The Freelance Success Podcast

Join Freelance Success 1 month for freeFeast or famine is one of the most talked-about challenges in freelancing—and one of the most feared. The income rollercoaster can be brutal, and it doesn't discriminate. Even experienced, successful freelancers hit stretches where work dries up, and they are left wondering where their next payment will come from.In this episode, I'm joined by Shweta, a B2B tech writer and organic growth marketer who has been freelancing full-time since 2012. She's been through not one, but two famine cycles—the first during the pandemic, when both her writing business and her co-owned food business took a hit at the same time, and the second more recently, in 2024-25. Both times, she came out the other side, and in this conversation she breaks down exactly what helped her get through it and what she's doing differently now.We talk about the financial systems she put in place after the pandemic wiped her out—including a percentage-based savings approach, multiple account buckets, and building a six-to-nine month nest egg—as well as the mindset shift that made all of it possible: treating your freelance work like a real business, and yourself like an employee worth investing in.We also get into the guilt and shame that comes with dipping into savings, why the word "should" is worth paying attention to, and why a populated lead pipeline is the best insurance you can have.In this episode:Why relying on one or two clients is such a common (and risky) patternThe financial books and systems that changed how Shweta manages her moneyHow to think in percentages rather than fixed dollar amountsWhat a "slush fund" is and why it's different from an emergency fundHow a projected income spreadsheet can shift the way you think and actWhy it takes at least three months from first contact to first paymentThe lead pipeline as a famine-prevention toolResources mentioned:FOCUS Framework — Shweta's framework for freelance focus and financial clarityFOCUS Cash Flow Tracker — a spreadsheet for tracking projected vs. actual incomeCheck Your Financial Health — a self-assessment toolThe Chapati Framework for Famine Response — Shweta's guide for navigating a famine cycle when you're in oneThe Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason — the book Shweta recommends to everyoneFLX also has an income projection spreadsheet in the resource library — search "income" to find it if you're already a member.About ShwetaShweta is a B2B organic growth marketer for tech brands, from startups to mid-size companies, working through her solo consultancy, Shilalekh. Her writing has appeared in Forbes Advisor, Newsweek, and Huffington Post, and she is the author of four books spanning fiction and nonfiction. Alongside her solo business, she co-owns a food business with her husband, giving her hands-on experience on both sides of the freelance-client relationship.Connect with Shweta on LinkedIn or explore her work at shilalekh.com.She also offers three free 30-minute chats for anyone who wants to pick her brain on writing, freelancing, or business — reach out via LinkedIn to grab one.Enjoyed this episode? Search "The Freelance Success Podcast" on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and leave us a review — it helps more freelancers find the show.Want more? Join the Freelance Success community for a free month at joinfreelancesuccess.com. You'll get access to our full resource library (including that income projection spreadsheet), live events, and a private community of freelancers at every stage of their careers.

Pivoting sounds simple — until you're in the middle of one. In this episode, Liam talks with fractional COO and business coach Sarah Duran about what pivoting actually looks like for freelancers and solopreneurs: the fear, the sunk cost thinking, and that uncomfortable wobbly period when you're straddling two things and haven't committed to either. Sarah reframes the pivot as a spectrum rather than a hard stop — from total overhauls to little shifts in what you offer. She and Liam dig into her concept of the "through line" — the thread that connects everything you do across different versions of your business — and why finding it requires looking backwards before you can move forward. Sarah Duran is a fractional COO and business coach for solo and micro business owners — and a real-life solopreneur with over a decade running her own business. Through her working group The Solopreneur Collaborative, she helps established freelancers stop muddling through alone and start building businesses that don't consume their lives.🔗 Website🔗 The Solopreneur Collaborative📎 Strategic Planning Playbook💼 Sarah on LinkedIn

LinkedIn has changed—and if you've felt it, you're not imagining things. In this episode, Liam sits down with his longtime friend Meredith Farley, CEO of Medbury, a LinkedIn-focused agency that creates strategy and content for everyone from Fortune 500 executives to solopreneurs building their first real pipeline. They get into what's actually working on the platform right now: the post types that consistently perform, why a photo with your face in it outperforms a graphic every time, how to use automated outreach tools to build a targeted pipeline without feeling spammy, why your follower count matters less than you think, and how a simple list of 50 people can completely change the way you engage on LinkedIn. Meredith also shares a free downloadable resource — her agency's post types framework — that's worth bookmarking regardless of where you are in your LinkedIn journey.📎 Download: 8 LinkedIn Post Types that Actually Work🔗 Follow Meredith on LinkedIn📬 Meredith's SubstackWant to go deeper on LinkedIn? The Freelance Success community has a full course on optimizing your LinkedIn profile as a freelancer, plus 30 post prompts for when you hit a wall. Try it free for one month at JoinFreelanceSuccess.com.

Felicity once taught a course about AI ethics for writers, and she's spent a lot of time helping freelancers and solopreneurs think more carefully — and more honestly — about where AI fits into their work. In this episode, she and Liam get into the questions that don't get asked enough: who actually benefits from the AI boom, what cognitive atrophy really means for freelancers who rely on AI for writing, why using a chatbot as a sounding board can quietly undermine your best ideas, and how to build an AI code of ethics that goes beyond empty principles. They also end up somewhere unexpected — talking about dumb phones, supermarkets, and what it means to find a middle ground with technology instead of going all in or opting out entirely.Get your 1-month Free Trial at JoinFreelanceSuccess.com, and you'll get access to Felicity's AI Ethics course, along with a bunch of other free courses, resources, templates, and webinars to help you grow your freelance operation.

Every freelancer will face an unexpected emergency at some point — a health crisis, a family situation, something that forces you to step away from your business without warning. Most of us aren't prepared for it.In this episode, Liam talks with Anna Burgess Yang, a B2B FinTech writer and solopreneur systems expert, about what it actually looks like to keep a freelance business alive during the unthinkable. Anna shares what she did when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had five weeks to prepare her business for an open-ended absence—what systems she set up, how community showed up in a way she didn't expect, and what she would do differently. Whether you're facing a crisis or just want to build a business that could survive one, this conversation is worth your time.Anna's resources:Website | LinkedIn | ThreadsFree resource — Preparing for Long-Term Leave-------------------------------------------------------------------Want to be part of a freelance community that shows up when it matters? Try Freelance Success free for one month at JoinFreelanceSuccess.com.

Most freelancers know what it feels like to be at the beginning — no clients, no portfolio, no clear idea of where to start. Three years ago, that was Nick Baird. Today, his problem is the opposite: too much work.In this episode, Liam talks with Nick — a former mentee and FLX community member — about what the journey from zero to fully booked actually looked like. They get into the practical moves that made the difference: how Nick repositioned himself when SEO dried up, why he made reliability his entire brand, what a real follow-up process looks like, and how mentorship gave him a personalized roadmap when the internet could only offer scattered advice. Nick also talks about building a freelance career that lets you work from anywhere — including a month in Japan and Korea, and several months in Tanzania.If you're early in your freelance journey and wondering what it actually takes to build momentum, this one's for you.Want to keep learning from freelancers who've already been there? Freelance Success is a community built for freelancers at every stage — with expert sessions, curated resources, and daily conversations with people who get it. Try it free for one month at JoinFreelanceSuccess.com.

Fear is something every freelancer knows — whether you're just starting out or years into your career. In this first episode of the Freelance Success Podcast, host Liam Carnahan gets honest about the fear that shows up at every stage of freelancing: fear of income uncertainty, fear of failure, fear of putting yourself out there. He shares the strategies that have helped him push through it over six years as a freelancer, including why acknowledging fear is harder than it sounds, how gathering information is the antidote to anxiety, and why having solid processes in place can take the edge off even the most uncertain moments. This is a podcast about real freelance life — and it starts here, with the thing nobody wants to talk about but everybody feels.Join the conversation at JoinFreelanceSuccess.com — and grab a free month of the Freelance Success community while you're there.