Interview - Charlie Bland
Hailing all the way from London to now call Australia home, Charlie spent her 20’s racking up some serious cred on her CV. Working with Brands like ASOS, Boohoo, Frank Body, Go-To Skincare and Sand & Sky (yes, we’re jealous too!) It wasn’t until she found a role in a start up that she was able to prioritise lifestyle around dreading the 8am-8pm grind. Wanting no-one else to experience the same burnout Dear Charlie Marketing was born. Now, that CV is bursting with more fab e-commerce businesses. This is her journey.
Tell us how you ended up here as a freelancer? Where did it all begin?
I was working in a corporate gigs for some of the UKs biggest brands which although I loved the work and my team, I didn’t enjoy the pressure to always be delivering and the competitive overworking. It sounds like a cliche but it’s all about results in big business marketing and time waits for no-one. I often found myself working from 8am to 8pm with an hour commute each way, competing with colleagues about how many Kms we’d run in our lunch breaks that week and grabbing lunch at my desk as a result. It wasn’t healthy, but I had the big fancy brands on my CV which at the time in my early 20s I thought was the most important thing.
In one particular job I worked really long hours because I wanted to be smashing my targets and I actually got a really bad injury to my right wrist from overwork. I ended up having to have my right hand in a rigid splint for 6 months and a series of steroid injections to my tendons - hectic! It still affects me today so I have an always reminder to never end up back in that hamster wheel! So... I kind of took a moment to go ‘holy shit, this is all getting a bit crazy’, quit that job and took a chance on a role in a startup, that paid less. It was bonkers and incredibly disorganised, but I could walk to work (in London, like unicorn-level rare!) and have the flexibility about how I structured my working day. For me, this was the first time I had the option of starting late because I went to yoga that morning or taking an extra long lunch because I needed to de-stress. I started to make my working day work for me and I realised I wasn’t going to go back to a corporate gig unless it granted me that same flexibility.
I kept looking at the startup and thinking I could do this (the marketing stuff) better myself. If he can run this company why can’t I run something similar, so I just took the leap. When I moved to Australia I realised that my marketing experience was pretty rare, so I decided to set up Dear Charlie Marketing with the view to really help independent business owners reclaim their free time. I don’t want to see others experiencing that burn-out that I felt and I wanted to share my know-how to help others become more strategic and successful. My business values pretty much reflect this:
Freedom - my business needs to grant me the freedom to be flexible in my working environment, hours and location. My business should also (eventually) grant me the financial freedom to be able to visit my family and friends back in the UK without this being a huge burden.
Joy - without trying to quote Marie Kondo, if it doesn’t spark joy… haha! But seriously, my workshops, my attitudes are that this has to be something that fires up your soul. Yes there are always going to be times when we have to roll up our sleeves and do the less-fun stuff, but if the majority of what I’m doing isn’t fun… then why am I doing it? I may aswell be back in the corporate grind earning a hell of a lot more.
Honesty & Integrity - I saw a lot of bullshitting and ass-kissing happening in my corporate life. I’d much rather be honest with a client and keep things real then play a game of smoke and mirrors. All the work I’m doing has to be something I’d be proud to put my name to and something that will deliver the best possible outcome for my clients.
What was your last ‘real’ job?
Marketing Campaigns Manager at Cancer Research UK. I was responsible for managing marketing for their talent-led, youth-oriented Stand Up To Cancer campaign.
How did you prepare to start working for yourself?
I don’t think I really did. Ooops. I had my laptop and a vague idea of what I wanted to do. I reached out to a few clients and got my first couple of paid gigs under my belt before coming up with Dear Charlie Marketing, registering my business name, email and domain and setting up a website before trading under that name.
What was your biggest fear before you started freelancing? Any tips to overcome these fears?
I think I had a fear (and still do sometimes) that people would think I didn’t know what I was doing or would question my ability to do it.
In three emojis, describe your life as a freelancer…
☕ - coffee: it starts my everyday and is the starting point for so many professional relationships - both clients and collaborators.
😖 - that face you pull when you have a tricky client or your to-do list is the list of a team of 10.
🏖 - the beach! I make time every day to try and get down to the beach, because I want to be eternally grateful for this epically gorgeous place I get to live. I work for myself so I have the time to make the most of my day and carve out some time for nature.
Walk us through a typical work day?
Morning: I usually get up around 6am and go for a walk by the beach with my puppy or head to the gym for a workout. I then get home and spend a couple of hours hanging out having coffee/brekkie and doing something for me. Currently I’m trying to finish a jigsaw that’s been taking an eternity. I like being able to feel like I’ve got up for me rather than for work. I usually start work between 8.30-9am and I’ll start by clearing out any urgent emails. I don’t check my email all day as I find it counterproductive so I then close that down until lunchtime unless I’m waiting on a reply. I find I’m at my most productive first thing, so I’ll get through any big jobs I need to get done first.
Afternoon: I always take a lunchbreak, even if it’s just 20minutes to be away from my desk. When I get back I check my email for a second time and I usually find I’m flagging by about 2pm so I’ll do something less brain-consuming like scrolling pinterest for content inspiration, reading articles and upskilling or scheduling the content I wrote earlier in the day. I generally try to schedule my meetings in the afternoon as this is the best use of my less productive office time. Plus, it’s always fun when a 4pm meeting overruns into afterwork drinks.
Evening: I always try to finish by 6pm at the latest, but recently as it’s been getting dark earlier I’ve been wrapping up at 4.30 so I can get down to the beach and have a quick dip (if it’s not too cold) and take the dog for another walk. I’m massive on trying to create punctuation in my day to take me from work to play, so if I’ve not been out for a walk I have a routine where I’ll light incense, switch the lighting to evening vibes and have a shower to signal the shift change into evening. My fiance and I are big cooks, so generally we fill our evenings cooking and then sometimes I’ll catch up with family and friends at home as our evening is their morning. I try to be in bed by 10pm - I’m often not successful!
How as COVID-19 impacted your everyday life?
Haha. Where do I start? The covid emotional rollercoaster is real. I think I’ve really struggled with feeling isolated in Australia and guilty that we have it so good here compared to the rest of the world.
It’s been a struggle knowing that so many people have died in the UK and in Australia we have a stark contrast. When I say to friends at home we’ve now had “100 deaths” they generally ask “what, yesterday?”. It’s so heartbreaking to think of all the loss around the world. It weighs heavy on my heart as that number is families who’ve lost loved ones, not just a statistic.
I’ve also felt a teeny bit guilty that we’ve had relatively minimal restrictions in place here in Queensland compared to my family and friends in the UK. So while we’re all on video calls and virtual pub quizzes together they’re unable to go out and we’ve been able to go for walks on the beach and to the shops pretty much the whole time. Even McDonald’s is currently closed in the UK!
So I guess I’ve had a bit of an identity crisis over this all. Where is my home? It’s made me feel so much further away and more isolated from all my friends and family who I miss so much knowing I can’t just jump on a plane to visit them (not that I have the money to just ‘jump on plane’! I wish!)
From a business POV I’ve had to completely pivot my business. I was trying to create a niche for DCM offering hands-on, in-person training in an increasingly digital world so I’ve had to flip that on its head. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, I’m excited for the opportunities it’s provided me with, but it’s definitely left a pretty hefty dent in my income while I summed up the motivation to dig deep and hustle.
This wasn’t helped by the fact we had to cancel our wedding. We were due to get married on April 18th, so we’ve rescheduled for September 2021 as we’re not sure when international travel will reopen and be affordable again. I’m currently waiting to see if I can get back to the UK for one of my best friends' weddings early next year. It’s strange not being able to RSVP instantly with a ‘hell yes!’.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom! This experience has really made me realise how resilient I am and how incredible the business community around my business is. It’s made me be more grateful for the gorgeous place that we live in. Life is pretty good all things considered!
Name three qualities you need to succeed as a freelancer?
Resilience
Creativity (not in a being an artist sense, but in a how the ‘eff do i get around this challenge sense)
Flexibility
Best thing about freelancing?
Being able to meet so many incredible people - the sense of community you’ll find through your business network but also the different businesses you’ll get to work with.
Suckiest thing about freelancing?
You’ll have months where you earn nothing and you can’t afford to do any of those treats that you usually allow yourself, like grabbing coffee out. It sucks, but you’ve gotta push through it.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out on their freelancer journey?
Try to get your processes set up before you get too busy. When you first start out you’ll be quieter so make sure you’re spending this time getting everything working smoothly for when you’re busy and won’t have time. I told myself this advice, ignored myself and regretted having to set up processes when I was slammed.
What’s next for you in business?
Right now I’m planning my Christmas Coaching Course! This will be kicking off later this year and will consist of weekly coaching and training for any ecommerce or retail business and the option to upgrade to done-for-you services as part of the membership too. It’s going to help a select group of epic retailers and etailers smash their goals during that ‘Golden Quarter’ in the run up to Christmas. It’s going to be epic.
I’ll also be continuing to run my online ‘Do The Workshops’ and hoping to re-launch in-person events once the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Watch this space!
This or that
Tea or coffee? Coffee
Introvert or extrovert? I’m an extroverted introvert. I love being around people, presenting, jumping in with two feet - but I need plenty of alone time to recharge to be able to do so.
Earlybird or night owl? I’m a night owl (it’s the Londoner in me) but since moving to the Gold Coast I’m learning to embrace the early mornings and I’m quickly becoming an earlybird much to the horror of my London friends.
Home office or coworking space? I have a home office and I float between Karma Collab Hub in Miami and Flockd in Burleigh Heads. Sometimes you need to work somewhere different to stay inspired.
Emails or calls? Depends on the situation! If it’s about a task-list or an upcoming project I prefer an email to refer to, but I also run marketing strategy calls which I love!
Paper or digital to-do list? This one is SO tough because I desperately need to be more digital and love using Trello but there is something so cathartic about ticking off a list.
Books or podcasts? Both. For me they serve a different purpose. I don’t listen to
Audiobooks.