Doing It For The Kids

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from Christmas elf Perky Chocolate Plum, AKA Anonymous. They say: “I don’t know if this is a consequence of being both employed and self-employed for many years, but I find myself being “led” by my clients. I struggle to say no or to set boundaries with them as I don’t feel like I control the relationship. This leads...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from soon-to-be counsellor Juliette Toop. She says: “Assuming all goes to plan, at the end of this year I’ll qualify as a counsellor and set up a private practice. What do you both consider to be ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’ and ‘totally not necessaries’ for starting up? Even though I’ve been self employed before...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from health communications specialist Anneliese Levy . She says: “How can I 'get a life' outside of work/kids? I find being a freelancer really intense, in that all my focus is on looking for work, thinking about work, doing work, following up on work. And oh yeah, looking after my kids! Other than that I don't think...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from virtual assistant and founder of MuthaCollective, Annabelle Williams Dos Anjos . She says: “How do you avoid ‘shiny shiny’ syndrome? As a creative person I love doing so many different things. I often have to talk myself down from creating 5 new things/businesses that I just don’t have time for (and therefore wo...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from software developer and 'multidisciplinary geek' Ross Wintle . He says: “How the flippin flippity flip do I reduce this baseline of anxiety I have whereby every time one of my children coughs or has a borderline temperature of 37.9 I go into fight-or-flight mode expecting to have to slash my hours in half to do h...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from content creator Becky Coote . She says: “Project creep. We've all experienced it, but how do you deal with it in a way that doesn't piss off your client? I'm working with someone who is ever so slowly, one email at a time pushing the boundaries further and further away from what we agreed. The problem is each in...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from career coach Abbi Buszard . She says: “I’ve been running my business for 2 and a half years, with a small baby hiatus in the middle (compounded by, y’know, a global pandemic that stole all the f-ing childcare). 2 and a half years in and I still haven’t learned to ride the rollercoaster of emotions that accompani...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from social media consultant and embroidery artist Claudette Anderson . She says: “How do I navigate going from freelance into an employed role? Particularly when I’m going to be keeping my small business going on the side. What can I do to make the transition easier and more manageable? How can I take the awesome pa...

EPISODE 50!!! This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from graphic artist and designer Rachel Brown . She says: “I’ve worked from home in one form or another, in both employed and self- employed roles, for five years now. There’s been ups and downs, and I’ve learnt along the way how to manage the work/home balance and what I need to do to keep my wellbeing...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from coach, mentor and consultant EJ Trivett . She says: “With Lockdown 2.0 looming precariously ahead, what are our lessons from the first wave, and what could we put in place NOW to proactively protect our businesses (and sanity) ahead of the game?” What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKp...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from writer and educator Fiona Tapp . She says: "Congrats on your British Podcast Award! I won an award in my field last year and I have been wondering how to best market the fact without sounding like a wanker. It’s sometimes hard to shout about your wins (especially as a woman) but if you have been recognised surel...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from Detective Stella King AKA Anonymous. They say: “I’m so sick of my husband’s negativity about my business! I started it 7 years ago with a view to running it when children came along and since then, I’ve been able to pick it up and put it down around my son and various life events. I’ve always felt the need to ho...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from Detective Mo White AKA Anonymous. They say: “How do you know you’re ready to make the leap into freelancing — especially during COVID? I’ve been freelancing on the side for a while and am feeling super uninspired by my day job lately. I don’t currently make enough freelancing to make it work with healthcare and...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from copywriter Catherine Jones . She says: "Let's talk social media. Do you use every platform or focus on one? Do you schedule? How do you allocate time for answering comments and interacting with other people? How do you ensure you don't get sucked down the rabbit hole and lose hours to it? Is it worth outsourcing...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from Hannah Harvey who runs pregnancy yoga workshops and online courses. She says: "Is it still worth being self-employed? With some employers offering flexibility around working hours / childcare / working from home — is it time to return to employment?” What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DI...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from digital content consultant and journalist Suzanne Locke . She says: “How do you even think about pitching for new work — when you have none — and when you don’t know when you’ll have childcare again...?! I’m a solo parent with a toddler!” What would your advice be? Let us know your thoughts using #DIFTKpodcast o...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from science writer Richard Berks . He says: "Alright gang. Any top tips for finding motivation when you have none, but desperately need some?? I'm sure I'm not alone in finding that when I most need to get some flippin' work done, I seem to have the least motivation to do it. That precious time, while the kids are o...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from accountant Caroline Boardman . She says: “How should we chase payments in this climate? When you know times are tough for people but you need to get paid too, what's the best way to approach credit control? As an accountant, I am in the position of knowing more than most about my clients' finances, so it is tric...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from wedding and family videographer Charlene McNabb . She says: “Do you have any tips on how to keep work ticking over and keeping visible when you now have around 7 minutes a day rather than the usual 6 hours?! Our daily life consists of my husband working full-time from home doing some important banking stuff and...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from photographer Hannah Brooke . She says: “So. I built my photography business up for 2.5 years alongside my day job, got it to the point I could resign. Yay. And I finish that day job next Thursday. Eek! The photography diary already got cancelled or postponed and after crying about it for about 2 solid weeks, I p...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from consultant and governance expert Gemma Sykes . She says: “As well as struggling with trying to work with a 6 year old and an 18 month old around — and a lot of my work disappearing over night! — I need help on how to drum up work without sounding opportunistic or seen to be exploiting the situation. Also, what’s...

Soooo, we've gone a bit off-piste this week. We sat down to record an episode as normal, but in reality just ended up talking about what's been going on in our lives during the Coronavirus 'Lockdown'. Clearly we needed to get some stuff off our chests! We hope us sharing our frustrations and observations from the past week will help you too. Enjoy. ••• This episode is supported by Nutmeg . Nutmeg...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from Detective Maria 'Chilli' Pepper AKA Anonymous. They say: “Lots of the podcast episodes and questions in the group have been really useful if you’re sitting at your computer, but I’m often on the move and do lots of work on my phone. Do any other DIFTKers do this? And if so, what strategies work for you? I find I...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from Detective Dwayne Carver AKA Anonymous. They say: "Dear Steve and Frankie, I know that’s the wrong way round, but everything seems weird and topsy-turvy at the moment. Here’s the long version of my question: How can we best brace ourselves and our businesses for potentially having our kids off school for weeks on...

This week Frankie Tortora and Steve Folland have a chat in response to a question from graphic designer and illustrator Ami-Lou Harrison. She says: “Hey Steve and Frankie! My question is about co-mentoring. I've heard you mention a couple of times that you mentor each other. It sounds like such a brilliant idea and something I feel I could benefit from myself, so I'm wondering if you could talk mo...