We Are All Becoming Freelancers—And That's Your Advantage
As the nature of work evolves, I've discovered a useful insight: adopting a freelancer's mindset—even in regular employment—gives you control over your career trajectory.
Over my last 20 years in professional services, sometimes as an employee and sometimes as an independent, I've learned to view all work as temporary. This perspective has been liberating. And now, working with career coaching clients from technology, healthcare, and the federal government, I see this mindset transforming careers across every industry.
Yes, roles that many thought were stable are changing. But here's what I've learned coaching clients through these transitions: this shift, while challenging, opens doors to opportunities they never imagined possible.
The Freelancer's Advantage: Three Key Practices
1. Always Be Exploring
As a freelancer, you continuously refine who you can serve, what problems you solve, and where to find those who need your skills. You now have the freedom to shape your career path, not wait for assignments.
Start small: identify one problem you solve exceptionally well, and one place this week where you can showcase that skill. One of my clients used this approach to transition into a product management role by demonstrating how her skills in other types of projects mapped to this role. She’s even done market analysis on each company she’s applied to, and that research has landed fourth and fifth-round interviews. I’m confident she’ll land this new type of role soon, as she is demonstrating the skills through her interviews.
When you notice shifts in your industry (yes, including AI), view them as signals to evolve, not threats. Be willing to explore new skills or even new roles. Curiosity is your career insurance.
2. Deliver Work That Tells a Story
For anything you work on, know not just the goals, but who all the stakeholders are and what drives their decisions. Track your key performance indicators (KPIs), but more importantly, tell the story of how your results create impact.
Storytelling isn't just a nice-to-have skill anymore. It's how you connect meaning to work. We all want meaningful work, and stakeholders need to see that meaning reflected in their business outcomes. This becomes a key skill as you move to more senior positions in an organization. You need to do your own marketing even as you deliver the work.
3. Close Every Loop
View each project's completion through a freelancer's lens: Is the stakeholder satisfied? If not, how can you quickly iterate? If they are, what's the next problem you can solve for them?
Most importantly, gather testimonials—even informal ones. A simple "Thanks for your help with X, it really improved Y" in an email becomes proof of your value. We all need to build our portfolio of trust.
This Week's Challenge: Start Your Freelancer Toolkit
Write down three problems you've solved at work recently. These are your portable skills—the foundation of your freelancer toolkit. Don't overthink it. They can be as simple as "streamlined our meeting schedule" or as complex as "redesigned our customer onboarding process."
These become your career assets that travel with you, regardless of where you work.
You Don't Have to Navigate This Alone
Navigating this shift to a freelancer mindset doesn't have to be overwhelming. Whether you're feeling stuck in your current role, preparing for what's next, or simply want to feel more in control of your career direction, remember: this is a journey, and you don't have to take it alone.
The most successful professionals I work with are the ones who learned to think like freelancers before they had to.
What's your biggest career challenge right now? Reply to this email and share it with me. I personally read every response and often share strategies that might help. Sometimes a fresh perspective is all we need to see the opportunity hiding in the challenge.
Remember: In a world where we're all becoming freelancers, those who embrace it first have the advantage.
Footnotes:
If you are curious about this freelancer mindset for your career, join my webinar on Thursday, November 13, 2025, 12-1pm ET / 5-6 pm UK / 9-10 am PT. You can sign up here.
If you found this helpful, forward it to someone navigating their own career transition. Sometimes knowing we're all adapting together makes the journey less daunting.