Community Spotlight: Transitioning to Freelance

By: Katy Bellotte / July 6, 2020

Community Spotlight: A series highlighting Aspire to Her community members and their experiences early in their careers.

Who we’re featuring this week: Katy Bellotte
Position: Founder at Katy Bellotte Designs

You started your career at L'Oréal in the Digital and Social space for over a year. In 2019, you left to pursue freelance and founded Katy Bellotte Designs. What was your experience during this transition?

A lot of growth happened during that transition. As young people, we can sometimes fall into the mindset that we need to do what everyone else is doing; that we need to go from high school to college, then immediately dive into a corporate job, in a very linear, sequential order. While I was in my corporate role, which was a dream job for many, I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching my life unfold from afar and I had no part in it. Which, at 23 years old, that was terrifying. So after some thinking, I decided to put in my 2 weeks notice and give myself the chance to try freelance. I’m so glad I did! It has swiftly become one of the greatest joys of my life so far. To answer the question, the transition was anything but sunshines and rainbows. It involved some uncomfortable conversations, terrifying courage and more questions than answers. So worth it, though.

What's your advice for anyone contemplating a switch from a traditional role to freelance?

My biggest advice for anyone who is considering the freelance path is two-fold. One: make sure you have a financial cushion in place. Especially in NYC, where it costs an arm and a leg to even have just an apartment roof over your head, you need to make sure you have about 5 months of rent + living expenses tucked away in your savings. That is what I did, at least. Making spontaneous decisions to quit your job is romantic, but you need to make sure you can do so without going into severe debt. Two: make sure you have some jobs and clients lined up, even if it’s just a few. Get it in writing that they are interested in working with you. Stemming from this, you will need to establish your rates pretty early on! I recommend finding other creatives in your area, meeting up with them and getting some advice. I’ve personally found other freelancers, at least in the city, are eager to help others just starting out!

If you’re interested in sharing a career experience/lessons learned with other Aspire to Her community members, please fill out this quick form!