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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]:
What if success wasn't measured by hearing yes or no and getting the result, but rather just by doing the thing? I know that rejection stings, and as a freelance fashion designer, you will experience it. At the beginning, you may experience it a lot. But what if you started to count your successes by how much you put yourself out there, like pitching, asking for a higher rate, things like that, rather than how often you hear yes or you get a new client. Because here's the thing. The more you put yourself out there, the more you crease your chances of hearing yes and getting a new client. What you're gonna hear on this episode of fashion designers get paid is a clip from a strategy session with one of my fast students. Anne Ben Schopp is an inspiring freelance fashion designer who's scared of rejection. We talked through the ways she can adjust her mindset to let go of some of that fear and start making progress in her freelance business.
Heidi [00:00:49]:
Let's get to it. Okay. What makes you feel so nervous and scared?
Anne [00:00:54]:
Rejection. Like, I'm good enough. And also, like, the financial aspect of it.
Heidi [00:00:59]:
The what aspect?
Anne [00:01:00]:
The financial. I, work part time, so it's I don't need the money, but, like, with taxes and that kind of stuff. I'm really nervous what's will happen if I earn more and then afterwards, you get in trouble with the taxes.
Heidi [00:01:17]:
Okay. Where do you live?
Anne [00:01:19]:
Netherlands. Okay. And you're like I don't
Heidi [00:01:21]:
I don't know anything about your test system.
Anne [00:01:23]:
So I have to figure it out myself, but that's also one of the components Why I took so long to even start there.
Heidi [00:01:31]:
Okay. You'll figure out the money stuff. Yeah. If you're making all this extra money, then you hire someone to help you figure it out. And it's a non problem, and it's not your problem. It's someone else's problem. Right?
Anne [00:01:42]:
Okay.
Heidi [00:01:43]:
So I really wanna encourage you to, like, not let that logistical component Mhmm. Stop you.
Anne [00:01:48]:
I don't
Heidi [00:01:48]:
want you to get in trouble with taxes. Like, obviously, you have
Anne [00:01:50]:
to be honest
Heidi [00:01:51]:
with taxes, so don't be dishonest. Yeah. But you'll figure that out.
Anne [00:01:55]:
K? Okay.
Heidi [00:01:56]:
And there's plenty of other people in fast
Anne [00:02:00]:
Mhmm.
Heidi [00:02:01]:
Who live in Europe and in the UK, and I would bet Netherlands as well that have dealt with this. So I really encourage you to reach out in the community and get some help on the logistical side of people from people that have been through that specifically. I just I really don't know anything about the European tax system. Then the rejection.
Anne [00:02:25]:
Mhmm.
Heidi [00:02:26]:
Yeah. It's hard. Yeah. People tell you no.
Anne [00:02:32]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:02:36]:
And it's it's part of I mean, I don't wanna discount it, but it's how does I wanna know from you. How does it feel different if you were to go out and apply for a bunch of jobs and hear no versus going out as a freelancer and hearing no, how does that feel different to you?
Anne [00:03:04]:
Not different, I think.
Heidi [00:03:05]:
Not different? No.
Anne [00:03:07]:
I don't think so.
Heidi [00:03:08]:
Have you gone out and applied for jump bunch of jobs at any point in time in your life?
Anne [00:03:12]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:03:13]:
Okay.
Anne [00:03:13]:
I was a fashion job. So
Heidi [00:03:15]:
Okay.
Anne [00:03:16]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:03:16]:
And did do you work in fashion? Is your partner in job in fashion?
Anne [00:03:20]:
No. It's in, yeah, customer service.
Heidi [00:03:23]:
Customer service. Okay. Yeah. How did hearing no from those fashion jobs, how did that ultimately go for you?
Anne [00:03:35]:
Well, it's like, it sucks, but also, like, that's the right place for me. Because, I worked 1 month at a fashion company Mhmm. But after I had an accident and I decided, like, we enter contract now because You're not able to work, so I was, like, out of job for, like, 8 months. Okay. And then start looking again. Yeah. And then the whole yeah. I know it's how toxic the fashion industry is.
Anne [00:04:02]:
Like, they Wow. Have all the, like, they want all the things she can do with The price, like, doesn't make sense.
Heidi [00:04:11]:
Yeah. Okay.
Anne [00:04:12]:
They want the experience for, like, 2 years, but they pay you, like, Not the money. You know? And if you ask for more, they if you're aware of, like, why you're asking month to month. Like, that's not Crazy. Yeah. Yeah. So I noticed the the the toxic culture in the in the brands. So
Heidi [00:04:31]:
So you can I mean, I'm not sure if I'm gonna have anything really profound to tell you? But, like, when it comes to hearing no, you will hear no.
Anne [00:04:41]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:04:41]:
And what that's gonna mean is either it's not the right match for you, and that's great because you just saved yourself from a bad match with a client.
Anne [00:04:50]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:04:50]:
Or 2, it's not no. It's just not right now.
Anne [00:04:55]:
Mhmm.
Heidi [00:04:57]:
Which means, great. They don't need any help right now, but maybe at some point they do. So you continue to nurture that relationship, and possibly that turns into a yes at some point. Right?
Anne [00:05:10]:
Yeah. And also remember, like, a few weeks ago, we have to party for a circle. Right? Yeah. And I talked to with Ashley, and she she said in the beginning, she just Took a few jobs at Upwork, like, not really, like, her specialty, but below her specialty so she can, do some good reviews so she get more experience and then go to her, like, niche.
Heidi [00:05:31]:
Totally. And you can do that also to get a confidence boost. Right? Because getting one yes can, like, be, like, this huge confidence boost that you need to sort of, you know, project you into, like, okay. Now I'm really confident putting myself out there. I might get 10 or 20 or even 30 no's, but that's okay. I know I have something valuable to offer, and it can that one yes can give you the motivation to keep going. I was talking to, I interviewed on the podcast. Well, it hasn't gone live yet, but, with this woman called Grace Broder, and she is a productivity and procrastination expert.
Heidi [00:06:19]:
And she said I'm not saying you have problems with productivity and procrastination, but she said something really interesting. She said that when people get stuck and they're, like, procrastinating on doing the thing or they're having trouble being really productive. And they've tried all the time management apps and all the, you know, checkboxes and to do list. The root of it is something usually emotional and much deeper. Right? And oftentimes, it is this, like, fear of failure or fear of rejection. And she, had this little mindset shift that I thought was interesting. And she said, I like to switch the measure of success to just doing the thing. Not getting the result, but just doing the thing.
Heidi [00:07:04]:
So her example was talking about, like, putting out a post on Instagram or LinkedIn. Yeah. I'm announcing my freelance career or something. Right? Or for you, like, right, like, sending out that pitch. Yeah. The moment of success is not whether you hear yes or no.
Anne [00:07:18]:
But you did it.
Heidi [00:07:19]:
The moment of success is that you did it.
Anne [00:07:21]:
Okay.
Heidi [00:07:22]:
Right? So it just it kind of redefines how we typically talk about success. Yeah. And it restructures it into a way that is in your control. At the end of the day, You're not in control of whether they say yes or no. I'm not in control of that. Right? No. None of us are in control of that. What are you in control of? Hitting that send button.
Anne [00:07:48]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:07:49]:
Boom. You did it. Success. Right? Mhmm. And believe me, you, I know hearing back, no, on your side or something. Like, it's still gonna feel hard, for sure. I'm not here to discount that. No.
Anne [00:08:01]:
We have to start.
Heidi [00:08:02]:
You have to start. Yeah. Right? And I guarantee that every single person inside circle on in Fast has heard no and has had the same emotion, and I would pretty much guarantee if you initiated a conversation around this topic that everybody would chime in. And I think just collectively hearing from a bunch of people and knowing that, like, oh my gosh. We're all here doing the same thing, and we're all feeling a little bit terrified, is gonna help you feel better and is gonna also help all those other people feel better. Mhmm. So I would love to see you after this call, go in there write up a little thing and say, hey. I'm feeling a little anxious about this.
Heidi [00:08:40]:
Heidi and I talked through it, and I wanna do this little reframe with what success means. And you know? Anyone else here feeling a little bit terrified of rejection? Like, let me know in the comments, and I'm sure a whole conversation will start. Okay. And I think that alone you know, just knowing that, like, everybody else is feeling this way, and everybody else can come in and say, yeah. I've sent them out, and
Anne [00:08:59]:
I've heard
Heidi [00:08:59]:
no. As part of the routine. Right?
Anne [00:09:04]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:09:05]:
But I think that'll help you with some of, This was, like, coping with some of those emotions. There's gonna be emotions. Yeah. For sure.
Anne [00:09:12]:
Of course.
Heidi [00:09:13]:
Yeah. What do you think?
Anne [00:09:16]:
Yes. And also, like, the mindset because, like, I keep procrastinating because, like, I'm not feeling it. It's like, I would say it's ready. Yes. So, like Yeah. And that's the mindset and that's instead of, like, getting yes, just hit send and then give So, like, yeah, did something.
Heidi [00:09:34]:
Yeah. Just yeah. Yeah. So there is some procrastination. I hear you. Yeah. It's something deeper. You're very capable.
Anne [00:09:42]:
Yeah. It was like you're get you don't feel, yeah, you don't feel motivated or you try to feel motivated, but something in you Yeah. Keeps you from doing it, and then you feel guilty about doing it. So you're taking the circle.
Heidi [00:09:54]:
It's a bad cycle. Yeah. Yeah. Right? Yeah. You know, the other the other thing she talked about was, like, the potential reward Mhmm. Get yourself excited about that. Like, what might come in the next 6 3, 6, 12 months. And the excitement of that future for yourself Mhmm.
Heidi [00:10:25]:
Can often emotionally be stronger than the fear that you're having today for not doing the thing. And then I would even compound that with that guilt that you're feeling for not doing the thing. Right? Because that's a very that's not a great emotional cycle.
Anne [00:10:41]:
Mhmm.
Heidi [00:10:41]:
Fear and then guilt, fear and then guilt. So
Anne [00:10:44]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:10:44]:
Okay. Let me lean in. It's gonna feel scary, but the Feeling scary is going to at least alleviate some of that guilt. Yeah. And then that potential that what can come down the line, the excitement of that can hopefully start to outweigh that fear that you have. Again, it'll probably still be there. I mean, I
Anne [00:11:05]:
got doesn't mhmm.
Heidi [00:11:06]:
That
Anne [00:11:07]:
It's normal because you
Heidi [00:11:09]:
It's normal. Fear. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just You know, I think that fear is one of those things when it comes to, like, you know, leaning into scary things in life and in our careers. It's a little bit of a muscle. Like, it's always still there, but it's something that we just get a little bit more comfortable with feeling. I mean, I have been talking I think you maybe have heard me.
Heidi [00:11:30]:
I think I think I talked about this in the circle party. Mhmm. I'm starting to negotiate some brand partnerships.
Anne [00:11:36]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:11:37]:
Let me tell you. I'm like, okay. The thing is in. And I'm like, oh god. We're getting on a call. I mean, I am still it's still scary.
Anne [00:11:47]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:11:50]:
It's okay. It's kinda supposed to be scary. Right? If it wasn't totally scary, then, like, you're not pushing yourself hard enough.
Anne [00:11:58]:
That's
Heidi [00:11:58]:
true. So everybody feels it at some point, And maybe it goes away for some people. For me Yeah. It hasn't gone away. But I just know that, like, I have to lean in and do that thing. Otherwise Yeah. I'm gonna stay stuck or stay where I'm at. Right?
Anne [00:12:13]:
Yeah. So Makes sense.
Heidi [00:12:15]:
Yeah. K. Does that feel like the push that you need?
Anne [00:12:18]:
Yeah.