talk, he will share how he has fast tracked his journey, but most importantly, the practical things he has learned about marketing and business from others.

Believing your own hype Is Imposter Syndrome ever really conquerable?’ 

Presentation by Ellen Manning – Ellen shares how she’s experienced it throughout her career – despite doing some amazing things as a journalist and building a successful business as a freelance writer and PR consultant – what it feels like, how it manifests itself and, most importantly , how to deal with it.

About Ellen: An experienced journalist and PR consultant with more than a decade’s experience in national, regional and online media. Ellen has covered breaking news, interviewed politicians, industry heads and royalty, and travelled across the world covering stories; she has written features and opinion pieces for national newspapers and magazines; and has appeared regularly on BBC radio, delivered media training and spoken at functions, conferences and dinners.

Social media – more pleasure, less pain: 8 tips for Freelancers

Presentation by Lynda Pepper – Social media has both positive and negative effects on mental health and well-being. Lynda Pepper shared the tips she’s learned as a social media manager to help Freelancers keep it enjoyable.

About Lynda: Based in the Cheshire countryside, Lynda owns Pepper Social helping businesses generate leads and build relationships with social media marketing.

Learning to Pivot

Presentation by Alexis Charkiw – There is no need for failure, only learning from the experience. Alexis talks about why business owners should not be afraid to pivot, adapt or make hard decisions.

About Alexis: The night before her Croatian wedding in May 2019, Alexis was completing bookkeeping in Xero for Mila and Pheebs (Alexis’ other company, which provides subscription boxes for children) and her husband-to-be said, ‘you really enjoy bookkeeping don’t you, why don’t you open a practice?’. This comment stayed with Alexis and, when she got home, she registered with AATQB, renewed her Xero Accreditation, and created The Lex Approach.

Radical Collaboration – Designing your Freelance Life 

Presentation by Bernie Mitchell – In this highly interactive session, you are invited to consider how you connect and work others to build your freelance career and life. We’ll cover

• How to connect your long-term goals into a day by day 90 Plan and the steps to take every day.
• Why collaboration is important for your mental health and skill development.
• How to connect and communicate with fellow freelancers to build something together.

Expect a few horror stories and how not to do it examples!

About Bernie: Bernie has been a freelancer for over 20 years but has only worked out what he is doing in the last five. A strong advocate of peer groups, coworking spaces and collaboration, he is always learning new things about podcasting, productivity and coworking. He works with coworking spaces in the UK and Europe on their content marketing and lead generation.