Amanda Baye, Branding Strategist

After a year at university, Amanda needed a change. It just wasn’t working for her, so she took off on an adventure. Eventually, the time was right and Amanda went back for her degree. She studied PR and Communications, which had a strong visual component. That visual focus lead her back to the arts and finally branding. And now she uses the communications part to help her clients reach their audiences.

Being self-employed, working on projects and contracts, there is a certain lack of stability in income. Starting out especially, it can be difficult to know how much you’ll have month to month and what kind of savings cushion you need. Amanda suggests really looking at your numbers and calculating what it takes to meet your basic needs. Knowing your baseline number lets you make your best decisions for taking on projects that meet your needs.

It’s easy to feel pressured to work all the time. You enjoy what you do, it’s not even really like work, you say. And to a degree, that’s true. Going nonstop is based in a combination of fear of running out of work/money and not knowing what to do with yourself in your free time. Both issues are very common in location independent folk, most often at the beginning of our adventures. They’re also very common in creatives, and that’s an additional problem. Creativity needs time to develop, it can’t always be turned on and off, like a tap. Your brain needs fuel and rest to be at its most creative, so make sure to take time off to refresh your mind.

For the transcript, links, and more visit compasspod.com/018