Abby McGrew on the fear of starting freelance and being a digital nomad
Monthly Expansion Designer Series Interview
Introduction
I grew up in a small town in West Virginia and knew that I wanted to be a designer when I was about 13 years old. (Mostly thanks to MySpace and my obsession with changing the layout and design of my profile page.) I think I’ve just always had an eye for design and appreciated the storytelling power of it! I went to college for design and right after graduating, I got married and moved to Australia so my husband could start his career playing professional basketball overseas. With design, I had always planned to go work at a cool agency or magazine, but then that sudden move and dream of living abroad changed everything. I started my own design studio, Wayfarer, in 2016 in order to have the freedom to travel and do what I loved. And it’s been an incredible journey growing the business over the past 7+ years, getting to work with so many inspiring clients and bringing their brands to life!
Q. How did you overcome the fear of starting freelancing right out of college after moving to Australia, especially when faced with job rejections, and what were your initial steps to launch your career as a freelance designer?
I wouldn’t necessarily say I overcame my fear. I was scared the entire time! But I honestly didn’t have any other choice but to start freelancing. I knew that I just had to make it work. And if it didn’t work out (which is what I assumed would happen), then I would figure out something else to do. But the first steps I took were:
learning as much as I could about the business side of things
building up my portfolio with passion projects and sharing that work like crazy.
I was lucky to connect with some other designers through Facebook groups and Instagram in those early days who were super generous in giving me advice and helping me learn the ropes.
Q. Given what you now know, what advice would you give to an aspiring designer looking to transition from an agency to independent work, but hesitating due to feelings of unreadiness?
The only thing that can truly “prepare” you for freelancing is getting started and learning as you go. I’ve spoken with so many designers who came from different backgrounds – self taught, straight out of college, transitioning from the agency or corporate world… They all have the same insecurities! So my first piece of advice is to know that nobody feels ready and that’s ok.
Second tip is to take time to review your current portfolio or design style and ask yourself – Does this work align with the types of clients that I want to attract moving forward? If the answer is no, then your first priority should be editing your portfolio to reflect the work you really want to do! When I started, I went to a portfolio review at a design conference where the speaker asked me that same question and it was such a lightbulb moment for me. I had just graduated, so all I had was school and internship stuff in my portfolio. It was good work, but not at all aligned with the types of clients I wanted to work with as a freelancer. After that portfolio review, I deleted everything from my portfolio site and started over from scratch. Probably one of the best things I did in those early days because it got me thinking more in the mindset of attracting the right clients instead of just anyone who would pay me.
Q. How did you manage to get your first clients as a web designer?
Sharing my work every single day. For months! And connecting with other designers who ended up referring work to me. Those were the main things that got me my first clients. But it was a constant grind. I think it took me a year before I really started attracting clients consistently.
Q. As a digital nomad running your business from various beautiful locations around the world, what are two things you enjoy about it, and what challenges do you find in terms of business operations?
Pros: I get so much inspiration from our travels and getting to immerse myself in a new environment. The architecture, interior style, food. I feel like my design style shifts a little bit with each new location because I’m soaking it all up. And surprisingly, the time difference can be a big benefit. I’m usually 5-7 hours ahead of my clients, so I get to do a lot of my work before they even wake up. Of course, the time difference also means that I tend to have all my meetings later in the day. But it’s nice having my uninterrupted mornings where I can just ease into work and get things done.
Cons: Not having a permanent office. I basically have to buy a new desk, chair, and set up a new workspace every year. Although I like being able to switch it up, I’m really jealous of the designers who get to have a beautiful big office that they can fully invest in making their own.
Q. What factors should a designer take into account if they aim to work remotely from any location?
Good wifi is crucial. We once lived in an apartment for 1 month with no wifi and that was a nightmare. (P.S. if you need wifi on the go and are tired of working from coffee shops, try a library! They’re perfect for remote working because they are quiet, have wifi and you’ll be surrounded by shelves full of inspiration.)
It can get lonely sometimes. Lack of in person community can be tough.
Although most clients are totally fine with working remotely nowadays, you might face some rejection because of it. I still have some clients choose someone local over me because they preferred being able to meet in person.
Q. How important is having a routine/solid process as someone who moves around?
A solid process is always important. BUT I would say the thing that really helps me with moving around is actually having a very flexible routine! The way I work and my “routine” kind of changes every time we move, so I think that has naturally made my working style much more “go with flow” vs. having a very strict daily schedule. I think you just have to always be ready to be flexible to meet either your needs or the needs of your client when dealing with moving around or time differences.
Q. Are there any specific boundaries you have that have made this process easier for you?
I take at least 1 full week off every time we move. (Honestly, it should probably take 2 weeks.) I used to feel guilty about taking time off, but I’ve learned the hard way that trying to work during an international move is just bad for both myself and my clients. I need to have plenty of time to prepare for the move and then adjust to not just a new timezone, but a totally new country, language, culture, everything! Being in a totally new place can be emotionally overwhelming and having those couple of days to really settle in is a must.
Also with the time difference, I have to be very upfront about what hours I’m available and when I’m not. I do have to take calls a little later in the evening (like maybe 7pm), but I absolutely will not do calls later than that. In the early years, I was bad about bending to whatever my client asked for and would get on calls at 10pm. But I have very strong boundaries around that now.
Q. You have mentioned you have a small and mighty team. When did you feel it was the right time to bring someone onto your team?
When I noticed that I had reached a plateau in my business where I just didn’t have the time or bandwidth to continue growing. I was doing everything, working all the time and it just felt like I’d reached my limit of what I was capable of taking on myself.
I never envisioned having a team or employees and had actually kind of convinced myself I would never hire. But then one day I was just so exhausted and realized how nice it would be if I had someone to help me. How much easier business would feel. That was the moment I knew it was the right thing to do.
Q. How did you figure out what to delegate or how to manage a team, being location-independent?
Things that you aren’t good at.
Things you don’t enjoy doing.
Things that don’t really require you to do them.
Those are the guidelines that I follow when figuring out what I should delegate to someone else.
Q. With a lifestyle-first approach to business, you mentioned building a venture around that concept. Could you share what this looks like for you? Or fif it’s in the works what it will look like for you?
This is always in the works, I think. But I’ve definitely worked to set up Wayfarer to be flexible and work with my unique lifestyle. I’ve made the time difference work well for me and my team. We have systems in place to make sure we’re all on the same page and organized even though we’re across the world from each other. (1 weekly Zoom meeting, tasks organized in Notion and chatting in Slack) All of that gives me support so that if I need to take time off at the last-minute for travel, I can. My team has my back and I set expectations around that with my clients as well.
Is it perfect? Definitely not! But we’re doing our best to serve our clients well while also prioritizing what’s important to us outside of the business.
And as I’m thinking about the future and having kids within the next few years, I’m definitely working on ways to have even more flexibility with my work schedule to prepare for that big change.
