After a grounded training and work life in a large salon group, hairdresser and colour specialist Gareth Williams was hungry for change. Time to switch it all up and regenerate as a freelancer. He shares recollections of this journey with Tribu-te Magazine – we love his honesty! And offers constructive advice on how to organise yourself.
Gareth: chapter 2
“As the next chapter of my career began, I was already on the back foot. Let me explain!
“Having been fully-employed and managing a successful team, organisation and being ‘unflappable’ had become second nature to me. After the Pandemic, like many other hairdressers, the prospect of a freelance career had become increasingly attractive. And it was.
“Initially I worked out of a cool, freelance space in the heart of London’s Soho. I had booking support, assistants and stock orderingall taken care of. I felt incredible benefits and the autonomy
on how and when I worked, was instantly AMAZING! The cost? 50% of what I should make.
“Quickly, the hard work was paying off. A growing social media presence and a global deal with Moroccanoil followed and I became the brand’s Colour Ambassador. At home, the birth of our first child. Life was busy, but it was everything I wanted.
“Frankly, working on clients and flying around the world doing cool projects had become my career. But with the imminent arrival of our second child, time became more precious.
Gareth: chapter 3
“So the next chapt
er began. The opening of a new super salon, again in central London, with stunning aesthetics and beautiful light was where I needed to be. But here, everything was on me. The bookings, the stock ordering, working with contractors. I discovered this was what being fully freelance meant. And it was sloppy.
“I was overwhelmed, back-to-back with clients, and without a moment to breathe. I was trying to get to grips with my stock-ordering – which I was either forgetting to order (and begging for favours) or over-ordering from fear. Client requests started to feel like an inconvenience despite this being the foundation of the business. I felt myself falling behind with my socials.
“Although I was in this freelance space – I felt quite the opposite of free.
“I couldn’t continue this way. The birth of our second child and a potty training toddler made it feel like there was never any downtime to even think, let alone feeling creative. Enough was enough! The unflappable organised persona was long gone and it was time to rediscover that person.”
Gareth: now
“I had to create more time within my business. The lack of structure was suffocating. I now set aside non-negotiable time to do the admin based work. Mondays is the desk-day with workable weekly lists that are
designed to not just work for my business, but work for me as a creative.
“I have clear ‘TO DO’ lists that cover everything from stock, social media, leasing with brands, and press, as well as to track business expenses.
“Implementing a monthly deeper dive ensures that the processes are working and enable more time to work on larger projects. Or give me the space to think about new approaches, techniques whilst also being able to research trends.
“I compress my hours in the salon to 24 hours-a-week over two days. NB of course the cost of 8 hours admin time has to be factored into my pricing.”
The benefits of structure
“I have clear control and feeling overwhelmed by a cloud of outstanding jobs is now a thing of the past. There’s still room to grow, with a more streamline approach to booking, new services to adapt to the consumer, and a lovely website. But now there is time to work on that and the headspace. I’m much happier!”
Bravo Gareth – telling it like it is and super helpful. Thank you.
thwilliamshair
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