019 Going Freelance Mid-Pandemic

We all know that unfortunately many people have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, and a number of those have since gone on to set up their own self-employed business.  Today we’re chatting to one such successful entrepreneur, Jessica Ross, about her experience of setting up her business mid-pandemic.  When we invited Jessica to be interviewed she immediately agreed, saying that she hopes it will help others in a similar situation.   Jessica’s story starts with being furloughed, which led to freelancing “on the side”, being made redundant, getting a new job and then setting up on her own, and Jessica shares with us the challenges she overcame along the way.

Here are just some of the insights from our chat:

• You’ll never get everything 100% right at the outset, things will go wrong – learn from these and “own the mistakes”
• Don’t be afraid to put your head above the parapet and ask complete strangers for help, they are generally receptive to helping and supporting
• So many people during the last year have really connected with their empathetic side, it’s also about the human side not just business
• Your values are important to your business and should inform what you do “my personal brand is authentic, I am my business”
• Having a fantastic support network (both personally and professionally) makes all the difference

Although it was amicable, the redundancy affected Jessica’s confidence, and whilst she was lucky to find another job straight away it quickly made her realise that she wanted to work for herself.  Cue several months of working double-time, doing both her new job and developing her business until she got to a point where she could resign and focus solely on her clients.

One of Jessica’s initial challenges was the nightmare experience of a client refusing to pay and breaching their contract, which was devastating and Jessica shares with us how she dealt with it.  Reflecting on what happened Jessica says it made her stronger and gave her a real sense of achievement once it was sorted, and in a way it’s good that it happened so early in her business as it won’t happen again!  Jessica shares this and a number of other challenges along the way with us, and we reflect on how they have all contributed to making her the businesswoman she is today.

About Jessica

Having worked for some of the best-known brands in the UK, Jessica set up her marketing business mid-pandemic in 2020.  Jessica has a flair for writing edgy content that can make your business stand out against the competition in a way that is both relatable and engages people.  She specialises in SEO & copywriting, marketing strategy, social media audits, community management, campaign planning and marketing consultancy.  You can find out more by contacting Jessica directly: