Freelance Feels: Conversations about self-employed life freelancefeels

Anniki Sommerville is podcaster and freelancer writer. Her podcast'How To Be A Boss At Ageing' was released in June 2020. In eachepisode she tackles a different aspect of growing older, withinterviewees such as Cariad Lloyd and Sali Hughes.
She has her own monthly radio show on Soho Radio and regularly speaks on panels on topics such as motherhood, the changing nature ofwork, relationships and ageing. She has written for the Telegraphand the I and used to edit the successful parenting blog SelfishMother.
Her instagram stories are a brilliant take on parenting and midlife, and in this episode Anniki shares the highs and lows of her career, talks about why freelancing isn't for everyone and advocates for a good cry in the work loos.
There's a little bit of swearing at the end!
Find Anniki at https://www.annikisommerville.com/
And follow  her on Instagram @annikisommerville
 
#thebigquit #freelancing #selfemployed #annikisommerville 

A freelance adventurer?! Yes, you heard that right!
You may recognise Levison Wood from his documentaries about walking such as Walking the Nile. He's supporting charity Walking with the Wounded and spoke to Freelance Feels about his own freelance work, the mental health benefits of walking and the parallels between freelancing and exploring.
 
Walking With The Wounded
Walking With The Wounded ‘WWTW’ deliver employment, mental health, care coordination and volunteering programmes in collaboration with the NHS to get those who served, and their families, whether mentally, socially or physically wounded, back on their feet and making a positive contribution once more. Why? Because those who served, deserve.
Walking Home For Christmas
This winter, thousands of people will be Walking Home For Christmas in support of armed forces veterans across the country.
The campaign, which runs from 9 to 20 December, is Walking With The Wounded’s annual nationwide fundraising walking challenge to support its work across mental health, employment, volunteering and care coordination.  
An estimated 5 million veterans live in the UK. While most of the 15,000+ personnel who leave the forces each year have a successful transition to civilian life, a small but significant minority do not. Walking With The Wounded supports those who served, and their families, to thrive.
There are three key aspects to this year’s Walking Home For Christmas campaign:
#WalkWithAndy Andy, a former military police officer, will be walking 350 kilometres from the Cenotaph in London to Manchester Cenotaph. He aims to complete this extraordinary challenge in just five days, leaving London on 5 December and arriving in Manchester on 9 December.
Organised regional walks New for 2022, Walking With The Wounded has organised regional walks in London, Manchester, and Newcastle on the 9 December. Participants can raise vital funds – and their heart rate – at one of these fun large-scale events. Everyone is welcome.
Walk your own way Participants can complete their own fundraising walk  - of any distance and at a location of their choosing - between 9 and 20 December. Some participants opt to walk their children home from school, others walk between offices with colleagues, and there are those who undertake a walk in memory of someone special or between locations that mean something to them.
 www.walkinghomeforchristmas.com 
 
Research
Research from the charity finds that fewer than 1 in 3 (29%) of the UK adult population walk every day in winter – and astonishingly 10% never go for a walk. But when it comes to improving health and wellbeing, 68% would consider trying to go on a regular walk - compared to 1 in 10 (11%) interested in group fitness classes and 1 in 5 (22%) who would think about joining a gym.
#walkingwiththewounded #walkingformentalhealth #freelancing #selfemployed #levisonwood #levwood #walkingthenile #walkinghomeforchristmas 

Gardening and freelancing is an analogy I've loved for a long time, and we (ahem) dig deep into it in this episiode!
Ellen Mary is a gardener, author, broadcaster, co-host of the plant based podcast and radio show host, promoting the wellbeing benefits of gardening, plants and the natural world. She writes a regular column in Grow Your Own Magazine and her first book The Joy of Gardening; the every day zen of mowing the lawn, was released in May 2021. Her second book How to Grow a Garden was release in July 2022. She also has  horticulture training, many years of gardening experience, social and therapeutic horticulture, cognitive behavior therapy and wellness coaching.
Find her at ellenmarygardening.co.uk
#gardening #wellbeing #wellbeingcoach #gardeningexpert #freelancing #freelancelife #mentalhealth #freelancewellbeing #gardenlife #gardenersworld #gardenfreelancers #freelancegardener #freelancegardening 

Louise Shanahan is a freelance health copywriter who specialises in white papers, web copy, and long-form content, to help medical and biotech organisations spread the word about their latest breakthroughs.
She’s also the host of 15 Minute Freelancer, a podcast and newsletter for ambitious B2B and creative freelancers who want to build a business that works for them (and not the other way round!).
We talk about how and why she set up her podcast, dream guests, the realities of podcasting (including scheduling, getting started and choosing your topic/niche), and advice for people who are freelance and not feeling the 'happy feels'.
Find Louise at www.thecopyprescription.com
The podcast is at www.15minutefreelancer.com 
 
#fifteenminutefreelancer #15minutefreelancer #copywriting #freelancing #freelancecommunity #freelancepodcast #freelancelife #copywritingadvice #copywritingpodcast #selfmeployedpodcast #seflemployedadvice #podcastforfreelancers #freelancefeels 

Catherine Riley lives in London and is a writer and director of the literary festival Primadonna. Described as ‘books, with a little bit of rock ’n’ roll’, Primadonna showcases established and emerging voices that aren’t heard enough in the mainstream. They have previously published two works of non-fiction. IS THIS LOVE? is her first novel.
Primadonna Festival runs from July 29th - get your tickets at www.primadonnafestival.com and follow them @primadonnafest 
Find Catherine at www.catherineriley.co.uk 
The Primadonnas are Sabeena Akhtar, Joanna Baker, Amie Corry, Jane Dyball, Catherine Mayer, Kit de Waal, Shona Abhyankar, Jude Kelly, Lisa Milton, Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, Sonia Purnell, Monisha Rajesh, Catherine Riley, Athena Stevens, Cathryn Summerhayes, Sandi Toksvig and Sioned Wiliam. These 17 women got together at the start of 2019 with the aim of establishing a weekend of writing and ideas that gave prominence to work by women and spotlighted authors from the margins. 
The first Primadonna festival was held in the summer of 2019, and featured names including Bernardine Evaristo, Elif Shafak, Luke Jennings, Diana Evans, Katy Brand, Sinead Gleeson, Louise Doughty and Konnie Huq.
The Primadonna Podcast (The World as it Should Be) is available on Spotify, Acast, Apple and all good streaming platforms.
 
#festivalseason #festivals #primadonnafestival #primadonna #feminism #festivallife #festivalorganisers #festivalinsight #writer #editor #fictionwriter #ukfestivals 

Get ready for some inspiring chat and a big dose of positive energy in this episode with Faye Dicker, AKA Freelance Mum.
Faye is a Broadcaster, Voiceover and founder of the award-winning networkFreelance Mum.
Faye set up Freelance Mum in 2013, when she struggled to find anetwork for fellow mums in business. If it didn’t exist then she’d justhave to create one!
Freelance Mum was established and successfully run in Bristol for 7years, before pivoting during lockdown to launch hubs across thecountry.
Faye has been named Top 100 Most Influential Women in TheWest for two consecutive years, awarded Freelance Ambassador of theYear Award and Covid-19 Success Story, for her work with FreelanceMum.
When she’s not busy running her businesses (or on the school run!) Fayecan often be found swimming in her local lido and Clevedon Marine Lake.
 
Find Faye at freelancemum.co.uk 
Follow on instagram: @freelancemum01
 
#freelancemum #freelancemumcommunity #networking #netwalks #freelancemumlife #freelancemom #freelancemoms #freelanceparents #freelancemummy #freelanceisolation #freelancefamily