Maybe it was the idea of working from home. Or the ability to pursue projects that interest you. Whatever the reason, most of us remember when and why we decided to freelance (even if we lose sight of it from time to time). Here's my story...
The summer I was 17, my mother announced that it was time for me to get a summer job.
"I really want to devote the summer to writing," I told her. "I'll finally have time for creative projects instead of all those AP English assignments."
"That's not a job," she told me. "You need to learn the value of work and money."
"I'll freelance," I countered, though at the time I wasn't sure what that meant.
Now, less than a decade later, I'm actually doing it! (And yes, I did find a job that summer, which inspired a one-woman play called Revenge of the Burger Babe. The manuscript disappeared when my parents bought a new computer but my distaste for raw beef lives on.) Sure, that conversation awakened my renegade side, but mostly my future freelance career grew out of a desire to have a creative outlet and earn extra money when I was slaving away in entry-level hell. I eventually burned out on working in an office, so that was a factor, too.
Your turn! What inspired you to freelance? Was it the flexibility? A dislike of office culture? A love for your creative projects? Or something else?