Freelance Fitness

Unwanted Career Advice – It’s Because They Care About You

June 18, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

I want to talk about something that nearly every freelancer has faced at some point, maybe even before officially diving into freelance life. It often starts with excitement. You’ve made the bold choice to pursue your own path. You share the news with friends and family. You get some love. Some support. Maybe even a few “I’ve always thought you were entrepreneurial” comments.

And then… you hit resistance.

Not always hostility, but uncertainty. Doubt. Concern. Questions like:

“What about paid vacation?”
“How will you get by without benefits?”
“What if you get sick?”
“Are you sure this is sustainable?”

Sound familiar?

The dreaded, unwanted, unsolicited career advice.

Our loved ones care deeply about us. If they’ve spent their entire lives in salaried positions, it’s natural for them to project those experiences—and fears—onto us. What we see as freedom, they sometimes see as instability. The disconnect can lead to strain, especially if they don’t understand how freelance revenue generation works or if they view entrepreneurship as a glorified side hustle.

So, how do we stay grounded in our career choice without alienating the people who just want us to succeed?

First, Let’s Talk About the Awkward Conversations

Ever tried explaining freelance life to someone who’s only ever had a 9-5 job?

They smile politely when you mention “flexible hours,” but their eyes glaze over once you dive into taxes, client acquisition, the lack of sick days, and how your business expenses are still your expenses because you are the business. Suddenly, you’re left in the corner of the family BBQ explaining deductions to the potato salad.

It’s OK. They still love you. They just don’t get it—yet.

Here are a few things that can help:

1. Come Prepared with Calm, Clear Responses

Anticipate the usual questions. Rather than arriving on the defensive, arm yourself with thoughtful counterpoints. Share stories about how you’ve handled difficult situations. Reassure them with real examples of how your business works and how you’re making it thrive.

2. Know That You’ll Need to Explain It More Than Once

Auntie might not remember your job title. Mom tells everyone “she works with computers,” even if you’re not a programmer, but because you carry around a laptop. That’s fine. Be ready to explain again, and again. It’s not a sign of disrespect—it’s just unfamiliar terrain for them.

3. Talk About Your Work with Pride and Transparency

Most people are fascinated when they hear about the behind-the-scenes. Talk about a client you helped, a campaign you brought to life, or a creative solution you implemented. When you share stories, you bring your world to life, and you build credibility.

4. Set Respectful Boundaries

You don’t need to justify your existence. Listen with respect, but expect the same in return. If someone is being particularly insistent or dismissive, it’s OK to disengage. Politely change the subject, or excuse yourself entirely. Your business is your business.

And Now, Let’s Loosen Up – Literally

As freelancers, we spend a lot of time at desks, in booths, or glued to our screens. That tension we feel in our bodies? It’s real, and it’s not helping our confidence or clarity.

This week, on the Freelance Fitness podcast, I’m coaching upper body mobility. No equipment needed. Just a place to stand and move freely.

This is your chance to reset—physically and mentally.

You’ve Got This.

Freelancing isn’t for everyone—but it is for you. And just like in mobility training, progress comes from consistency, clarity, and a willingness to stretch your limits.

You are strong. You are capable. And you don’t need anyone’s permission to pursue the life you’re building.

Now go shake out those shoulders and take on the rest of your day like the boss you are.

Multitasking – Wearing All the Hats is the New Black

June 11, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

In the early days of freelancing, when you are the business, multitasking seems like a survival skill.

You’re the service provider, but you’re also the billing department, the marketing team, customer service, shipping and fulfillment… and somehow, you’re supposed to fit all of this into a single day. The to-do list never shrinks, and the pressure to perform is real. There’s always something you should be doing, and when you’re not doing it, you’re thinking about how you’re not doing it.

And so, like many of us, you multitask.

You respond to emails while editing an audio file. You draft invoices with half an ear on the online workshop (that you paid for!). You eat lunch while posting content and researching hashtags. You’re in five mental places at once, and still feel like you’re falling behind.

It’s frustrating and exhausting. And here’s the truth no one wants to admit: it’s not actually helping.

Multitasking Isn’t What You Think It Is

Let’s get something straight: folding laundry while listening to a podcast isn’t multitasking in the way we often think of it. That’s pairing a low-focus physical task with a passive listening activity. The real trouble starts when we try to do two thinking tasks at once, like writing a client proposal while attending a video meeting. Or managing your books while also trying to update your website copy.

In these moments, your brain isn’t doing both things simultaneously. It’s rapidly switching between tasks. And every switch comes with a cost.

Studies show that each time you shift focus, it takes several seconds, or even minutes, to fully reorient. Your brain needs to recalibrate. That recalibration time adds up, leading to slower progress, more mistakes, and ultimately… more stress.

The Freelancer’s Trap: Wearing All the Hats

The pressure to multitask is particularly strong when you’re a solopreneur. You don’t want to spend time on admin work, but it needs to get done. And because it’s not the work you love (or the work you got into the business for), you try to do it on the fly, in between “real” tasks.

But here’s the thing: accounting done halfway is still accounting that needs to be fixed later. Marketing done distractedly won’t connect with your audience. Client emails written while juggling five other tasks can come off rushed, or worse, unprofessional.

Multitasking creates the illusion of momentum while quietly undermining the quality of your work.

A Radical Thought: Don’t Do More, Do Better

What if the secret to getting more done isn’t doing more, but being more intentional?

Try it. Choose a task. Close everything else. Focus deeply. Give yourself a small window (15 minutes, 30 max) and block out distractions. You may be surprised at how much progress you make, and how different it feels when your energy isn’t scattered across 3 different things.

Also, question everything. Why am I doing this task this way? The answer is because in the rush of growing your business, it just worked at the time, and you haven’t changed it since. But is it the best way? Taking the time (yes, it will take time) to review your processes can uncover time and money savers, even if it means investing in new software, or contracting the task out to a professional who can do it faster and more error-free than you can.

You’ll not only move faster without multitasking, but you’ll also feel more accomplished, more in control, and yes, more aligned with the reason you started your freelance journey in the first place.

Reclaim Your Focus

You didn’t start your freelance business to drown in busywork. You didn’t choose voiceover (or design, or coaching, or photography) to become a full-time bookkeeper, scheduler, and social media manager.

Multitasking might seem like a necessary evil, but it’s often just a habit. One that’s costing you more than it’s giving back.

In this week’s episode of my Freelance Fitness podcast, I coach you on core strength while we think about refocusing on our core business.

So next time you feel the urge to juggle, pause. Ask yourself: What’s the one thing that really needs my focus right now? Then give it your full attention.

You might just find that you don’t need more hours in the day. You need fewer hats—and fewer apps—open at once.

Authenticity – Be Yourself. Everyone Else is Already Taken.

June 4, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

Authenticity.

That word has been so overused, what does it even mean anymore? Specifically in how it relates to your public-facing self and how you promote your freelance business?

As freelancers, we are told to show our “authentic” selves on social media in order to stand out from the crowd, from the competition, from the AI clones who stand in the shadows ready to replace us.

But, we are also supposed to be “professional”.

So don’t:
Overshare
Be TOO vulnerable

Or be boring, because who’s going to hire a creative freelancer who isn’t entertaining and engaging at every moment?

Oh yeah, also don’t burn out from trying to do all of the above at the same time.

As a voiceover talent, my clients often ask for an “authentic” read. They will describe what they are looking for in the brief as sounding grounded, human, relatable, and imperfect. But I know that you can’t perform “authentic”.

You can only BE yourself.

So, to sound relatable, grounded, human and “authentic”.

I have to relate to, be grounded in, and see myself in the product or service I’m talking about.

I think this also works for how we present ourselves professionally online and in social media as creative freelancers. Relate to what you are saying, be grounded in your truth, accept that we, like everyone else, is imperfectly human.

Oh, and boundaries are healthy!

In this week’s Freelance Fitness episode, I explore what authenticity means to me, while I coach you through a can-do-this-anywhere cardio workout.

Fun video of me authentically demonstrating the exercises in a cramped space.

Let’s squeeze a workout in and find the authentic balance together.

Work hard. Rest well.

Imposter Syndrome

May 28, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you, but I struggled with impostor syndrome for years.

It took me ages before I would tell people I was a voice over artist when people asked me what I did.

Or get business cards. Or hand them out after I got them, and instead, hide them in a secret inner pocket of my purse next to my lack of self-worth.

But you know what? I am a voice over artist. And my clients are happy to work with me, and it’s how I earn a living. So I should be proud of my career and be at ease talking about myself.

But instead I would change the topic. Or if I mentioned my career, it was always by diminishing myself in some way. Like saying that it was part-time or a side-hustle even when I was full-time. I didn’t feel like I deserved to claim that. No matter how many hours I put in. It was like, if someone else didn’t give me that title, then it couldn’t be true.

I didn’t feel like I belonged in the same room as “those people”.

You know, those people with salaries, and regular paycheques, benefits, PTO, and shiny business cards given to them by HR and not self-designed and printed up at Staples like mine. But, that’s easier said than done, right?

So why don’t we use some hip and spine mobility exercises to help us get more comfortable in our bodies and be more at ease stretching out into the freelance space we have every right to claim.

This week in Freelance Fitness we explore lower back and hip mobility to some great jazz music, while I talk myself out of hiding behind potted plants at networking events. If you also struggle with imposter syndrome, maybe you should check it out!

Work hard, and rest well.

The Least Favourite Part of the Job

May 21, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

As a freelancer, you’re living the dream, right?

Sure.

Most of the time.

Picking your hours (all of them). Picking your projects (all the ones that pay decently). Picking up all your bills (sigh).

But as much as we love our jobs, there’s always that part of it that we love the least. (Mine’s accounting!)

And we AVOID that task. Like it’s the plague. Like that one difficult client avoids our repeated attempts to contact them to get them to pay their invoice.

But it still needs to get done. And when you’re a freelancer, there’s no one else to hand it over to. So, how can we motivate ourselves to get through it?

That’s what this week’s Freelance Fitness podcast is about. We’ll strengthen our lower body and our resolve by finding fun ways to get through difficult or unpleasant tasks. I hope you’ll join me.

Work hard. Rest well.

Freelance voiceover artist – You don’t know what you don’t know

May 19, 2025 by AlisonP Leave a Comment

Are you a freelance creative person? Have you ever questioned your decision to having chosen a freelance creative profession, rather than a nice cushy desk job?

You are not alone. Not if we’re hanging out together, you’re not.

When you are a solopreneur, there are a lot of hats to wear, a lot of balls to keep in the air, and a lot of bucks stopping here, right at your desk. There’s a lot of pressure to perform, and to grow, but also to have all the answers. Or look like you have all the answers.

I don’t have all the answers. Not even for my own business as a freelance voiceover artist. Actually, it seems that just about every week, I keep uncovering new questions.

It can get overwhelming, and I struggle to stay focused on my business plan, and marketing, and recording jobs, and auditioning, and, and, and…

Sound familiar?

If it is, then it’s vitally important to find balance and take a breather so we don’t burn ourselves out. Push away from the desk and laptop, get some circulation back in our limbs, shake out the stress, and re-centre. Our most important asset is ourselves, and we need to take care of it.

In addition to being a freelance voiceover artist and a former fitness instructor, I am also a podcast host. And I’d like to invite you to spend 10- 15 minutes a week with me doing something good for ourselves, so we can be more present for our business. My weekly podcast Freelance Fitness is a snackable brain and body break aimed at freelance creatives who could use a little movement and little community, because you know, we’ve all been there!

You can find the link to my podcast here.

For the inaugural episode, I will guide you through a short run while I tell you how I stumbled into a freelance voiceover career (please don’t stumble while running). We’ll also listen to some great music while we move.

A link to post-workout stretching suggestions is here.

I hope you enjoy, and I’m always interested to know what you’re thinking, so don’t hesitate to reach out!

Work hard, freelance friends. Work hard, but rest well.

ALISON PENTECOST