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This is a show for burnt-out fashion designers (and TDs, PDs, patternmakers and beyond) who want more flexibility while still doing work they love. As a freelance fashion designer, you can build your fashion career on your own terms. Freelancing in fashion is the only way to get freedom in your day (instead of being tied to a desk). Whether you want to earn extra money on the side, fund your fashion brand, or replace your salary, the FDGP podcast will help you get there. Listen in for actionable tips and strategies to kickstart or grow your career as a freelance fashion designer, build your confidence, and create the life you want. Hosted by $100k+ fashion freelancer Sew Heidi, the show features interviews and strategy sessions with successful freelance fashion designers from around the world who've ditched toxic fashion jobs and taken control of their own destinies. This is the only place to get REAL insights from REAL freelancers who have built REAL careers on their own terms. (Formerly the Successful Fashion Freelancer podcast.)
Heidi [00:00:00]:
If you're learning Clo3D or another new industry skill, how do you build your freelance career alongside that? Do you have to wait until you've mastered the software to finally put yourself out there and say, here I am. I'm accepting new clients. Spoiler alert. You do not. You can actually build your freelance career while you learn CLO or some other big industry skill. And the process is super simple. It involves sharing your journey publicly, both the good, bad, and ugly of everything that you're learning. It's super easy to do this on LinkedIn, my current platform of choice, and you can engage and share what you're working on, start authentic conversations, and connect with brands who someday may need your services.
Heidi [00:00:36]:
What you'll hear on this episode of fashion designers get paid is a clip from a strategy session with one of my fast students, Sharon Hay. Coming from the tech industry, Sharon is breaking into fashion and learning clothes to get started. I talk her through the strategies of how she can kick start her freelance career now and grow her network so that clients are lined up ready for her services once she has those close skills under her belt. Let's get to it. Mhmm.
Sharon [00:00:58]:
But I just wonder, like, your suggestions on that piece of how if you were me, what would be, like, your daily steps to get to, you know, a year from now where, like, hey. I'm versed on. I know it. I can offer it. I can have, like, you know, people under my umbrella to offer that too. But also there's other parts of the business they might need. They might need sourcing or some kind of process or production work.
Heidi [00:01:26]:
I think, you know, to go back to your first question, which was, like, should I come in as, like, 3 d and PM, or, like, am I managing the whole project? Like, what does this look like? I think it's really gonna be dependent on what types of brands you ultimately want to and ultimately wind up working with. So, I don't know how far you are in fast, but the whole customer research process, have you gone through that at all, module 2, or, like, at least maybe watch some of the videos to kinda understand that?
Sharon [00:01:55]:
Yes. I did do that originally. I was, when I was working just sorta to get my voice doing, you know, story brand and marketing. So
Heidi [00:02:04]:
So basically Okay.
Sharon [00:02:06]:
Yeah. So it's basically, they were they were not starting out, but they had some sort of funding and they are ready to ramp up brands.
Heidi [00:02:17]:
Right. So it's really gonna depend. Right? Because if you are going into, let's say, a medium or even, like, a large established brand to offer CLO services, there's a likelihood that that's what they're gonna want you to do is just CLO. Right? Because they have the infrastructure. Right. If you're going into work with, like, smaller up and coming brands that maybe have done a collection or 2 or have some funding or, like, who knows what, then likely they would want you to do quite a bit more, including CLO and sourcing and and man and they you could, like, essentially offer them a lot of the execution, but also just, like, a big, like, consulting packages package. Right? Yeah. So it the services are gonna look very different depending on the type of brand, and I think that that's dependent on, here's what I'll say.
Heidi [00:03:11]:
From what I know and what I see in the market, Clo there's a lot of opportunities for Clo in any type of brand, because it is it's it's getting to be less so, but it is such like a highly desired skill because not that many people have it because it has such a deep learning curve. Right? And it's new ish. And I think there's been a lot of you know, there's other 3 d softwares out there, and it's kinda like the race of, like, who's gonna actually catch on. And I believe in my heart of hearts that is the winner and is going to continue to be the winner as opposed to, like, Browzwear or TookaTec. So I think that there's still opportunity in any type of brand. It's gonna be a matter of, like, what type of brands do you wanna work with and what might be the easiest ones to, ultimately sell your services. You know? If you wanna do with this whole agency model, which I know is sort of, like, your 1 year goal, It's kind of
Sharon [00:04:06]:
Yeah. It's kind of yes and no. I mean, I'm a little bit I'm a little bit like, okay. Agency model, great. But maybe that maybe that's it would be a little over maybe that's not what I ultimately should be doing because I just wanna get that agent. Well, I don't I don't know. It's like multi managing people and partners. That's kind of, like, why I see the agency model as Okay.
Sharon [00:04:29]:
But maybe
Heidi [00:04:29]:
that you're really good at that. That's a lot of your background, though. So do you just not wanna do it?
Sharon [00:04:34]:
I think I just what I don't wanna do is write stakeholder reports.
Heidi [00:04:38]:
Okay. I'm not sure you're gonna have to do that.
Sharon [00:04:42]:
I used the worded tech company too. It's like I don't think it's anything Okay.
Heidi [00:04:47]:
But but I but here's the other thing too. Like, I don't I I wanna preface this conversation with those are some of the nuances that you're gonna have to think about for the long term, but you don't have to make a decision today. And I think that you have a tremendous opportunity to take a lot of action alongside your journey to learn CLO so that as you, you know, become proficient and are ready to offer your services to the world, it's not like all of a sudden, oh, here's Sharon. Who the heck is she? Right? Yeah. I think that, you know, optimizing your profile on link profile on LinkedIn. And I think that what you can do is, like, make it a journey that everybody gets to go alongside with you. Right? I mean, if we I don't know how many if you've ever listened to any podcast episodes, that go way back in in the library. But I used to now we exclusively focus on financing, but we used to interview I say, wait.
Heidi [00:05:43]:
I used to interview, brand founders and employees and, like, anybody in fashion kind of. Right? And a lot of the brand founders that I interviewed would talk about, you know, they don't just all of a sudden one day come out and, like, here's my product. Right? They're posting all the time, sharing the behind the scenes, showing this is the prototype, and, like, here's we're doing the fitting and, da da da, we're picking up the fabric. Right? And so I think there's a massive and and that people love seeing the behind the scenes, right, and, like, going along the journey with you. And so I think that there's a tremendous amount of opportunity to share your experience and take some screenshots and then maybe even, like, a screenshot. Like, here, I got stuck on this thing, and then I figured it out because of this. Right? And, you know, here was my render this week, and then here's my render 3 weeks later. Like, look at the before and after, whatever.
Heidi [00:06:33]:
Something like that. Right? To show the the learning curve and the progress you're making and the nuances and the struggles. Right? We all wanna see the good. We also wanna see the bad and, like, the vulnerable challenging side. So I think and and close such a visual learning opportunity. Right?
Sharon [00:06:49]:
Yep.
Heidi [00:06:50]:
It I think it could be, relatively easy to, like, do this a couple times a week on LinkedIn, which I think is a, as you know, I'm very big on LinkedIn right now.
Sharon [00:07:02]:
Yeah. And and and I love I really like LinkedIn. I Yeah. I'm a I'm a LinkedIn person. I kind of always like, oh, Instagram to me, which is like
Heidi [00:07:12]:
Yeah.
Sharon [00:07:12]:
Yeah. I just didn't resonate with me. What's your what's your Gram? What's the what's your what's the like, I was are you in the Gram? I'm like, oh, please don't make me go on the Gram. Yeah. And I don't think you want to. Yeah. And and I I think it's such great advice. And I just wanna say to everyone listening out there, that your program is fabulous.
Sharon [00:07:34]:
Thank you. And and and I'm so glad I found it because it's like, all these years, it's like, can't there be something that's like I I mean, I was like a Porsche junkie. Yeah. And I'm like, I'm not finding the right one. I wanna find one about fashion and working in fashion and doing a freelance, and why am I not finding it? Yeah. All of a sudden, I don't know how it happened. I was perusing. It's it's in the computer.
Sharon [00:07:56]:
All of a sudden, you there you were. I'm
Heidi [00:07:57]:
like Yeah. I was gonna ask, out of curiosity, where did you find it? You so long. Good to see you. Yeah.
Sharon [00:08:07]:
I don't I you know? And it's
Heidi [00:08:09]:
like the
Sharon [00:08:09]:
it it it just it just was there. And I'm like, I I and I was like, oh my god. I'm coming home. I finally found her. Like, I clicked, and I bought everything, and I'm so glad to. So I said, so brilliant, but thank you for giving us the service. I really have to do. Everyone out there, sign up.
Heidi [00:08:32]:
You're very kind. Thank you. Yeah. So I think that, like and here's the other thing that I think is gonna happen on LinkedIn with you. You're gonna get the opportunity to engage with and talk with a ton of other people who are doing and learning, brands that are using it, brands that want to use it, and the amount of insight and intel that you're going to get into the nuances of, like, you know, because can be, can kind of lean more like 3 d design mock ups, and it can also lean more like pattern making technical prototype type of thing. Right? And I say that specifically because 2 students in FAST, Trudy Gardner and Sofia Luzon, they're both in they're both doing CLO three d for lingerie, but Trudy is doing it. And they both released courses on CLO for lingerie at the same time. And they partnered and they, like, did their course launch together.
Heidi [00:09:34]:
And one of them is, like, CLO for lingerie design, and one of them is, like, CLO for lingerie, pattern making, and technical. So it's really interesting. But my point with that is that you'll start to learn, like, what are these little nuances that, like, brands are looking for? And the start up brands might be looking for something different than, like, these more established brands. Right? And these are just the nuances. I don't know. I don't have the answer to that. Right? But but by being on LinkedIn, presenting yourself, and then just being really proactive to go and find these other people that are doing CLO, follow all the hashtags, and then start conversations and do, you know, some really great, genuine, authentic engagement on their posts and start these conversations and start learning and answering questions and or asking questions and maybe sometimes answering, right, and giving your perspective. The amount of relationships that I think that you're built that you'll build and the amount of knowledge and just nuanced insights that you're going to get into the industry and how brands of different calibers are doing CLO and and how other freelancers are offering it and, like, what does it a whole market look like is going to be insane, as you build.
Heidi [00:10:43]:
Right? And I I bet you could even get to the point where you know, because you're like, oh, do I have to wait until I finish this program to actually get clients? I bet you could even nurture some relationships and get to the point, maybe even with startup brands who are perhaps a little bit tight on funds. You know, a few months into your journey, say, hey. You know what? Let me do this at, like, a trial rate because I'm still learning. Right? And I think you could have some really cool opportunities to get some real life projects under your belt, which, again, would be another insane learning opportunity for you as you're continuing to learn the software, but then also just learning the nuances of, like, what does this workflow look like with a brand, like, going through the whole quote process. Right?
Sharon [00:11:28]:
Yeah. And
Heidi [00:11:29]:
so they've got a little skin in the game. They're gonna pay you, but it's not, like, gonna be your normal rate. And and so it's a win for them because they're getting it at a trial rate. It's a win for you because the learning opportunity is huge. And you go in very transparent of, like, I'm not an expert, but I'm learning, and I would love to work with you and and offer you this deal. So I I I I truly believe with the right engagement and interaction on LinkedIn, that is how your career is gonna build. And it's not gonna be like, all of a sudden, one day, like, you put the open sign up for business. Right? Yeah.
Heidi [00:12:03]:
Well, I love this journey now. Things. How or I don't know what you think about that. Yeah.
Sharon [00:12:07]:
No. No. I love that. And I, you know, I was yesterday, I was just kinda like, oh, I embed go ahead. Okay. It's this journey, but I, yeah, I don't know about this journey. I was like, I'm not gonna have this this, like, ta da. I'm an expert.
Sharon [00:12:19]:
I love this Chloe. So what am I gonna be doing between? So I love that advice where I can just, like, get out there and start talking to people and just what
Heidi [00:12:26]:
you're doing. Yeah.
Sharon [00:12:27]:
Yeah. And I love doing the trial project too. That sounds like a really a great way to kinda jump in.