#185: My First Year of Freelancing after Corporate Burnout, with Abby Nieten

Today’s guest is Abby Nieten. Abby lives in the Indianapolis, Indiana, area, with her husband and three sons. A year ago she launched her freelance business, Shining Waters Editorial, where she is a copy editor and proofreader specializing in business content and nonfiction manuscripts. 

Abby also recently launched a monthly newsletter called Stream of Confidence, which is for authors, writers and other business professionals who want to create and publish content that impacts other humans. It offers a steady stream of encouragement, inspiration, connection and quality assurance tips to help you publish your work with confidence. 

In today’s episode, Abby and I talk about:

• How a layoff led to her freelancing career. 
• Feeling undervalued and burnt out in the corporate world. 
• How she prepared for freelancing while still working full time. 
• How she’s getting clients.
• Trying to figure out pricing. 
• Four pivotal lessons she’s learned over the past year. 
• Why she wishes she had taken a break between being an employee and starting her freelance business. 
• Just do it — you don’t have to wait until you build the perfect structure and business plan before you start freelancing. 
• The challenge of finding the right client mix to provide more stability. 
• The importance of keeping a “sunshine folder” of evidence of your good work. 

Biz Bite: Explore the technology you’re already paying for before buying the new “shiny object.”  

Resources:

• Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee
• Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group
• Abby’s website: ShiningWatersEditorial.com
• Abby’s Stream of Confidence newsletter
• Abby on LinkedIn 
• Connect with Melanie on Threads @MelEdits_DC
• Connect with Melanie on LinkedIn