On the sofa
Francesca’s Story
“You’ve made it. Welcome to the glam world of advertising and marketing. Drinks all the time. Expenses tabs. Enjoy the party.”
It’s an often-seen side of corporate life. We see it in films and television shows, read about it in books, sometimes even get glimpses of it ourselves. It’s what we all aspire towards, right?
Hmm.
Well Francesca experienced that world, but also has an alternate side of the story, which she describes as “The relentless workload. Never ending pressure. Bullying tactics. Constant workload. Not much fun. It just exacerbated my feelings of not being good enough”.
Francesca spent 9 years in this world, but it is one of the breaks within that period that opens our eyes to her story. She had a 6-month gap for travelling and a 15-month gap… as an in-patient stay in a psychiatric hospital for anorexia.
“I nearly died of anorexia. Many times”, she tells me. “One firm was great and paid for private counselling. I mean I had an eating disorder anyway, but the long hours and difficulty planning meals exacerbated it.”
With all the diet and food talk that inevitably goes on in office environments (even just the mundane “what you’re having for tea?”), to the endless birthday cakes, rewards in the form of food and drink such as team lunches or after work drinks, and stinky fish cooked in the office microwave, it makes a challenging environment for anyone with difficulties around food. “Diet talk is the worst. Why is that a way for people to bond?”
Many times, she had to take breaks, leave, or walk away from a job. The final time, before she became freelance, she was left with the option to either be sectioned or leave work and move back in with her parents. “I was about to die. I started freelancing as something to do from Mum and Dad’s sofa”.
So how has freelancing helped her to start her recovery from anorexia? “It’s on my terms. Meals in the diary, no working after hours unless I choose to. Plus the ability to work from home - I really struggle to eat in front of people, so it’s a massive difference.”
Francesca is now able to be her lovely sweary self, and oozes authenticity. The fact that she is so open about her eating disorder and recovery is inspiring for others. It was certainly one aspect that has drawn me to her in online communities and a reason I asked her to contribute to this book. And it is helping her to attract clients who appreciate the honesty.
Like the rest of us, many outsiders still question her as to the perceived ‘gig economy’ of freelancing and she has had to work on her mindset, “Starting your own business is not something people from my background do. The idea I can work for myself and be successful doing so is a big shift in mentality. Even though I earned over six figures last year my extended family are like ‘oh are you still trying to do some writing stuff from dad’s sofa?’”
When asked if she would ever consider going back to working for others, “Nope. I think I didn’t realise how much of a hustle it would be. Always looking for work can be exhausting. But the flexibility and freedom are so worth it.”
And the freelance community is glad to have her.
Francesca Baker - Copywriter and marketer, And So She Thinks