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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]:
Like anything in fashion, including having a job or starting a clothing line, there are advantages and disadvantages and pros and cons to freelancing in fashion. Spoiler alert, I think freelancing and fashion is totally worth it despite any of the cons. And if you listen to the podcast on a regular basis, You likely know that that is my opinion. But I wanted to break down specifically what are the exact pros and cons to freelancing in fashion from my experience as well as from engaging with 100 actually, arguably, thousands of freelance fashion designers and TDs and PDs, over the years that I have been engaged in the industry and that I've been teaching freelancing and fashion. But first, before we get into the pros and cons, I wanna just be really, really, really clear about what a freelance fashion designer is and what it isn't because there is a lot of confusion about this in our industry. So a freelance Fashion designer is someone who works with multiple brands offering any number of services from flats to Designers tech packs to pattern making, to consulting and beyond. And you get to work with, like I said, multiple brands. You set your own rates.
Heidi [00:01:02]:
You have Schedule you work when and where you want, and you have the freedom and flexibility that you get with sort of running your own business. What a freelance fashion designer is not, but what it it's often called a freelancer in the fashion industry is working full time, on-site or maybe even hybrid with 1 brand for 40 hours a week. That is not freelancing. That is temp job. That is what I call permalancing. If you are required to put in 40 hours a week, the brand is setting the rate. You are looking and acting like an employee, but you're not getting any of the benefits of being an employee. This is, again, what I call temp jobs or permalancing.
Heidi [00:01:42]:
This is not true freelancing. And this type of permalancing or temp job is Massively beneficial to the brand because they are getting you to work on their beck and call. They're not having to pay you benefits or to pay time off or vacation or anything like that. And it's very abusive to you. Now some people like this arrangement. That's fine. I do not condone it personally. I think it's very, exploitative in our industry.
Heidi [00:02:07]:
So I wanna just be really clear that I'm talking about true remote freelancing where you work with multiple brands, You're setting your own rates, etcetera. So the pros and cons of real freelancing, where you're in control of your own Designers. There's 3 big pros to being a freelancer in fashion. 1st is freedom and flexibility. 2nd is working with brands you love, and 3rd is earning as much money as you want. And I know that it sounds like I'm painting a fantasy life, but from my own firsthand experience and from success stories from, the almost 800 people that we have side of my fast program. I'm telling you that this is possible. Not saying that's gonna be easy Paid it's not gonna happen overnight, but it is a 1000% possible.
Heidi [00:02:47]:
So let's look at each of the pros in detail. 1st, having freedom and flexibility to work when and where you want. If you're anything like me, you don't necessarily love being required to show up to an office, from 9 to 5 or more like 7 AM to 11 PM in the fashion industry. And as a real freelancer, you don't have to. This is one of the most common pros that freelancers I talk to. This is this was one of my favorite things about freelancing. And And amongst all the students in my program, this is one of their favorite things is the freedom and flexibility. I'll link to an episode that I did with one of our students, Amy Barnhart, who Had a baby and realized that going back to working full time in house was not a schedule that was productive.
Heidi [00:03:30]:
Was didn't match her lifestyle now that she had a child. And so she started freelancing. And early on in her career, she was able to fit her client work in during naps and after bedtime and was still be able to be at was still able to be at home with her son. So whether it's time to spend with your kids or work from a beach in Mexico, which I have done that Paid I know many of our students have worked while traveling, you truly get the leisure of working whenever and wherever you want. But the thing beyond, you know, getting to work from the beach or something or getting to work and and have some time with your Fashion, is that you also get to work when creativity strikes instead of being confined to a company schedule. So some people are they do much better in the mornings or they do better at 2 AM or whatever. And so you get to set your schedule, maybe you wanna wake up and go to yoga first thing, and then after that, you want to sit down and start getting into work and get your exercise in first. And so You get to choose that schedule and choose when you wanna be creative and when you're sort of most optimal for creative.
Heidi [00:04:28]:
And so the lifestyle advantages of freelancing are Sew, so, so powerful and so worth it. This is ultimately the number one reason I hear from people why they wanna freelance and why they ultimately love freelancing. So freedom and flexibility. The next pro or benefit advantage to freelancing is getting to do work that you love, not was dumped on your plate. So the reality is most of us got into fashion because we are so passionate about design and clothing. And as a freelancer, you get to choose projects you love. So if you're really into sustainability, you can choose brands that align with your ethics. If you're determined to get rid of wasteful fast fashion, You can pick projects that share that goal.
Heidi [00:05:06]:
One of our fast grads, Allison Heidi, she's been on the podcast as well, and I'll share her episode in the show show notes. She does pattern making exclusively for slow women's wear brands. She's very passionate about this specific sector, And that is the only sector that she worked with is slow women's fashion brands. And so getting the opportunity to really go after The work that you love and choosing what you wanna do not only fuels your passion, but it gives you the ability to have a bigger impact in the industry as a whole. And considering that fashion contributes considerably to pollution and global warming, it's a pretty big opportunity that you have to change that as a freelancer and getting to choose your clients in the work that you do. The 3rd benefit that I would love to outline for freelancing is You really do have the ability to earn unlimited income way more than you have in a full time job. So if you don't know it yet, the fashion industry is not known for well paying jobs. In fact, it's known for being pretty toxic and being abusive and underpaid.
Heidi [00:06:07]:
That typically is the experience when you're working in house, for full time employment. But as a freelancer, your earning potential is Seriously unlimited. You can work part time or instill rake in the cash. We have one of our students, Elanie, who lives in Greece. She works just 10 to 16 hours a week, and consistently makes 3 to $4,000 a month. We have a, I don't have a podcast with her, but I have a blog post about her story, and we'll link to that in the show notes. You know, you can five x your income. Literally, we had one of Our students, Alexandra Agrada, who earns more in one day of freelancing than she did in 2 weeks at her previous industry job.
Heidi [00:06:49]:
I'll link to her story in the show notes as well. We have podcast interview with her. There's so much earning potential in freelancing. And, again, it takes time and effort to build up to this, but your earning potential is truly unlimited. Now I know at the end of the day, most of us did not go into fashion for money, including myself. Right? But earning more is really a nice perk. And we have tons of fast grads who are massively out earning their previous full time income. And it is possible for you too.
Heidi [00:07:19]:
Right? It takes effort Paid it does take some time to build up, but your earning potential truly is unlimited. So those are the 3 pros. Right? We've got freedom and flexibility in your lifestyle, doing work that you love, and unlimited earning potential. But, of course, there's downfalls, like everything in life. And so there's 3 big cons of being a freelance fashion designer. The first is You gotta do some business stuff. The second is you are responsible for your own benefits. And third is that you're gonna be juggling multiple projects.
Heidi [00:07:48]:
So for some people, these are absolute deal killers. So I wanna look through each one a little bit more closely to see how they may impact you and to help you think about if this is right for you, because freelancing is not right for everybody. So first up is handling business stuff like pricing and invoicing and contracts and proposals and taxes. And a lot of people get really overwhelmed by the business side of things. I'm here to tell you that it's actually not as scary as you think, And most people tend to overcomplicate this. Right? There are strategies to set your rates and negotiate. There are simple contracts you can use to protect yourself. We have an and I have an interview with a lawyer who talks about contracts on the podcast, so I'll link to that in the show notes.
Heidi [00:08:30]:
And there are ways you can make sure that you get paid in your contract, and that's something we talk about in the contract episode with the lawyer, which we'll link to in the show notes. And then regarding taxes, and every country works differently. You have to do your research. Full disclaimer, I am not a certified, financial, Fashion. So I'm not here to provide any tax advice, but just some thoughts based on my experience. In the US, you are responsible for paying taxes yourself, which means that a portion of your paycheck will go to the government. And you are in charge of ultimately figuring out what percentage that is. Your tax rate will And will vary depending on how much you make, where you live, if you have any dependents like children, etcetera.
Heidi [00:09:14]:
I do have a podcast interview with an accountant. He He shares some great tips that apply to, business owners whether you're starting your own brand or becoming a freelancer, and I will link to that in the show notes. Beyond that, you can use free tools like TurboTax or similar to figure out how much you owe. Those will walk you through step by step how to clock calculate your dues and and what you need to pay. But the one thing that you do wanna do is set aside some money for taxes. So if you earn $5,000 a month, you will not be keeping that $5,000. So don't go spending all of it. Some quick googling will tell you rough ideas of how much to set Heidi for federal and state taxes based on your projected income.
Heidi [00:09:53]:
And I do have an article on what type of business entity you might wanna think about setting up. Again, this is all based for stuff in the US. I'll link through to that, and that'll give you the idea just depending on different types of business entities, your tax implications can change. But my general rule of thumb again, this is my opinion. I'm not a professional, CPA or tax accountant or anything like that. But my general rule of thumb, depending on how much you plan to earn your 1st year as a freelancer, is to set aside about 20% of your income for taxes. And as you grow, that number will likely increase. This is a reason why you can't just take your hourly rate as an employee and use it as your hourly rate as a freelancer.
Heidi [00:10:33]:
You have to add some padding. So aside from taxes, the reason that the business side of things feels overwhelming is because honestly, there's not a lot of great resources for freelance fashion designers out there. Inside Fast, we include all the essential business templates you need to freelance, as well as expert interviews with professionals, that will help you since I'm not a financial professional, but we have expert interviews inside fast that will help you, figure all this stuff out. And then one last thing about the business side of freelancing, lots of people are scared about not getting Paid. And, of course, anything can happen. But I will tell you transparently that in my 10 years as a freelancer, I never once got stiffed on an invoice. I always collected all of my money. And of the 800 or so students that we have inside Fast.
Heidi [00:11:20]:
I only know of 1 freelancer who was unable to collect on an invoice. She has since adjusted Sew her invoice processing using our strategies and our templates, and she's got paid for everything since. So don't freak out about Oh my gosh. I I'm not gonna get paid. I'm gonna get taken advantage of. It doesn't happen as often as people think. The second Con to freelancing is that you're responsible for your own benefits. Things like health insurance, time off, etcetera.
Heidi [00:11:46]:
And I would say this is probably one of the Downfalls of being a freelancer is being responsible for this kind of thing. Depending on what country you live in, this could have a bigger or smaller impact. For example, in the US, individuals are responsible for their own health care. And if you do not get it through your employer, then you have to pay for it yourself. It is not always super cheap depending on your age and other variables. If you live in a country with socialized health care health care, this might not matter to you. Alternatively, if you have a spouse or a partner who gets health care through their employer, you're likely qualified to be on their plan. So that's something that you kinda have to figure out.
Heidi [00:12:20]:
For things like paid vacation and sick leave, as a freelancer, you are responsible for building this into your rates and your schedule. Paid, again, it's another reason why you can't just take your full time salary Paid translate it directly to your freelance rate. So to make sure that you charge a fair rate that will give you enough padding for things like benefits and vacation and taxes, I'm gonna link my free rate calculator in the show notes, which will help you figure out how much you should be charging. The last con to freelancing is juggling multiple projects because you're gonna be working with more than 1 brand. Now For some people, this is a benefit. But for a lot of people, this can feel overwhelming. And if that seems crazy or not the way that you wanna work, then freelancing just might not be for you. If You prefer more structure.
Heidi [00:13:05]:
And if you prefer, having someone set deadlines for you and reporting to a boss and working on one specific project with, like, more firm start and end dates, then, you know, the structure of working in house might be a better match for you. And that's okay. That's a great thing to Discover by listening to this episode. But at the end of the day, a lot of freelancers who I know, myself included, actually love This. Because while, yes, you're juggling multiple tasks and Designers, and it may take some time to figure out systems or tools to keep it all straight. I personally use Asana, and I really love that. I know other people who use Notion. This can be a great benefit.
Heidi [00:13:46]:
One of the things most of our fast grads love is the opportunity for a diverse workload Paid getting to work on a variety of projects can be super fulfilling and worth the trade off of managing the workload. Now if this feels like a deal killer for you, I wanna share a quick story. One of our fast students, Crystal Lewis, she got on a 1 on 1 strategy session with me. It's we have it as a podcast episode, so we'll link to that in the show notes. To talk with me about her project overwhelm. And it turns out that she was really overwhelmed because she had Fifteen clients in 15 different niches. Fifteen different niches. And, like, from day to day, she was jumping around from hunting to yoga to golf and beyond.
Heidi [00:14:27]:
And it was kind of impossible for her to keep everything straight. So this is a great recipe for overwhelm, and it's a great way to burn out and quit Freelancing is when you work on anything and everything that comes your way, and it's exactly why I suggest choosing a niche. Not only won't make your life as a freelancer easier, it actually helps you attract more clients. We have some resources on choosing niches, and I will link those in the show notes as well. So let's wrap it up. The advantages and disadvantages of freelancing in fashion. The biggest advantages are having freedom and flexibility, doing work you love, and earning unlimited income. The biggest disadvantages are handling the business stuff, being responsible for your own benefits, and juggling multiple projects, which may not even be a, disadvantage for you.
Heidi [00:15:11]:
So with all these pros and cons, I mentioned this earlier, but Is it worth it to be a freelance fashion designer? And in my opinion, based on my ex own experience, especially compared Or considering that I also had my own fashion brand, and I also worked for, a fashion brand in house as an employee. And so I've Experience these other 2 components of working in the fashion industry. I think that freelancing is a 100% worth it. I realized that I'm just 1 person, but most of our FAST students think it's absolutely worth it and love freelancing. Again, I I've mentioned I'm gonna link to a bunch of episodes where we've interviewed some of them on the podcast. And in my opinion, it is the best magic Sweet spot between having freedom and flexibility, getting to do the work that you love, not having the stress of inventory and paying for production, and and all the things that come with having your own fashion brand. Paid so there's really sweet spot of getting to do your own thing in the fashion industry Paid make money. And for me, it is absolutely worth it despite any of the cons that I've outlined in this episode.
Heidi [00:16:22]:
Thanks so much for listening.