2024 is the on-ramp to a stronger 2025
Here's a little recap of some of what 2024 held for Unashamedly Creative.
If you’ve been in business this year and you’ve held steady or thrive, I think you should go pour yourself an enormous glass of congratulations and take a big swig.
It hasn’t been an easy year.
We’re still in recovery mode from the events of the last five years. Inflation is proof of that. But we’re also undergoing an unprecedented level of technological change through AI and a fragmentation of marketing via the changing nature of social media.
It is hard to keep going in these kinds of conditions. And any forward movement is good momentum.
Adaptability is the dish of the day.
We’re in danger of repeating the same mistakes if we don’t accept 2025 will be another year of uncertainty. Or continuing to use social media as a broadcast medium rather than one driven by community.
But we can get through this – I know we can – by recognising marketing got too big for its boots (and reframing it), looking at how we sell, and taking a hard look at productivity to make sure we’re not caught up in visibility for visibility’s sake.
We have opportunities to reinvent how we work, take the road less travelled, and leverage freelance expertise and experience well by creating freelance-friendly workplaces.
I really want to help your company thrive with freelancers. What would make freelancers more appealing to you in the future? You tell me!
We’re stronger together than alone
Connecting over messages matters. That’s why I worked with Rounded for six months to create a radical act of financial transparency to help normalise good accounting habits with freelancers and the change it can have on your business.
I am keen to work with other businesses with a freelance audience that want to tap into my audience of 6600 Australian and New Zealand freelancers in a practical, honest, and useful way. Get in touch now to discuss.
It was a real honour to work with Patreon as an A-Club captain, promoting crowdfunding as a reliable income source for creatives. I’ve stayed dedicated to freelance education in the Freelance Jungle, handling classes, courses, workbooks, blogs, and a lot of community activation.
The privilege of supporting both artists and Illawarra-based creatives was also mine. I continued to coach diverse artists in the region under the Creative Pulse program, as well as offer workshops on funding sources like crowdfunding in March, and highlighting self-care for creatives during October’s mental health month. And advocate for the arts as a job we need. Check out the case study.
Creating more avenues of business support
To help make coaching more accessible and take the burden off business, I created three new coaching offerings and a new plan for contingency management.
The deep diving Creative Change program gave coaching clients and me six hours over three fortnightly sessions to dig deep into their business and make big changes. Including help an academic transition to consulting, a grant writer develop a grant writing course, plan out a year’s worth of marketing for a podcasting journalist, develop another program by a facilitator for women 50+ to reconnect with their purpose, end-of-life specialists, and a German virtual assistant pivot to Australian automation specialist.
The Strategic Spark program (an actionable strategy & plan plus coaching) saw me work with a designer to revamp their approach to marketing and their online presence, create an outreach strategy for a self-publishing expert, and sign up to work with performers and theatre makers as they tour in the Illawarra in 2025.
I also put my coaching to good use to help Parramatta Women’s Shed to create their business plan via regular monthly coaching and document editing support, and see former Kiama-based underwear startup Luckies Knickers go from strength to strength.
Future-minded thinking
Inspired by my daily lake and beach walks as their impact on my mental health and business-related stress, I launched walk-and-talk style coaching for Illawarra locals at Windang beach. With the redundances at UOW, I want to help five professors transition to freelance work using this walk-and-talk coaching model.
Concerned about the lack of contingency planning in Australian business, I created a Community Health Plan specifically designed to help businesses identify potential challenges and pivot to a Plan A to C and meet the uncertain conditions head on.
I saw a lot of decision-fatigue and “we have to get this right!” pressure in business this year. Which is understandable, but also creates more problems that it solves.
My aim is to normalise business coaching for all kinds of individuals, regardless of their type of work. While also explaining the difference a person-centred (not program-centred) business coach can have on your business.
Connecting with community
In September, I presented on community of practice as part of a panel for the community management event of the year, Swarm 2024. It was such an amazing room of people and opportunity and reignited my love for all things community based.
Through Generation Women Australia, I could tell the story of my worst-best mistake in a packed theatre in Wollongong, sharing a story of overcoming childhood adversity to thrive through arts, writing, and local connection.
I also spoke to a virtual audience of writers and journalists thanks to Rachel’s List on what it means to take calculated risks in these uncertain times, sharing the time with the amazing Monica Davidson.
Jessica Harkins and I presented for the third time at the Lifting the Lid International Festival of Death and Dying, highlighting what happens after you’re gone.
I’ve just returned to Girls on Fire, with the absolute privilege of pulling together their 2024 Impact Report and am already excited about 2025 will bring here!
What will 2025 hold?
In these uncertain times, I know of one thing:
The more we raise each other up, the more we can achieve.
Already, I’ve been invited to speak at the first ever Creative Summit in August 2025 in Kiama, which I am so excited about.
I’m also developing a new event for the Illawarra to help increase creative visibility and connection (sign up to my newsletter for updates).
I’ll be working more in diversity and inclusion in 2025 (and I can’t wait to tell you more about that later).
As well as potentially bringing the message of death and dying to brand new audiences.
And I am still keen to help workplaces connect better with freelancers in the long term.
Need help?
Ask me for:
· Coaching, workshops, and classes
· Speaking, presenting, and advocacy support
· Community management strategy and reinvigoration
· Content marketing, ghostwriting, and authority writing for your business
· Strategy, planning, and performance assessment
· Help with finding, working with, and keeping top freelance talent
· New ways to solve current problems with marketing, funding, engagement, and communication
Thank you to everyone who has supported me this year. I look forward to helping you out next year. I’ll be back on January 13th, 2025.
Image: art deco building beside a morning summer beach in Wollongong.