[vc_column]Some of your probably wonder how you can start making money doing freelance design, or web design. Well I will give you some pointers by explaining my story in hopes that it will help you along your journey. I began doing design in junior high school. I didn’t even realize that this was something that could potentially be lucrative in the future. I had my sights set on architecture. After attending school for this, I also continued small design projects on the side for years. I never charged for the projects. I always just did it as a favor, or even sometimes as a bartering mechanism. This would have to lead me to my first point.
Know your worth
Many people have immense talent in many facets, however, if you do not know how valuable your skills are, or can be. Then it will not work to your advantage. In this case you will be selling yourself short, and everyone else will benefit, and you will not.
I worked full time through school. Some of you that may not understand the amount of work it takes to make it through college, let alone the amount of work it takes to do it while working 50-60 hours a week. It was tough, some classes were easy and some really challenged me. I started with a degree in Architecture, then moved on to Software engineering, then decided I needed a break from school and took a semester off. While I had that time off, I dabbled in the though of vocational school to become a massage therapist. Then I moved that thought over to radiology. Ultimately I jumped from thought to thought. Finally, I went to my counselor and asked, [prkwp_spacer size=”18″][bquote type=”plain” prk_in=”With all of the random credits that I have, what will line me up with a degree that is relevant to me?”][prkwp_spacer size=”18″] She said that she would have to analyze my folder and get back to me. I waiting approximately a week before I heard back from her. She told me that I would need very few credits to walk with a degree of Information Technology – Business Systems Analysis (A bunch of words that sum up to a Computer Science Degree).
After all of this, I did not know what I wanted to do with my education or my career. I met someone who worked at Intel and told me that it was an amazing company to work for. So I looked into it and decided to go to their website and decided to look at the job postings. I had submitted over 36 applications to the companies to positions that I felt like I could fulfill.
About three weeks later I am at my day job (delivering beer for Anheuser Busch) and I get a call from a Software Engineering Manager from Intel. He begins to ask me numerous questions about my applications. He told me that it took a lot of ingenuity to fill out that many applications. He asked me if I had more time to go through a phone interview.
Long story short, he asked me to come work for Intel for a paid internship. I thought that sounded like an amazing opportunity to me, so I put in my notice at my current employer and started working for Intel. I was shocked, excited, nervous… Needless to say I was a ball of emotion on my first day. Primarily because I didn’t know what they needed me to do and was not familiar with the corporate world at all. They showed me my desk, and asked me to create mock-ups for a new online application that they were designing. I was the one in charge of the user interface.
Any of you heard of “Fake it till you make it?” this was one of those cases. I completely did not know that I could sit in a chair, design helpful flows and it would lead me to where I am today. My internship turned into a full-time position. I worked for Intel as a UI/UX Designer for 2 years.
This lead me to my value. I had an amazing software coach and mentors that worked at Intel with me. I came in knowing NOTHING and I took flight under them and it clicked for me.
Once I left Intel I actually started my own company. It was a company with a very unique business plan and I am evolving that plan every day.
Every step of that story is what lead me to realize my value. Now we live in a digital world now and the ability for you to see and recognize your value in a marketing setting is much easier now than it used to be. Over the years I have realized that I can sell the work that I do. Since then I have not looked back.[vc_column_text][/vc_column_text]
[prkwp_spacer size=”18″][bquote type=”plain” prk_in=”If you are just getting started, scour the market and see what is competitive, get yourself out there. Do some work for friends and family. Word of mouth spreads fast!”][prkwp_spacer size=”18″]
