Every person has different life challenges and a different life story. In this blog post, we share a story of a girl who chose freelancing as her only career path.
Due to some health reasons, since I was 12 years old, I have been known in the system and society as a person with a chronic disease or a person from a vulnerable category. During that period, the only thing that motivated me was the thought that I had to be successful to compensate for everything that was happening to me. Success has a different definition for each person. For me it is control over my life, independence, freedom, and opportunities to give myself a life with many experiences, changes, new skills, travels, and chances to contribute to the society in which I live.
I knew that I could achieve this only if I was responsible for my income and if I did not depend on a job from 8-16h, without room for flexibility.
Over the years, I have realized that this will be a very difficult path with many prejudices in a society where the traditional way of doing things is still valued. Driven by the desire to leave some impact in the environment in which I live and to help others who are facing similar life challenges, while not jeopardizing my stability and future, I created a work environment that best suits me. For the last 5 years, I have completely devoted myself to taking advantage of all the opportunities to have flexible working hours and a higher income than an average salary.
Today, more and more freelancing is becoming a popular career path for many people, especially for those who are considered vulnerable groups.
Faced with a lot of pity and forced to cover up much of my health history to not be discriminated against, I decided to commit to the freelance lifestyle. I invested in myself and learned many new skills that I didn’t know existed before. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made was applying for a Digital Marketing Academy scholarship. I am grateful for the chance given to me by the RECONOMY program together with Sida, Helvetas, Impact Foundation, and Seavus Educational Center. With this course, I acquired a skill that is one of the most sought-after professions and became competent in the labor market. With freelancing, when applying for a job or project, my experience and knowledge are valued, not my health history. At the moment, the only problem is that I cannot exercise my rights to social benefits which, for the time being, derives only from a regulated employment relationship.
Although I am often faced with the feeling of fear of unknown things and the great competition in the labor market, the desire to provide myself with the life I deserve is greater and always motivates me to take advantage of all the opportunities that are offered to me.
After all, when you want to color outside the lines, how do you find yourself in a monotonous traditional job from 8-16h?
RECONOMY is a regional inclusive and green economic development program of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), implemented by HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation in partnership with Impact Foundation and others in the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkan countries.
Within the framework of the RECONOMY program, the Impact Foundation supports the development of freelancing courses to encourage all those who want to earn independently and to increase their self-confidence so that they can stand out from the competition before starting to apply for work in foreign or domestic companies.
