Unlocking Freelance Community ft. Julie Sturgeon

Unlocking Freelance Community ft. Julie Sturgeon

Ready to find your freelance community? Try Freelance Success free for one month at ⁠JoinFreelanceSuccess.com⁠ [https://www.joinfreelancesuccess.com]. We made it. This is the final episode of Season 1 of the Freelance Success Podcast — and to close it out, Liam sits down with the person without whom none of this would exist. Julie Sturgeon has been part of the Freelance Success community since 2002, long before LinkedIn, Facebook, or any of the platforms freelancers now rely on. She took over as co-host and administrator in 2021, and she's been helping freelancers find their people ever since. In this conversation, Julie and Liam talk about why private community is so different from anything happening on social media, how real freelance networking is built on friendship rather than connections, what it means to finally be around people who actually get it, and why whether you're in your first year or your tenth, community is still one of the most underused tools in a freelancer's toolkit. Julie Sturgeon is a long-time book editor and co-host of the Freelance Success community. You can reach her directly at editor@freelancesuccess.com [editor@freelancesuccess.com] — and if you join FLX, she'll be the first one in your chat box to say hello. If you've enjoyed Season 1, the best thing you can do is leave us a rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts — it makes a real difference in helping other freelancers find the show. And if you or someone you know would make a great guest for Season 2, we'd love to hear from you at editor@freelancesuccess.com [editor@freelancesuccess.com].

The Financial Mindset Every Freelancer Needs ft. Michael Brennan

Join Freelance Success Freelance Success is a community built for freelancers at every stage — with expert sessions, curated resources, and daily conversations with people who get it. Try it free for one month at ⁠JoinFreelanceSuccess.com⁠ [https://www.joinfreelancesuccess.com].About this episode Money is the thing freelancers worry about most — and the thing most of us are least equipped to manage. In this episode, Liam sits down with his own financial advisor, Michael Brennan of Brennan Capital Management, for a conversation that's equal parts practical and philosophical. They get into why debt shrinks your ability to experiment and pivot, how to think about a personal research and development budget for your business, why a diversified freelance business is actually less risky than a W2 job, and how to approach a pivot without blowing up your finances in the process. Michael also makes the case that financial planning isn't about locking money away until you're 65 — it's about reverse-engineering from what you actually want your life to look like. Want to get your freelance finances in order? Brennan Capital Management works with freelancers and small business owners across the country. Find Michael at BrennanCapitalManagement.com [https://www.brennancapitalmanagement.com] and on LinkedIn.

Fending Off Feast or Famine Cycles ft. Shweta

Join Freelance Success 1 month for free [joinfreelancesuccess.com] Feast or famine is one of the most talked-about challenges in freelancing—and one of the most feared. The income rollercoaster can be brutal, and it doesn't discriminate. Even experienced, successful freelancers hit stretches where work dries up, and they are left wondering where their next payment will come from. In this episode, I'm joined by Shweta, a B2B tech writer and organic growth marketer who has been freelancing full-time since 2012. She's been through not one, but two famine cycles—the first during the pandemic, when both her writing business and her co-owned food business took a hit at the same time, and the second more recently, in 2024-25. Both times, she came out the other side, and in this conversation she breaks down exactly what helped her get through it and what she's doing differently now. We talk about the financial systems she put in place after the pandemic wiped her out—including a percentage-based savings approach, multiple account buckets, and building a six-to-nine month nest egg—as well as the mindset shift that made all of it possible: treating your freelance work like a real business, and yourself like an employee worth investing in. We also get into the guilt and shame that comes with dipping into savings, why the word "should" is worth paying attention to, and why a populated lead pipeline is the best insurance you can have. In this episode: * Why relying on one or two clients is such a common (and risky) pattern * The financial books and systems that changed how Shweta manages her money * How to think in percentages rather than fixed dollar amounts * What a "slush fund" is and why it's different from an emergency fund * How a projected income spreadsheet can shift the way you think and act * Why it takes at least three months from first contact to first payment * The lead pipeline as a famine-prevention tool Resources mentioned: * FOCUS Framework [https://shilalekh.substack.com/about] — Shweta's framework for freelance focus and financial clarity * FOCUS Cash Flow Tracker [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1710Js2545bbj0ig3h6qYy4kdX-jENY6u/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=105278205361036004414&rtpof=true&sd=true] — a spreadsheet for tracking projected vs. actual income * Check Your Financial Health [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Y66M1L5_mdh6XhiYHS9sxUhdRkKbEP1q/edit?gid=128197586#gid=128197586] — a self-assessment tool * The Chapati Framework for Famine Response [https://drive.google.com/file/d/13QIf79SNDVahRUlIbKpBQSiaP_BSzRML/view?usp=drive_link] — Shweta's guide for navigating a famine cycle when you're in one * The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason — the book Shweta recommends to everyone * FLX also has an income projection spreadsheet in the resource library — search "income" to find it if you're already a member. About Shweta Shweta is a B2B organic growth marketer for tech brands, from startups to mid-size companies, working through her solo consultancy, Shilalekh. Her writing has appeared in Forbes Advisor, Newsweek, and Huffington Post, and she is the author of four books spanning fiction and nonfiction. Alongside her solo business, she co-owns a food business with her husband, giving her hands-on experience on both sides of the freelance-client relationship. Connect with Shweta on LinkedIn [http://www.linkedin.com/in/shwetaatbokaro] or explore her work at shilalekh.com [https://www.shilalekh.com/]. She also offers three free 30-minute chats for anyone who wants to pick her brain on writing, freelancing, or business — reach out via LinkedIn to grab one. Enjoyed this episode? Search "The Freelance Success Podcast" on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and leave us a review — it helps more freelancers find the show. Want more? Join the Freelance Success community for a free month at joinfreelancesuccess.com [https://joinfreelancesuccess.com]. You'll get access to our full resource library (including that income projection spreadsheet), live events, and a private community of freelancers at every stage of their careers.

The Realities of the Freelance Pivot ft. Sarah Duran

Pivoting sounds simple — until you're in the middle of one. In this episode, Liam talks with fractional COO and business coach Sarah Duran about what pivoting actually looks like for freelancers and solopreneurs: the fear, the sunk cost thinking, and that uncomfortable wobbly period when you're straddling two things and haven't committed to either. Sarah reframes the pivot as a spectrum rather than a hard stop — from total overhauls to little shifts in what you offer. She and Liam dig into her concept of the "through line" — the thread that connects everything you do across different versions of your business — and why finding it requires looking backwards before you can move forward. Sarah Duran is a fractional COO and business coach for solo and micro business owners — and a real-life solopreneur with over a decade running her own business. Through her working group The Solopreneur Collaborative, she helps established freelancers stop muddling through alone and start building businesses that don't consume their lives. 🔗 Website [https://www.fruitioninitiatives.com/]🔗 The Solopreneur Collaborative [https://www.fruitioninitiatives.com/collab-overview]📎 Strategic Planning Playbook [https://www.fruitioninitiatives.com/strategic-planning-playbook]💼 Sarah on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahdurancoo/]

What Still Works for Freelancers on LinkedIn? Ft. Meredith Farley

LinkedIn has changed—and if you've felt it, you're not imagining things. In this episode, Liam sits down with his longtime friend Meredith Farley, CEO of Medbury, a LinkedIn-focused agency that creates strategy and content for everyone from Fortune 500 executives to solopreneurs building their first real pipeline. They get into what's actually working on the platform right now: the post types that consistently perform, why a photo with your face in it outperforms a graphic every time, how to use automated outreach tools to build a targeted pipeline without feeling spammy, why your follower count matters less than you think, and how a simple list of 50 people can completely change the way you engage on LinkedIn. Meredith also shares a free downloadable resource — her agency's post types framework — that's worth bookmarking regardless of where you are in your LinkedIn journey. 📎 Download: 8 LinkedIn Post Types that Actually Work [https://www.medburyagency.com/content-types-download] 🔗 Follow Meredith on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredith-farley/] 📬 Meredith's Substack [https://meredithfarley.substack.com/] Want to go deeper on LinkedIn? The Freelance Success community has a full course on optimizing your LinkedIn profile as a freelancer, plus 30 post prompts for when you hit a wall. Try it free for one month at JoinFreelanceSuccess.com [https://www.joinfreelancesuccess.com].