Career path stories: The practice of freelancing

Career path stories:

The practice of freelancing

We know that everyone’s career path is different, and some are even non-traditional. Members of the YAF Strategic Vision Group, are offering our insights into how we got to where we are, paired with contributing authors. The contributing YAF members of this career path series are Malcolm Watkins and Carrie Parker.

Parker and Watkins interviewed an individual who can speak to various experiences in freelancing. Due to the nature of the work, they have opted to remain anonymous.

Carrie Parker (CP) and Malcolm Watkins (MW): What is your primary occupation?

Anonymous (A): I am a recently licensed architect at a large (100-plus) firm in a major city. We primarily do institutional projects.

CP and MW: Why did you choose to start freelancing, and does your employer know?

A: I had an opportunity that I could not pass up, but I was not ready to start my own firm because I did not have the financial resources. The allure of more money is also hard to pass on with massive student debt and sky-high housing prices. My firm’s policy is more open than others: They know that they can’t stop you from doing it, and it is generally allowed — as long as you don’t use company time or resources to do it and the work type is not in competition with the firm. Until, that is, you become a partner in the firm. Then they expect that your full attention is on the firm you now have shares in, and the compensation is accordingly higher. I work with a friend sometimes to share work, and their firm is more of a “don’t ask, don’t tell” moonlighting policy. CP and MW: How do you pick your projects, and what kind of work?

A: More often than not, they pick me more than I pick them, which also gives me the power to say no when I have too much going on to balance the combined workload. The one I could not pass up was working for a family member for some commercial work. Since this was not a market or geography the firm had a presence, I went for it — working nights and weekends for over a year. It was exhausting, but I paid off some debts with the extra money. Since then, I’ve mostly done home plans for friends or family and answered one NextDoor request for help in picking furniture. My friend at a smaller firm has been able to pass along some projects to their firm and still work on them and maintain that business relationship. I have other friends who make and sell wearables on Etsy and local flea markets or do portrait photography.

CP and MW: What have you learned in this process that you couldn’t learn in your day job?

A: I have learned so much more about a different way of doing business than I did from my firm. Since it is a bigger firm, there is a lot of red tape with how we do business. Being smaller, I was able to be more agile. However, I expose myself to more risk. So I learned to write my own contracts (that also acknowledge the side business and indemnify my employer), setting and negotiating my own fees. I learned to navigate budgets, overhead, business taxes (so many taxes that first year!), setting up the business as a legal entity for my own protection and figure out how business finances work. All of these things I would not get exposure to in my day job for several more years, and when I did, it was different because of the scale. But because I had this perspective, I have a greater empathy for my firm partners and more understanding of architecture as a business.

CP and MW: What are some of the drawbacks you see to moonlighting, and what advice do you have for others thinking of doing the same?

A: Time management and self-care are still my biggest challenges. Eventually, I started asking myself, “What am I missing out on by taking this job?” — time with friends, eating a healthy meal, doing something that brings me more joy than just chasing money.

I have three pieces of advice: Know yourself and your motivations; protect yourself mentally, emotionally, legally; and advocate for yourself in the side hustle and/or in your day job. If you are honest with your bosses about your financial situation and debts, they should be willing to have an open conversation about compensation. If they don’t, then maybe it’s time for a change.

“Time management and self-care are still my biggest challenges. Eventually, I started asking myself, “What am I missing out on by taking this job?”

Carrie Parker, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

Parker is an associate vice president at CannonDesign’s D.C. office. She is also the young architect representative for Virginia and won an Emerging Professional Award from AIA Virginia in 2020.

Malcolm Watkins, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP

Watkins is a vice president with SJCF Architecture in Wichita, Kan. He serves on the management team with an emphasis on design technology, quality control, and recruitment. He is also the young architect regional director for the central states.