The Freelance Collective
Let’s create and grow impactful, sustainable enjoyable and profitable freelance* businesses …together.
Support, strategy, and spark for your freelance journey
If you’ve found this page then you will be one of the millions of people who’ve come to the realisation that you want a different approach to your working life - you want a greater sense of freedom, a different pace, more agency and autonomy. You also know that you’ve got something to offer. You might be on the cusp of this, or already be in business.
However you get to this point, the important message to get is that the world NEEDS your services and your ideas NOW. Freelancing is more than simply working for yourself — it’s about shaping a business or lifestyle that reflects your desires for you, your family and the world, it’s about putting out your own personal brand of skills, values, and ambitions into the market and getting paid. It’s absolutely rewarding… exciting and scary, enthralling and hard work all at the same time. But what it is always about is fulfilling your own mission to be an independent person creating your own prosperity, path and story.
And - whatever stage you are at, whether you are starting out, growing your business or services, or indeed mastering and refining your offer…it’s can all be a tricky path to tread.
It’s normal to feel unsure about your next steps, it’s obvious you’ll feel unclear on your next proposition at times and isolation does seem to come with the territory at times too.
All of this is why I’ve created The Freelance Collective - so that you can access the right strategic, operational and psychological advice and information at the right time for you and your business AND do this with a bunch of cheerleading women all facing similar issues at the same time.
*freelance. A term to describe you if you are running your own business, solo self-employed, or a partner in an independent business - whether that’s as a consultant, practicioner, creative, contractor, service based offering, own company, sole trader, CIC director etc. You are freelance if you are working in ANY independent structure that means you are not an employee or PAYE.
Being a freelancer isn’t just about choosing to work for yourself — it’s also about building a lifestyle and a working routine or business that gives you prosperity, purpose, joy and freedom.
But too often independent freelancer’s face similar ongoing challenges:
Where/how to find clients. 75% of freelancers say proactive client acquisition is a challenge to them and they don’t have a usutainable system to do this.
Business development strategies. Over 70% of freelancers state that keeping up with business development and being able to stay up to date and relevent worries them.
Inconsistent income/late payers; over 50% of freelancers have experienced late or missing payments.
Isolation & lack of support 1 in 3 freelancers say loneliness impacts their wellbeing and motivation.
Confidence & clarity struggles many women undercharge, feel unsure how to position themselves and are challenged by the question of visibility needed to generate new business.
That’s exactly why The Freelance Collective exists.
This is a professional network and community for women freelancers who want the success and freedom from freelancing without the stress of doing it all alone.
Right now, at this very moment of economic uncertainty and deep in a state of what’s termed the ‘polycrisis’ there is also an interesting phenomena happening ALONGSIDE all of this….self-employment is increasing.
Women especially are seeking greater sense of purpose and a better lifestyle away from the 9-5 and what this can mean.
The Freelance Collective exists to support you to live-out your ‘full potential as your own boss’.
What you’ll gain from joining the collective
Practical strategies and support to help you develop and sustain your business
Get expert guidance and peer advice on the real issues freelancers face — from pricing and finding clients to setting boundaries and managing money.
A supportive, professional network
Connect with like-minded women at the same stage in their journey. Share experiences, swap solutions, and never feel isolated again.Confidence & clarity to thrive
Through group coaching, freelance surgeries, and Collective learning, you’ll build the mindset and practical tools to feel confident charging your worth and growing your freelance career.
Who is the Collective for?
Women freelancers* often circle around a set of recurring questions at different stages of our freelance journey. Some are very practical; money, clients, systems, while others are mindset-driven; confidence, balance, self-worth.
The collective is for you if you are asking these kinds of questions….
Vision, Business & Money
Who do I want to work with and where will my next clients come from?
(Client acquisition; the demand for consistent, reliable work is often top of mind.)What is my offer/service, how do I explain/market it clearly and how do I develop my proposition?
(Struggles around offer, proposition, niche, positioning or pivoting )How much should I charge for this work — and am I charging enough?
(Pricing, undervaluing, and worrying about asking for more are constant themes)What am I doing and where am I going with this? What’s my preferred approach - Am I running a ‘real’ business or is this a hobby - and does this matter anyway?
(The shift from “side hustle” to sustainable business often triggers this question.)How do I need to think about my future — the sustainability, business model, tax, pensions, savings issues?
(Freelancers often worry about financial stability long-term, not just month-to-month.)I feel a bit ‘stuck’ - I need to invest in help to get me to the next stage of my business
(Freelancers often struggle to buy in the right support at the right time for fear of cash flow)
Confidence & Identity
Am I good enough at what I do?
(Imposter syndrome and self-doubt are huge among women freelancers, especially around pitching, visibility and pricing - how do I deal with rejection as a freelancer?)What’s my USP and how do I stand out from everyone else doing this?
(Questions around differentiation, branding, and competition.)Do I need to say yes to everything — or how do I set boundaries?
(Feast or Famine…Balancing opportunity with protecting time, energy and self-worth.)How do I use social media - do I have to? what’s my way of doing this?
(The dilemma of visibility, authenticity, privacy and what work’s for you and your business)
Balance & Wellbeing
How do I make this sustainable without burning out?
(Freelancers often struggle with overwork, irregular hours, or blurred boundaries.)Can I make this work with kids/caring responsibilities? is this a juggle worth doing and how?
Am I enjoying this — and is freelancing/contracting etc giving me the freedom and what I want?
(The “why” behind freelancing — many question whether they’re living the lifestyle they imagined or just chasing work.)Who is supporting me and where do I get this need met?
✨ These are the recurring inner questions women freelancers revisit at different points — from working with our first client to scaling our businesses to sustaining ourselves long-term; whether you are starting out, growing, mastering or refining your freelance career and want to build strong foundations, these questions pop up time and time again.
If you recognise yourself asking questions like these then the collective is for you…
And of course, like anyone running a business you will be having issues arise about the content of your work; your relationships with clients, issues the work brings up and other related questions. You can ALSO use the collective to bring these type of questions to it - as you might to a non-managerial supervisory group. The Collective will work with a strictly ‘Chatham House Rules’ policy of privacy and confidentiality and the boundaries of this will be outlined and agreed from the outset.
*freelance. A term to describe you if you are running your own business, solo self-employed, or a partner in an independent business - whether that’s as a consultant, practicioner, creative, contractor, service based offering, own company, sole trader, CIC director etc. You are freelance if you are working in ANY independent structure that means you are not an employee or PAYE.
Dates
The dates of the 2025 collective meetings are:
Friday Oct 24th 12-1.30
Friday Nov 7th 12-1.30
Wednesday Nov 19th 12-1.30
Wednesday Dec 3rd 12-1.30
Tuesday Dec 16th 12-1.30
There will be a further 5/6 meetings during January/Feb/March 2026 and the dates/times will be agreed once the collective starts in October 2025.
ALL MEETINGS ARE ON ZOOM. You can attend for as long as you like depent on your diary at the time.
If you are keen to join but struggle with these dates /times please let me know here so I can look at these and ensure that I offer an accessible programme - dates and times can be moved around.
You do not have to attend all the dates to be a collective member.
Collective Fee
The fee to join the Collective is
An initial payment of £105 to secure your place.
5 subsequent payments of £85 per month.
‘Collective’ - programme structure
We will be engaged in a blend of regular, structured support as well as lots of flexible opportunities to ask questions as you go:
Every 3 weeks: Live online meet-ups with the group — a mix of coaching, shared problem-solving, and practical workshops based on WHAT YOU NEED.
At the beginning of the programme I will present you with a draft curriculum and then we will as a group begin to shape it and co-create our curriculum based on who is in this first Collective and what you need to help you move forward. NB: Dates of meetings and times are set below.
Freelance Surgery sessions: Some of these sessions will be drop-in Q&A calls where you can bring any challenge (big or small) and leave with solutions/ideas to try out..
A 24/7 online virtual support infrastruture - our community space where you can post queries and questions to me and your peers and we can offer ideas and solutions - on whatever and whenever you need.
Ongoing buddy system set-up: An online community of peers who get it — and you paired up for a month at a time with peers in the group to do buddy calls - this isn’t about jargon judgment or competition - it’s absolutely about helping each other to succeed. Full instructions to be given.
Accountability structures - you will set your own intentions for the 6 months programme about where you’d like to get to in your freelance/business development journey and what you want to develop for your work.
How will the ‘Collective’ programme work?
You are invited to join the programme for a 6 months period. We will kick-off on Friday 24th October 12 noon-1.30pm
We will meet approximately every 3 weeks from this date but at differing times of the week to enable as many of you to attend the sessions.
Sessions will be max 90 mins long but you can stay for as long as you can make each time - no obligations. The idea is to fit this collective into your work schedule.
There will be approximately 11 meetings over the 6 months of the programme.
New people may join the collective during the 6 months.
The programme will continue from April 2026 for a further 6 months and you can sign up to this further 6 months collective membership if you wish.
The content of this first programme will be BESPOKE to the collective members needs to ensure you get what you need from the programme experience.
Information about your learning and business needs will be gathered by me before we begin and at the first meeting.
Let’s make this work together
Hello! A bit about me if we’ve not worked together before…
I am a ‘portfolio’ freelancer and business woman - and have been since 2002 when I left my last PAYE post as a Charity CEO leader and started my consultancy career. Now, I am a coach, a consultant, an artist and an activist. I am also a parent, a writer and a swimmer. I am a multiple award winning professional and known for my passion and ability to motivate, inspire and enable people to transform and grow potential ideas into great things.
This energy is backed-up and demonstrated by my successful and lucrative portfolio career arising from over 39 years of expertise in leadership, strategy and organisational development. I have three BA and MA degrees in Philosophy, Fine Art and Social Work, and additional qualifications in Counselling, Groupwork and Analytical Network Coaching.
I have successfully moved between careers; trained, qualified, and practiced in a range of helping, consulting, counselling, and creative disciplines; run my own successful ‘Strategy and Organisational Development Consultancy’ business for the last 23 years and mentored and coached emerging and thriving leaders and senior managers as well as multiple business owners and freelance contractors.
I am a parent, a writer, an exhibiting and selling artist and a local community and social activist.
As a solo mum I know the feeling all too well of being pulled in different directions and putting our own needs on the back burner yet still having a desire to do or be more. This work brings together my passion and expertise in helping people to dream BIG and work out what happiness and personal impact looks like for you as a freelancer and business owner.
I've been called many things in my time, but recently a client called me her ‘modern-day guru’ due to the incredibly wide range of modalities, resources, tools, techniques, information, and downloads at my fingertips. I’ve been ‘here’ a long time now and done a whole bunch of stuff that I draw on in the work…a broad spectrum of creative, coaching, and personal development approaches, along with 40 years’ expertise in leadership, management, and direct work with people.
My underpinning approach to working with people is rooted in a fusion of the practical, the psychological, the somatic, and the energetic, and I have a strong belief in our intuitive inner compass as business leaders that, when deeply listened to, offers lots of what we need for clarity and direction. With over 25 years as a client in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, I'm also attuned to how we consciously and less-consciously sabotage our business success through patterns that block our growth. I see and sense your hurdles and will offer approaches to help you move forward and take the next steps you need for your business success.
The work in the collective will focus on incisive questioning and reflection to drive real-world action. If you're looking for help and change or feeling stuck then this group will help you to take action and move forward.
I am not about pressure or fluff.
Just some good tools, a gentle structure, and some powerful collective shifts. Join us.
TESTIMONIALS from previous groups
“I keep thinking about all the exercises we did together, they keep coming into my mind. The biggest thing I’ve taken is the practice of challenging my own inner negative voice. I’m having a tricky contract at the moment, and my instinct is often to think, “oh, I’m not doing it very well, people don’t think I’m good.” But now it’s ingrained in me to really challenge that, to not just accept my imposter syndrome, and to take the time to work through it with the exercises you set us.
Also, having that support network was really valuable. There have been so many times where I’ve thought, “oh, can I just message the group for tips?”, just knowing there’s a safe, non-judgemental space with people who get it has been huge.
Those are my two biggest takeaways, and I feel like I’ve kept that practice going.”
“I am part way through Kelly’s Second Act Success course and couldn’t recommend it more. SHE and her materials are FANTASTIC! Bloody Brilliant!”
“I feel that this will absolutely result in the transformation I need at this point in my life.” CL
‘Kelly’s coaching is extremely subtle and very deep. Self-led and groupwork, which I have really enjoyed. I’ve found a place to boldly and honestly process life in Kelly’s groups and coaching spaces without fear holding me back.
Kelly leaves each participant with a toolkit and pathway - all of which has been invaluable for me as a woman, mother and professional.’ Tess K
“At the heart of this course is Kelly’s invitational style and infectious enthusiasm to search at a deeper level within, what might be brought forth nurtured and cultivated into something life enriching not only in work but in all spheres of life.
Being in a group with other open, warm women on similar journeys and finding support and learning from each other was integral to that journey.
This course was so pivotal in helping me to make my next steps forward into helping me to align with what I have to offer with what rings true for me as a person and continues to resonate as I journey on ! Thank you Kelly. ❤️” AS