261: The Big Mistake She Made on a $10K Project (and How She’s Fixing It ) (Part 2)

Just because you land a $10K freelance project doesn’t mean it all goes smoothly. Jacqueline’s back to share what *didn’t* go so great—and the one decision she regrets most. We unpack the lessons she’s learning around boundaries, overgiving, and setting clear terms from the start. Whether you’re early in your freelance business or landing big wins yourself, this episode is a must-listen for protecting your time, energy, and value.

Resources:
260: How Jacqueline Landed Her First $10K+ Freelance Fashion Project (Part 1)
196: How This Freelancer Does Sourcing & Product Development for Factories (and is making bank)
197: How to Sell Yourself As A Freelance Fashion Designer (without feeling gross) with Nikki Rausch
250: The $6K Freelancer: How She Replaced Her Salary in 30 Days
Conscious Fashion Collective
The Power Pause, Neha Ruch Book

About Jacqueline:
Jacqueline is a freelance denim designer who collaborates with ethical brands. Denim production has significant environmental and social consequences, mainly due to chemical dyes, excessive washing, and unethical labor practices. Her work aims to raise awareness that the denim industry should prioritize not only sustainability but also fairness, ethics, responsibility, and promoting slow consumption. Jacqueline is dedicated to contributing towards steering the industry in a positive direction for the future.

Connect with Jacqueline:
Email her at [e-mail]
Check out her website

Follow on Instagram 

Connect on LinkedIn

Download my Freelance Price List just for fashion (it’s free!): sewheidi.com/price

Creators and Guests

Host

Heidi Weinberg {Sew Heidi}

Heidi (aka Sew Heidi) is a self-taught freelance fashion designer who built a six-figure business without a degree, portfolio, or industry connections. After years of burnout in the fashion industry, she went freelance—and never looked back. Now, she helps other designers ditch toxic jobs, land better clients, and build flexible careers they love. Through her podcast, courses, and resources, Heidi has helped thousands of designers take control of their fashion path and finally get paid what they’re worth.

What is Fashion Designers Get Paid: Build Your Fashion Career On Your Own Terms?

This is a show for burnt-out fashion designers (and TDs, PDs, patternmakers, textile designer and beyond) who want more flexibility in their career while still doing work they love.

You'll learn how to build a freelance fashion business, so you can do the work you love 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]:
We're back for part two of my episode with Jacqueline Schumann following up on her $10,000 project. But our conversation today is about how things don't always go smoothly. Jacqueline shares the one decision she regrets most, and we unpack the lessons she's learning around boundaries over giving and setting clear terms from the start. Whether you're early in your freelance business or landing big wins for yourself, this episode is a must. Listen for protecting your time, energy and value. For full context, make sure you listen to part one. Link is in the show notes. Let's get to it.

Heidi [00:00:27]:
It's okay. Okay, talk to us.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:00:30]:
It's so embarrassing.

Heidi [00:00:32]:
You're leaving. Everybody is, like, dying.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:00:37]:
So this big rookie mistake was that I covered the cost of travel for this trip.

Heidi [00:00:46]:
Airfare and hotel.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:00:48]:
Yeah. And food.

Heidi [00:00:49]:
Everything.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:00:50]:
Everything. It was a lot of Ubers. So on a personal level, my family and I had just bought some annual flight passes that the Frontier airline sells and you pay one sum for cheap airfare for the whole year. And we had researched it. We were looking at the fine print. I joke that Frontier is the dollar tree of the sky.

Heidi [00:01:22]:
Oh, it's so bad. But it's so cheap.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:01:25]:
It's so cheap. So you gotta be willing to just have the worst service.

Heidi [00:01:32]:
Yes.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:01:33]:
And they nickel and dime you for everything.

Heidi [00:01:36]:
I have flown it tons of times.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:01:38]:
Yeah. It's down there with Ryanair, Spirit Airlines.

Heidi [00:01:45]:
Yes. I've also flown sp.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:01:47]:
Yeah, Spirit. It's the bottom of the barrel airlines, everything. The website, the customer service.

Heidi [00:01:54]:
It's painful.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:01:55]:
Yeah, it's painful. So you have to just be okay with that and just think of it as like, it's going to take me from A to B. And as long as it does that safely, then. Okay. And so you pay like $0.01 for the flight and then you have to pay for taxes and fees, which for domestic flights, it's anywhere from 8 bucks to, like 20 or 25 bucks. So. And of course, the other catch is you can only book 24 hours in advance.

Heidi [00:02:33]:
Oh, you have to book last minute.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:02:35]:
You have to book last minute.

Heidi [00:02:36]:
Oh, wow.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:02:37]:
Yeah.

Heidi [00:02:37]:
Okay. That's how you guys flew to Disneyland.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:02:39]:
Yes. So that's how we flew to Disneyland for so cheap.

Heidi [00:02:41]:
Okay.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:02:43]:
Because flying a family of four from coast to coast is a lot.

Heidi [00:02:47]:
Like thousands.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:02:49]:
Yeah. And then just the Disneyland tickets themselves. So that's another reason we were able to get that trip planned and go on it. We flew bottom of the barrel. And so we. Right after we had bought in those flight passes, I kind of had it in my head like, oh, I could fly for clients for super, super, super cheap, like 50 or 100 bucks.

Heidi [00:03:20]:
Nothing.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:03:21]:
Yeah, yeah. And with a $10,500 project, what's a hundred bucks?

Heidi [00:03:29]:
Right.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:03:30]:
That's what I was thinking when I was building the proposal that had the package offers in it. I was going back and forth on the numbers. I was really stressed and wanting to like, get the proposal sent out and have it ready to go, have the contract ready to go. You know, what am I going to say as far as travel in my contract and in the moment, I had thought that covering the cost of travel within. I put parameters on it, that that would be another way that she might want to work with me. Like another, another reason that she would say yeah, to say yes and to sign the contract and work with me. And looking back, it's just so silly because it's not, it's not reasonable to cover your own costs.

Heidi [00:04:27]:
Not at all.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:04:28]:
For travel, for a client, it's.

Heidi [00:04:30]:
And I don't even. Mediocre clients, I don't think would expect you to.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:04:37]:
Yeah. And I just cringe at it because I also think it's just a level of respect of like, oh, they don't even like, maybe respect themselves enough to. Maybe it's not respect, maybe there's another word for it. But I do think it just, it's unreasonable and it's really desperate sounding to like, I'll even cover the cost of my travel. So when I put it in the contract, I was, I think I made that decision very like in a stressed state and really not wanting to miss out on it or lose. Lose it. And I thought of it as like a perk. And looking back, I don't think that's why she went with me.

Heidi [00:05:27]:
I don't think so either.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:05:28]:
No, no. So. And I had just, it's funny because I had just seen a quote that I posted on LinkedIn of like, the three rules of business. It's going to cost twice as much as you thought. It's going to take twice as long as you thought. And you're not the exception. And when I got back from this trip yesterday, I was, I took, I had to take a red eye flight because that was the only one that was available for the past.

Heidi [00:06:05]:
For Frontier.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:06:05]:
For Frontier.

Heidi [00:06:07]:
Oh, God.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:06:08]:
And So I left LA at like 7:45pm, had a layover in Vegas, flight from Vegas left at 11pm, flew through the night into Raleigh and I was sitting on the plane. I'm so uncomfortable. I'm Exhausted. I'm like, I have the eye mask. I'm trying to sleep, and I'm like, this is costing twice as much as I thought. This is taking twice as long as I thought. And I am not the exception. And it was still totally worth it.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:06:45]:
Um, it was not 50 or 100 bucks with. Between the food and all the Ubers. It was more than that.

Heidi [00:06:57]:
Yeah.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:06:57]:
And so that is definitely a point of embarrassment.

Heidi [00:07:04]:
It's a learning moment.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:07:05]:
It was a huge learning moment.

Heidi [00:07:07]:
What were the parameters that you put in the contract as far as travel goes? One trip. Like, are you done?

Jacqueline Schumann [00:07:13]:
I think I put one trip a quarter. Oh, so like, four within a year.

Heidi [00:07:20]:
Wow.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:07:21]:
Yeah. Which again.

Heidi [00:07:23]:
So you could do three more.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:07:26]:
Yeah. And I. I feel like I got so lucky with getting a client that is so reasonable and kind, and I really feel like values me because someone else who is not all of those things would. I would be taken advantage of, and it would be my own dang fault because I put it in my contract. But she is not like that at all.

Heidi [00:07:54]:
So are you gonna talk to her about it?

Jacqueline Schumann [00:07:56]:
Yeah.

Heidi [00:07:56]:
Okay. Cause I'm like, wow, if you have to do three more trips, that would be a lot.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:08:01]:
Yeah. So. And.

Heidi [00:08:03]:
Cause you said the flight also was.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:08:04]:
Not $20, so the flight back was 25 bucks.

Heidi [00:08:07]:
Oh, wow. Okay. I got. I thought you said that the flight out.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:08:11]:
The flight out. So that, you know, since you can only book them within 24 hours, you.

Heidi [00:08:17]:
Have to book each leg separately.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:08:18]:
Within eight hours, you have to book legs separately.

Heidi [00:08:21]:
Oh, this sounds so stressful.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:08:23]:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. And there's actually a frontier. So the pass is called Go Wild Pass. So there's a frontier, Go Wild pass. Facebook group. I can only imagine. You can only imagine because they market it towards the spontaneous, flexible traveler who just wants.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:08:47]:
Who has a free weekend or works remotely, which is another big reason my family and I got the pass is because my husband and I both work remotely. And if you're like, let's go just to Cabo for the weekend and pack our bags, I'm like, yeah, great, because we want to see our family back in Utah. And so it's. A lot of the dialogue on the Facebook group is like, you know, try not to use the pass for, like.

Heidi [00:09:23]:
Planned out with your $10,000 client.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:09:30]:
Yeah. So that's why I had to take a red eye, because the other flight was. And it was just all, like, so rookie. But I don't think I would change it. Like, I think I would do it again, like, not pay For I would have her pay for the travel, but the trip was worth it because we spent so much time together and not just getting to know each other, but meeting this factory, going to try on jeans, getting a pulse on her customer. Because her customer is not where I live in North Carolina. Her customer is la New York. And seeing the other customers in the store, their buying habits, it's just a different personality, a different life.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:10:32]:
And getting to do that with my client was. It was incredible.

Heidi [00:10:39]:
Yeah, it's priceless. You can't.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:10:41]:
Yeah. You can't put a price on it.

Heidi [00:10:44]:
No pun intended.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:10:46]:
No pun intended. So, yes, the really crappy layover red Eye flights are the cheapest ones. So. Yeah.

Heidi [00:10:59]:
This is exciting. You know, I know we mentioned it earlier, but, like, just to really hammer it home, like, you live in small town in North Carolina. She lives in la. She could have hired any number of Air Quote denim designers.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:11:22]:
And there's a lot of denim designers in la.

Heidi [00:11:25]:
Yeah. You're gonna have to get to the bottom of why she hired you and give us some updates.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:11:31]:
I wonder if she did.

Heidi [00:11:32]:
She answered the email yet?

Jacqueline Schumann [00:11:34]:
Maybe she messaged me back.

Heidi [00:11:36]:
I'm just dying to know.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:11:39]:
She didn't. Not yet.

Heidi [00:11:40]:
Okay. Okay. Well, maybe you can let me know and I can interject something at the end of the episode before it goes live.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:11:47]:
Yeah.

Heidi [00:11:50]:
Otherwise we'll. We'll update the show notes at some point.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:11:52]:
Yeah.

Heidi [00:11:54]:
Because I'd be. I'd be very curious. Like, you know, it's interesting because I. I think there's a lot of people who have doubts about working with any brand that exists or is starting in fashion hubs. New York, L.A. you know, London, even Dallas or something. Right. Because, well, they'll just go with someone local, but maybe not, you know.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:12:22]:
Well, so the more I got to know her, she has a very entrepreneurial mindset. And I think that's another reason that she didn't go with someone local. Maybe she was choosing between someone local. I can't wait to find out. I wish I found out before this, but the fashion hubs are so corporate y because there's so many brands there. But she's. From what I know about her now, and after spending a day with her, she has a very entrepreneurial mindset that I think helped make the decision. And we'll find out hopefully soon.

Heidi [00:13:17]:
Yeah, we will find out soon. It's exciting. Well, congratulations. This is a huge win.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:13:22]:
Thank you.

Heidi [00:13:22]:
You messaged me, I think, very shortly after it happened, and I was so excited and I was like, we have to do a podcast. And you're like, okay, we have to do it in person. I was like, totally.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:13:31]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I. I sent the screenshot that I sent you of the contract being signed. I sent it to. To my close friends, to family, and this is the first time that my extended family has asked about how my work is going.

Heidi [00:13:51]:
Oh, wow. And in response to that screenshot, they asked.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:13:59]:
Yeah. And I've never. There's only one person in my extended family. Well, I shouldn't say that, because I'm thinking of both my families, but in laws and. Yeah, in laws and my sisters and whatnot. But it's the first time that I feel like certain members of my extended family are taking it seriously because the. The most expensive project that I had gotten before this one. Okay.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:14:39]:
Was. I want to say it was in the $3,000 range.

Heidi [00:14:45]:
Okay. So, I mean, not. Nothing. Yeah, that's a really good chunk.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:14:48]:
Yeah, that's a really good chunk.

Heidi [00:14:49]:
Yeah.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:14:51]:
And I also have a entrepreneur, friend, mentor. He's about 10 years older than me. He's much more seasoned. He has. I've lost count of how many businesses he has at this point, but his. You know, if he. If a deal works out in business for him, it's in, like, the hundreds, $100,000 range. And I've recognized over the years that I've always compared myself to him and.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:15:28]:
And know now that that's not helpful because he's 10 years older than me. He doesn't have kids running around at home. He's not a mom.

Heidi [00:15:40]:
The circumstances are so different.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:15:42]:
They're so different. But I was nervous to share it with him, like, share the good news with him, because I know for him, $10,000 is nothing. He's looking at way bigger projects. And I shared that with him, and I said, it just feels like chump change. And he's like, there's no point in comparing. We're on. Totally different. Everything's.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:16:15]:
And I've started adopting the mindset of, like, don't compare yourself to others, only compare yourself to yourself yesterday. And when I started freelancing in March of 2020, I did not think that I would ever get a $10,000 project. And so it doesn't. It just doesn't make sense to compare yourself to someone who's not even. They're not even doing the same thing.

Heidi [00:16:47]:
I love that line, only compare yourself to yourself yesterday. That's an amazing one. We've been. Errol does a lot of comparison. You know, our kids, they're five. Well, years.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:16:57]:
Four and nine and four.

Heidi [00:16:59]:
Nine and four. My son's five, and they're so comparative at that age. And I always say to him, I said, you know, great. Doesn't. Doesn't really tell me anything about how you're doing. So we just. Let's just compare ourselves to ourselves. But I like the.

Heidi [00:17:14]:
I'm gonna add that yesterday.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:17:16]:
Yeah. Or last year.

Heidi [00:17:17]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Your prior self. Real quick. You said you felt for some of your family members, you felt that when they see you getting this $10,000 project, all of a sudden you're like, oh, now they're taking me seriously in my career or my business or what have you.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:17:34]:
Yeah.

Heidi [00:17:35]:
How do you feel like they took you before? What did they. What was your perception? Or what was their perception that you felt?

Jacqueline Schumann [00:17:43]:
I felt that they always looked at it as fun side work that I did when I wasn't changing diapers or potty training.

Heidi [00:17:57]:
The traumatizing mom moments.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:17:59]:
Yeah. Potty training has really done a number on me. And just that it was like, it's something fun and cute and. No, none of my family has ever said that to me. But it doesn't feel great to sit down to dinner and everyone's saying, how's work? How's work? And they ask my husband that, but they don't ask me that. And even if I wasn't working outside the home and I was just focusing on motherhood and my family, that's still work. It's so much work.

Heidi [00:18:46]:
It's so much work.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:18:47]:
It's so much work. And it's not seen as work because we don't get paid. So the debate is like, is it really work? And that's a whole nother topic of discussion. But I never sent anyone a screenshot of that $3,000 project. Mm. I mean, I told my sisters because we're a lot closer, but I didn't share that with my extended family because it just didn't feel like proof enough. Mm.

Heidi [00:19:24]:
I totally get what you're saying.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:19:25]:
And the $10,000 market just was. It's a different level. And there was someone that I didn't even share with, someone in my extended family. And she had texted me, like, hey, how's it going? I heard you got a really big contract. And I was like. Heard from who? Like, in the grapevine.

Heidi [00:19:48]:
Yeah.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:19:49]:
Somewhere in the family. How's so and so doing? How's so and so doing? And it. I wish that I didn't need the validation, but there's something different. There's Just something different about being validated from your family than from your friends or peers.

Heidi [00:20:12]:
I have people in family situations or I have similar dynamics where I'm you and.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:20:20]:
Yeah, yeah.

Heidi [00:20:22]:
And it, like, just eats at you to some extent, and it's just a.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:20:27]:
Dagger to the heart a little bit.

Heidi [00:20:30]:
And you're just like, oh. And then you get that little bit of proof and you're like, here it is.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:20:35]:
Eat that.

Heidi [00:20:35]:
Eat that expletive. MF Eat it. Yeah, yeah, I know the feeling. I know it very well.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:20:45]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my work has never been to prove to my extended family that I can do this. It's been proved to myself and my husband that I can do this. But it just felt incredible to finally have some type of dialogue and conversation asking me about my work and not be pushed to the side of just like, oh, she's a mom.

Heidi [00:21:22]:
Just a mom.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:21:23]:
Yeah. And anyone who is any mom who is focusing or devout, devoting their time to motherhood, it's still work. And they're not just a moment. But that's just how it is in our culture and how it's seen. And I almost feel like I've been part of the problem because I felt. I feel like I fell into that hustle culture. It was a lot kind of when the Lean in book came out from Sheryl Sandberg. Sheryl Sandberg.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:22:03]:
And it was like, just the dynamic, at least here in America, totally changed of, like, moms doing stuff on the side, like they've got an Etsy business or they're trying to build a business while they have kids from home. And I think it's gotten to the point where it's almost like, oh, what's your thing that you do outside of kids? Like, do you sell wedding invitations on Etsy or something? Yeah, something. And I. I really feel like I've been part of the problem. I've seen other women, like, if they don't have something on the side, I've seen them as just like. Just a mom of, like, you must be so bored. And my sister told me about this book. It just came out this year.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:22:53]:
It's called the Power Pause by Nina Rue. I don't remember the last name. We'll have to link it in the show notes. But she talks about reframing the narrative of, like, that it's not always a choice, but that some women do choose to stay home with their kids, and that that choice should be respected, even though you don't understand it, that it should be respected, because it is so much Work. And that it's an intentional downshift. And that's another thing that I obviously love about freelancing is it's like if I'm tired of being at the computer and I want to go take my kids to the park, I can intentionally choose to stop working for the day and go spend time with my kids. Yeah.

Heidi [00:23:55]:
It's a great place to be.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:23:56]:
Yeah.

Heidi [00:23:57]:
Yeah.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:23:58]:
And to have that choice is a huge privilege.

Heidi [00:24:05]:
I think that there's something recently it was. Compared to it. I can't recall. But time freedom. I think I know for some people, nine to five jobs are great. And that's one of those ones that I try. I don't understand it, but I try to be respectful of. Like, if that works for you, amazing.

Heidi [00:24:28]:
Great. Cause freelancing is not for everybody. I get that.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:24:31]:
Right.

Heidi [00:24:32]:
But I don't know. I think as soon as you get a taste of time freedom, it is hard to go back to like, let me do my grocery shopping, Let me go run. Let me take my kids to the park when I want.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:24:46]:
Exactly.

Heidi [00:24:47]:
Is. Wow. Talk about, like operating from a place of power.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:24:52]:
Exactly. And I think. I think it's worth saying on this episode so that others can. Listening can have context. But I was thinking about going back to the industry full time, which, you know.

Heidi [00:25:05]:
Yeah. You were applying for some jobs.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:25:07]:
I was applying.

Heidi [00:25:07]:
You had gotten some interviews.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:25:09]:
I had gotten some interviews, yeah. So this was in February and March, just.

Heidi [00:25:16]:
Of this year.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:25:16]:
Of this year, yeah. Five, six months ago.

Heidi [00:25:20]:
Yeah.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:25:20]:
So, yeah. My husband and I were talking more about freelancing and if it's still the right route to go for me because I wasn't getting consistent projects. And my defense sort of was that I was just coming out of a huge mental crisis and that you guys.

Heidi [00:25:44]:
Had moved across the country.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:25:45]:
We just moved across the country. I. I was not. Okay. I was just coming out of all of that.

Heidi [00:25:51]:
Yeah.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:25:51]:
And that, like, I need some time to get work in the door. But I finally started to consider going. I. I would say going back to the industry full time, but I technically never worked in the industry full time except for that four month internship.

Heidi [00:26:08]:
Yeah.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:26:09]:
And we still were not sure if we were going to stay in North Carolina. And I finally went to New York for the first time in September with you and the whole fast event and got a taste of New York and was asking myself, like, would I ever want to work full time in New York? Would we ever want to live there? And we were. It was a few months of really hard questions of Is this what we want? Can I freelance right now or do I need to put that on the back burner and get a full time job to have that two week auto deposit paycheck? And so I started applying to jobs. I got an interview for a senior denim designer in New York City for 110 grand a year.

Heidi [00:27:11]:
A senior denim designer with no in house experience.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:27:14]:
No in house.

Heidi [00:27:16]:
I just want to say that's an amazing feat to have gotten the interview in the first place.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:27:21]:
I was really surprised that particular one I applied to on a whim.

Heidi [00:27:27]:
Yeah.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:27:28]:
And I got the interview again. We were asking really deep questions of would we really want to live in New York City? Could we afford to live in New York City with two kids? You know, if my husband's making XYZ, if I get this job, that's 110 grand a year. And thinking back to being in New York City in September for the fast event, riding the subway, I got that feeling, that same feeling I had when I was riding the train when I went to school in LA of, oh, no, no, is this what I want? Do I want to commute and be on a train with millions of other people? And so I got the interview and then I decided to ask, would you be open? Would this position be open to remote? I would offer to be in house one week a month. I talked to you about it. You graciously wrote me a letter of recommendation.

Heidi [00:28:38]:
And I also think I told you that I thought it was crazy.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:28:42]:
Yeah.

Heidi [00:28:43]:
I said, that's a long time away from your family every month. That's a lot of travel. Then you're like staying in a hotel or Airbnb. I go, I think it kind of sounds horrible. I have no filter.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:28:57]:
Yeah. And I appreciated that.

Heidi [00:28:59]:
Bluntly, it was like, I don't think this. I think you really need to think about this. I don't think it sounds that great.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:29:05]:
Yeah. And I really appreciated the candidness. Is that a word?

Heidi [00:29:12]:
Yeah.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:29:12]:
Yeah. Because I felt so confused that I didn't feel like I could really see things clearly. And the more my husband and I talked about it and just really went through the nitty gritty of it. And then when I had asked the brand if they would be open to remote or hybrid, they said, no, we want in house. And I said, okay, then I won't waste your time with the interview because that's the only option. And then I got that email that said, you have a new project intake form. Boom, boom. And then I texted you and I said, I Don't think I'm supposed to work full time in house.

Heidi [00:30:01]:
I don't think you are either.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:30:02]:
I don't.

Heidi [00:30:03]:
Yeah, I don't think you are either. So this feels like a really exciting season for you.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:30:09]:
Yeah.

Heidi [00:30:09]:
Yeah. I'm very happy for you.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:30:10]:
Yeah, I'm thrilled.

Heidi [00:30:13]:
Where can everybody connect with you?

Jacqueline Schumann [00:30:15]:
Online on my website. Okay, so it's Jacqueline Diane dot com.

Heidi [00:30:19]:
Okay.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:30:22]:
Fully revamped website. Yeah. It looks so good.

Heidi [00:30:25]:
Everybody listening. Go check it out because take some inspo. You did a really nice job.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:30:30]:
I definitely was a bit cringy after I did the revamp, and I couldn't stop looking at it. I was like, I love it.

Heidi [00:30:38]:
So good. Look at what a great job I did. Good. I'm glad you're celebrating yourself in that way and you feel really proud of it.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:30:44]:
Yeah. And I was proud that I, I. I woke up at, like, 2am had ideas for it, and then I just went downstairs and I just got it all done within, like, I think a day. And then I got some feedback from it through the other community that I'm a part of, the Conscious Fashion Collective. Another huge, just supporty, supportive community. I went to a month. We have monthly feedback sessions where you can just get feedback on anything that's super cool. So I got great feedback there and tweaked it, revamped some things, and then I haven't touched it since.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:31:30]:
But I. Yeah, I think it's great.

Heidi [00:31:31]:
It is great. And I'll ask you the question I ask at the end every time, which, you know, the question. What is one thing people never ask you about being a freelance fashion designer that you wish they would?

Jacqueline Schumann [00:31:42]:
I wish they would ask, how is work going?

Heidi [00:31:47]:
Well, you've shared that all with us, and I'm so happy to hear that it's going so well.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:31:50]:
Yeah.

Heidi [00:31:50]:
Yeah. Congrats, Jacqueline.

Jacqueline Schumann [00:31:51]:
Thank you.

Heidi [00:31:52]:
Very excited for you.