How I Became a Freelancer After 20 Years as a Salaried Employee
Some people become freelancers overnight. It took me years to take the plunge
It can take a century from idea to action.
“Taking the plunge” is an understatement. I dare you to work for 20 years as a salaried employee and launch yourself into the administrative and financial unknown, from one day to the next, without batting an eyelid.
Twenty years living under fixed and/or open-ended contracts, in companies that all have the same objective: to prosper as much as possible, to limit turnover, to cash in.
Working as an employee means going to work almost every day of every week, every month, sometimes for years.
It’s saying hello to the same old, same old, same old, same old, same old, and bending over backwards for that customer file that Philou, the overweight fifty-something salesman, is so proud of that you’ll never get to see.
Am I exaggerating? Hardly.
Being an employee is like being married: it makes your parents proud, reassures your banker and gives you an impression of stability.
It’s also the place where unfaithful couples meet at lunchtime to sneak off.
So, how did the idea come about?
I’ve always believed that the professional world was an extension of family life, just as at mealtimes, where everyone interrupts each other, laughs about past anecdotes, argues and makes up.
In my 20 years at the company, I’ve met second mothers, big sisters and little girls, best friends, enemies, people who both liked and disliked me.
Sexist reflections, vicious looks, wandering hands, blows to the back and in the teeth, outbursts of anger and blood, glass ceilings…
But also hangovers, good laughs, friendships and true Love.
I’m still a long way from the end of my career, but the pension statement has whispered in my ear that I’m halfway there.
One day, the last straw came.
In the space of 2 years, I went through 3 jobs / 3 companies, with the desire to renew myself, to invest my energy in a mission that, I believed, would give meaning to my daily grind.
From Product Owner to Manager to Product Manager. Nothing in the environment in which I was evolving gave me satisfaction.
Worse still, the paradox is that I love my job!
But the structure, organization and directives were never fully aligned with my aspirations.
What do you do in this situation?
- Accept without question
- Give your opinion without being heard
- Rebel against situations that run counter to best practice
- Lobby to override decisions
- See your decisions and directives overridden
- Wasting energy
But what for?
We’re talking about our time, our energy, our desire and our passion, all of which contribute to elevating our role in the company that pays us.
But what if this impetus could serve more noble causes?
Those that speak to our values? Those that make our hearts beat and our childhood dreams come alive?
I’d love to make a living from this business. For the moment, I’m not making a living from my passion, and I haven’t found a mission (or looked hard enough) in harmony with my values of animal protection, feminist action or eco-responsibility.
What would you do?
You have 3 choices:
- stay in your daily routine
- change jobs
- change your status
If you know of others, don’t hesitate to share them in the comments, they’ll certainly help all the readers of this article.
I persisted in my daily life as a salaried worker, but it didn’t work out for me.
I tried out different jobs, and developed a real skill: passing job interviews with flying colors!
I’ve become an expert in curriculum vitae, covering letters (handwritten or not) and job interviews.
By the same token, I’m an expert in resignations. A letter of resignation supporting my ambitions and plans.
Without emotion, I quit. My only regret: leaving my colleagues behind.
Some bosses take it well, “Good luck!” others less so, “Believe me, you’ll regret leaving”.
I’m happy to take the sympathy and leave the egocentric hurt feelings to others.
Option 3: change my status: from salaried employee to auto-entrepreneur
Increasingly unhappy in my job, toiling 35 hours a week and more, to share a business project that was no longer enough for me.
I want to leave a trace in my history.
“I have all my life to live. — Gloria Gaynor.
So I don’t have time to wait!
I began my story as a indiepreneur in 2021 by setting up my own business.
My first assignment was to give classes at Mentorship@OpenClassrooms as a Mentor.
I coached 3 students who were retraining to become Digital Project Managers.
The following year, I continued to give courses as a Mobile expert at ESD Paris in Bordeaux. I started with a short 2-hour session, then quickly moved on to a full week of Mobile Week and a website redesign session.
If you want to know how I prepared the training, you can read the LinkedIn article here.
Word of mouth led me to Digital College for Mobile Marketing courses and finally to INSEEC Bordeaux on Storytelling.
I think I’m bad at making my training courses profitable.
I’m up to a hundred hours per theme, which I only run once…
Changing status: from indiepreneur …
I exhausted myself working in the office and creating training courses early in the morning or late at night.
This messy organization was the trigger that opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me.
That of being able to decide on my missions, my customers, the time I want to devote to them, and reap the rewards of my work.
In the spring of 2023, I decided to negotiate a rupture with my employer, so that I could live life to the full as a indiepreneur.
And so it’s done. I wrote an article about it on LinkedIn, which garnered a fair amount of encouragement!
The offers weren’t pouring in, despite promises of collaboration.
I’m a bit disappointed, but I’m staying focused on my digital marketing strategy and creating content.
Free content via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carole-longe/
And paid content via training courses and templates.
Feedback from the last 6 months?
Not much in terms of sales…
Freelance, here we go!
Because you’ve got to pay your bills and reassure your banker on the phone, creating content is exhausting, not getting the results despite the investment and staying isolated is demoralizing…
For these reasons, I turned to freelancing.
A contract with a reliable customer, on a long-term assignment that offers an interesting experience.
This is what I chose, and after several attempts (successful and unsuccessful), I think I’ve found the right compromise.
Portage salarial offers the same security as an open-ended contract (you pay employer and employee contributions) combined with the responsibility of finding an assignment, keeping a client, prospecting, invoicing…
Do I regret it?
No, I don’t regret my choice, especially as the assignment I’m working on (Product Owner Design System) is a rewarding one.
Portage salarial seems to me to offer good security…
While retaining my independence.
It took me 20 years to figure out what was right for me, and I ran away from jobs that finally suited me, without knowing what was frustrating me.
I can only encourage you to ask yourself about the points of frustration, about the statutes and not to start from a bias.
I didn’t think that “portage salarial” would work for me, but so far it has.
And anyway, things aren’t set in stone!
There’s still time to change :)
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