aaaaagh, this is me again switching my path as a creator.
My life goal has always been to be able to earn money from anywhere in the world.
At the begginig this goal was fed by the hunger I had for travelling and exploring other worlds. Time passed and somethings has changed but the purpose remain the same.
For so long I wanted to write a travel blog and share my unique point of view. This interest increased as I recently moved to Canada. I wanted to share my immigration journey and the cultural shock I was living, so I started writing on Medium.
Then my passion for crafts, especially crochet, inspired me to design and write my patterns. I thought the best way to share and sell my patterns was to open an Etsy shop but I failed. Luckly there are easier options where to sell your digital products.
5 Lessons Learned After Starting my Etsy Shop
Still I want to have the freedom to earn money no matter where I am. But now this goal is supported by the desire to visit my family whenever I want.
As an immigrant I want to have the freedom to travel back and forth between my two homecountries.
If you have been following throughout this discovery of my voice, you might remember helloimglad dot come. I started with a blog where I shared my experiences in Canada and around the travel lifestyle.
For example this one: Viajar no es para mujeres
At the same time I was dealing with the dilema: which language should I chose to create my content and aproach my audience.
Searching for an answer got me sleepless nights and a rush of anxiety. I was afraid someone made fun of my accent and my endless spelling and grammar mistakes.
I wanted to write in Spanish because it is my mother language and of course I feel more comfortable.
But as a newcomer in Canada, I wanted to push myself out of my comfrot zone (as if being a newcomer wasn’t already enough), and improve my skills.
And there we go. The reason why I chose English over Spanish is because I want to make a community in the country where I now live. That’s simply it.
While my immigration application was in process I couldn’t legally work in Canada.
So I thought platforms like Fiverr and Upwork could help me earn some money. I wrote quite a few articles about this:
1. 7 Ideas to Start Your Freelance Career
2. 6 Steps to Make Money in Upwork as a Freelancer
3. Freelancing in Upwork is Not Free
4. How Can Freelancers Pass From A to Z in 30 Seconds and Survive the Toxic Success Stories
5. 5 Upwork Freelancing Myths
I started freelancing as a content writer mainly, although I had some other jobs like copywriting, social marketing and customer service.
I even recorded a video to promote myself and get new clients. OMG, I was so nervous. I felt like I was bragging about my skills. But still I felt confident to share my tips to feel confident to market yourself.
Still I got quite a few clients. None of them regular so I had to search for a job on a dialy basis. It was so draining for me, so I quit to freelancing.
Time passed and I got a regular job, finally!
But then I felt my job was absorbing my time and was taking me away from my goals of having an online buisness, live from my passions and travel back and forth.
Then I understood a regular job is just a trampoline to the next step towards our goals.
Hence I wrote these articles with the aim to encourage other creators and makers like myslef to keep working on our passions. And how our regular job could compliment our projects.
How To Fit Your Regular Job In The Creator Economy. - Build your content creation strategy.
3 Reasons Getting a Regular Job Isn’t Failing. - I Got a Regular Job. No, I Haven’t Quit My Goal of Becoming a Full-Time Creator
Opening a new Instagram account seemed logical and smart, so I did it.
At this point I thought opening an Instagram account for my crochet business was the best idea. At the same time I wanted to have a personal brand to share my life in Canada and promoting my writing.
Also I wasn’t happy with any user name. I tried all threads alluding to the phrase a jack of all trades because I consider myslef a multipassion woman. Although this user name is clever, at the end I didn’t felt identify with it.
The other day I was talkign with a friend. He suggested to me to change my user name to something more related to crochet. Currently, my social media handles are just my name: gladyscarmina
Although I know this is a good idea, I declined his suggestion. Exactly for the reason now I am starting over a new newsletter.
You may recall The Goal is Freedom. Well I closed it.
The Goal is Freedom was the newsletter where I shared the digital side of my business. On my social media I shared 10 reels a week and on my newsletter I shared all about: tips and hacks for you to do it yourself.
Now I want to start from scatch with my name: Gladys Carmina
So yes, The Goal is Freedom has closed but Gladys Carmina (me), I will be still active. Thank you so much for walking this path with me.
Gladys Carmina is me, Hi.
I will send you a letter every Friday where I share updates on how I am building my creative business online. But as I also want you to explore your passions, I will write on the inspiring and creative line for you to take the leap towards to your inner maker or creator.
Thanks again for staying with me. 💗