Nicole Drinkwater on LinkedIn: Where have all the mothers gone? | Creativebrief (2024)

Thank you to everyone who joined the 3rd Freelancer Q&A Session with me and We Are Shelance founder, Hollie Fraser. We had an amazing group of people who shared their freelance woes and successes. We tackled questions on how to deal with recruiters and contacts who ghost you, whether you should brand yourself as a freelancer or as solo agency or studio, how to negotiate contracts, and so much more. I hope everyone who joined left feeling supported, excited, and a little less lost in this often crazy freelance world. Stay tuned for details on our next group. I already can't wait for it!In the meantime, if you have any questions about freelancing, don't hesitate to reach out. #freelancecommunity #supportsession #freelanceQandA #freelancelife

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Freelancers and thinking-about-being-freelancers, join me and Hollie Fraser tomorrow for our Freelancer Support Group! #freelancers #freelancelife #entrepreneurs

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Come join us!

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So excited to be a part of this freelance support group with Hollie Fraser and the We Are Shelance community. This one sold out quickly, which just means we need to do this more often. Stay tuned! And if you registered, bring your freelancing questions, concerns, and stories. We’re here for it all. #weareshelance #freelance #freelancelife #supportgroup

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2023 was one to remember. It was the year I jumped back into freelancing and was reminded how much I love the crazy, adventurous, unpredictability of it all. And there are a few people I'd like to thank for helping me get here. My amazing team at imre for being so supportive of this little dream of mine, especially to Jennifer Kurowski, Sami A., Courtney Myers, Cameryn Duran, Hayley Frazier, and Wendy Clark. Hollie Fraser for giving me the confidence to go for it. Getting to work with you again has been the biggest highlight. Alex Foster for always advocating for me and being such a force in this industry. Ryan Maloney and the team at StrawberryFrog for giving me my first official ride back on the freelance train. Marcia Herrmann for always gifting me with fun projects. Tom Zampini for bringing me onto the GoodWork.com team to do some, well, good work. Eli Pakier for reconnecting and making legal things fun. Patricia Panlilio, Grace Geraghty Maxson, and the whole team at gotham for bringing the world of beauty back into my life. Sarah Dembert and Desiree Fetherolf for connecting me with the amazing team at Lippe Taylor / /prompt. and Dan West for all the cool concepting opps.And especially to my husband, William Drinkwater for never doubting me for a second. You all make this train worth staying on, and I'm excited to see where it takes me in 2024. #freelancelife #entrepreneur #creativedirector #freelancer #freelancecommunity #gratitude

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Last weekend, my husband I went to his company's holiday party at the Texas Science & Natural History Museum. It was a fun excuse to get dressed up, get a babysitter, take an Uber, have an extra drink. There was a T. Rex. There was a geode-making station. There was a delicious buffet and a s'mores bar. Shakey Graves performed. It was the shindig of all shindigs. It also made me realize that as a freelancer, I don't get a company holiday party. So I decided to throw myself one. I sent out a survey to my employees (me and my dogs), and I asked them, "What would be your ideal holiday party?" The answer from my dogs: to get the human out of the house for once so we can do the secret things we do when the human is out of the house. The answer from me: go to a cute coffee shop decorated for the holidays, get a coffee, read a book, wear sweat pants. I'm happy to say, my company's holiday party was just perfect. Freelancers of the world, throw yourself a holiday party, whatever that looks like for you. Celebrate all you've accomplished this year working for yourself. You deserve it. #freelance #freelancelife #entrepreneur #holidayparty #employeeappreciation

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Last week, I posted a fake (but all too real) conversation between me and a job listing. It started with this line: Job listing: We're looking for an experienced freelance Creative Director for an exciting client. And ended with the fact that the job requesting an experienced, senior level person was paying an insulting, barely junior-level rate. I posted this because I'm seeing it happen more and more - companies drastically underpaying for jobs and getting away with it.I didn't expect that post to get as much traction as it did. I also didn't expect people to start reaching out to me inquiring about the job. The fake job. I learned a lot of things from that post. 1) People don't take the time to read. 2) People see the work "job listing" with a title like "creative director" and just apply. They don't look at the rate. They don't look to see if the job may actually be right for them. They don't look to see if the job is actually a job at all. 3) Some people will work for nothing. Look, I get it. The market isn't great right now. But please don't apply for a job you aren't a good fit for. Please don't apply for a job that doesn't pay what you should be paid. And please don't apply for a job that doesn't actually exist. Do your research on companies and hirers. Read the full job description before applying to make sure it's the right fit for you. Believe in your talent. Know the worth of that talent. Apply for jobs with purpose and intention. Network and make connections. That's how you'll get the gig. #psa #makeratesgreatagain #knowyourworth#freelancelife#LinkedInCommunity#FreelanceCommunity#creativedirector#freelancecareer

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