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Nobody warns you about the quietest part of freelancing: showing up when the numbers are tiny and it feels like no one's watching.
That's me right now. Two followers. No clients yet. A profile I just rebuilt from scratch this week.
I've still got my full-time job, this is the thing I'm building in the cracks of my day. Evenings, weekends, in between everything else. Entering challenges to get sharper. Posting even when it feels like I'm talking to an empty room. Rebuilding, tweaking, showing up again the next day.
And here's the thing, I'm oddly excited about it. Because I finally know exactly what I'm chasing: my first client on Contra, and 100 followers. Small goals. But everyone I look up to here started at the same zero I'm standing on.
So I'm just going to keep showing up.
I feel you and what are you saying completely. Even the biggest ones we see and think they level is unachievable was at this stage once. Sometimes people might forget about the life and struggles of other freelancers in such professional creative platforms. Just keep grinding...
Thank you :)
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
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has anything impactful ever been achieved alone?
that's the main question that's anchored me in this newest season of entrepreneurship.
"nothing of significance was ever achieved by an individual acting alone." John C. Maxwell said that, and every business experience i've been part of has proven it true.
charity: water, Meta, and even the small volunteer based teams i led at Hope Booth, the reality was: there's always been something bigger than one person holding it together.
today i onboarded my first executive assistant 🥹
i'm the face of my business, content Rxx, and i'm at peace with that. but my dad has always told me, "there's no success without succession." and you can't have succession without people.
i've spent a long time doing work alone, even when i was working in-brand at some companies. this season is me learning how to delegate, how to collaborate, how to actually trust i'll get the help i need when asking. it's me becoming a better founder, not just a better freelancer.
i'm building something i want to be able to hand off one day. something rooted in quality over quantity, connection over trend chasing. not because trends are bad, there's a time and place for both! just not the time or place i've found the most meaning in.
i am grateful. mostly for finally listening to my mom (an executive assistant herself) when she said, "go on Upwork and get yourself an executive assistant, maia!" 🤣 mama does know best!
have you ever walked into a room & it immediately feels like home?
yea, that’s how i felt at First, Not Only Network’s 2-year anniversary social 🥹
i heard someone say this & it resonated with me: go alone! force yourself to be uncomfortable
i’m a homebody so it takes being uncomfortable, on purpose, to grow in this szn! which is a new iteration of freelancing as a founder of a grass-roots social media strategy practice (agency)
so here’s to another day of soloprenuer —> entrepreneur diaries
🔥Designed two editorial story concepts where typography becomes the visual, not just sits on top of it.
Same design system. Same vertical letter logic. Same decorative text grid. Two moods, fire and warmth.🍂
Which one stops your thumb? 👇
13 voted
50%
13 voted
50%
26 votes
Closed
Vogue / Love Yourself stops my thumb. 🍂. That's the one I'd stop scrolling for.
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