Interview - Vanessa Barrington
Vanessa is a marketing, communications and PR leader, and the founder of The Right Remark. She's dedicated to working with brands that help others, and is known by her pals as a ‘book doula’ — by helping aspiring authors bring their books into the world! We chat with Vanessa and find out what made her leap from a highly successful corporate career into the unknown world of freelancing.
What inspired you to start freelancing? Was there a ‘moment’ that made you realise it was time?
In December 2016, I was working a zillion hours a week for a big corporate as a Communications Manager. I'd joined the company in a midweight role, got promoted, built a high performing team, and was kicking-ass at work five and a half years in.
It was nearing Christmas and I was exhausted. I had done 14 trips away from my family. I NEVER took lunch, and sometimes I didn't leave the office before midnight.
As a working supermum and closet hippy, my idea of "balance" was totally skewed.
By this point in the year I’d done over fourteen interstate trips away, my kids hardly saw me, I wasn't looking after myself, my husband and I had NO time to enjoy the fruits of my successes because all I did was work all the time. I was a grumpy, tired bitch and I was on the verge of burnout.
I'd had a niggling dream to set up my own agency and help market non-profits, startups and generally lovely people for years, but until that point—I’d buried the dream. It had been ten years of ignoring what I really wanted to do in order to raise two kids, get the high profile job, achieve the recognition, climb the ladder, manage the team, do and have “all the things”.
I now had all those things. I had doubled my salary in 5 short years and from an outsiders point of view, I did have it all.
But guess what? (You know where this is going...) It wasn't what I wanted. So I sat down and took a good hard look at myself. I realised I had been sacrificing everything to avoid looking at what I really wanted. I was avoiding facing my dreams head-on because I was terrified of taking the leap.
I was the main income earner and my husband and I had two mouths to feed… but I couldn’t pretend anymore.
So. I quit my job. I had a long holiday.
Then I leapt into building my dream business - The Right Remark - and 3 and a half years on I haven’t looked back and I’m still going strong!
What advice would you give to someone just starting out on their freelancer journey?
It’s so easy for us to get caught up in perfectionism, thinking we’re not good enough, worrying about what other people think.
I know EVERY successful person says this but if you say YES, as in, you follow your heart, do what you love, back yourself and really give it a red hot crack - the universe will say YES right back to you.
I believe that everything does happen for a reason but we get lazy, we get fearful and sometimes we just need to jump in and learn.
What’s next for you in business?
I’ve just launched The Right Remark podcast as a bit of a passion project. It’s all about storytelling with a dash of spirituality thrown in, and I’m loving the opportunity to use it to flex my ex-journalism skills and just chat to people about meaningful marketing.
I’m also working on a pretty special project to do with my work as a book doula (someone who helps birth books!) which I’ll have more to share on during the course of 2020.
This or that
Tea or coffee? Coffee all the way. Although I do LOVE my herbal teas and normal tea too, if I had to choose one - it’s definitely coffee. I don’t get out of bed without one!
Introvert or extrovert? I’m extroverted tending towards moments of introversion - near the middle ;)
Earlybird or night owl? This one really depends on what’s happening in my world. My best work and thinking gets done really early in the morning before the kids get up, but I am also a creative - and sometimes we procrastinate (meaning late nights to deliver deadlines!)
Home office or coworking space? I work from my home office but love to collaborate with like-minded people either in person or virtually. Bless technology!
Emails or calls? I prefer to chat over the phone but I am also extremely generous with my time so in business, I make it a balance of both!
Paper or digital to-do list? I am old school and like to jot things down, but I swear by my Asana task list.
Books or podcasts? Podcasts. Do I have to choose? What about a podcast all about books and storytelling? Is this the part where I plug The Right Remark Podcast ;)