March 11, 2024 • 44 mins
Knowing how to add value to your clients without sacrificing your mental health is a lesson many freelance fashion designers learn on their freelancing journey. It's all too easy to listen to self-doubt and let imposter syndrome creep in which ultimately will lead to resentment, burnout, or missing out on huge opportunities. So how can you land freelance gigs from big names while overcoming challenges such as low self-esteem and even geographical constraints?
It's easier than you may think! Our guest, Harshini, is a fashion designer who landed a job with WGSN despite their minimal presence in India and lack of a head office in her home country. She has also faced familiar mindset issues that can hold us back, which led her to low-paying clients and work she grew to hate. In this podcast episode, you can listen to the strategies she implemented to change the trajectory of her career which enabled her to outsource work, increase her rates, and secure higher-paying projects. You will also learn about the challenges and triumphs Harshini faced as she navigated motherhood, low self-esteem, and learning her worth in a competitive industry.
About Harshini:
Harshini is a womenswear designer and trend consultant with 7 years of industry experience. She's worked with big names like Zara, French Connection UK, Yamaha, and WGSN. With a postgraduate degree from the London College of Fashion, she enjoys creating cool casual wear for women, especially in the resort wear niche.
Offering everything from initial concepts to pre-production, Harshini's helping small to mid-sized women's resort wear brands thrive. With her sharp eye for style and a knack for understanding what people want, she's making brands stand out and connect with their audiences effortlessly.
Connect with Harshini:
Sick of being tied to a desk and want more freedom in your day, snag my free training: How to Freelance in Fashion (even if you're terrified you don't have all the answers) by clicking here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Heidi (00:57):
How do you land a freelance gig with WGSN without
any experience? I'm gonna tellyou the spoiler alert, and it's
not that exciting. It comes downto relationships and adding
value. Harshini is a superdriven and hardworking freelance
fashion designer who's learned alot in her 7 years of
freelancing. For a while, shewas undercharging and working on
projects she would ultimatelyresent.
(01:18):
But then after going through myfreelance accelerator program
fast, she started landingprojects she loves at, as she
puts it, prices she loves.Harshini shares all about how
she found her clients, includingher first client WGSN. The hard
lessons she's learned aboutpricing, including getting
premium rates from Indian brandsand how she has juggled her
(01:39):
freelance career while being amom. You're gonna love this
episode of Fashion Designers GetPaid. Let's get to it.
(02:06):
Hi Harshini. I'm so excited toshare your story in the podcast.
You've had a you sent me a verylong email with everything
that's gone on in your freelancecareer essentially and I'm
really excited to dig thoroughlyinto that. Quick backstory on
yourself in the fashionindustry. What's your story?
Harshini (02:26):
Yes. So, first up, hi. And I can't believe I'm on this
podcast that I was listening toduring the pandemic. If you
don't I mean, if that's gonnasurprise because I literally,
chanced upon you through thepodcast. So that's yeah.
So it was like a pandemic listenand I was then it was a binge.
(02:47):
So yeah. So happy that I'm here.And, yeah. Definitely, I would
like to tell you a little bit ofmyself.
So I've been in the industry for8 years, and, I've been
freelancing for the past 7years. I'm a freelance women's
wear designer and trendconsultant, and I work with
brands, women's wear brands,right from initial concept to
(03:10):
preproduction. Yeah. So that'swhat I offer them. Yeah.
And, yeah. It's been good sofar. Yeah.
Heidi (03:17):
And where do you live? No. I'm not sure
Harshini (03:19):
right now. I'm based in Chennai, India. Okay. Gotcha.
Yeah.
Heidi (03:23):
So it's late for you now? Is it, like at night? 10:40 PM.
Yeah. 10.
Okay. Yeah. Okay. Alright. Thankyou for coming on so late.
No problem. Okay. So I guesswe'll start with maybe your most
notable claim to fame here as afreelancer is that you have
freelanced for WGSN. Yeah. Talkus through that.
(03:44):
How'd you get that gig? What didthat look like?
Harshini (03:47):
Oh, man. That was that was quite the journey, I think.
WGSN is something, is a companythat I wanted to work with or be
associated with for a very longtime. Mhmm. So I was, I was at
my full time job, my first job,after my, BA.
And, so during that job, that'swhen I came across WGSN, and
(04:09):
then I love what they do andtheir reports. And so I was just
like, oh, it would be so cool ifI, you know, applied for a job
and all of that. But they don'treally have a large presence,
like, in India, like, in termsof the head office or anything.
It's more of a sales division.But I just sort of left that in
the back burner, and then I wentto London.
And, again, I chanced upon them,but it just something just
(04:33):
didn't sit right. And then onceI finished my MA in London
culture fashion and I came backhere, I came across a trend
seminar, and, I figured why notgo and attend it. And then one
thing led to another. I met theperson who was presenting, and
then I landed up with afreelance project, after that.
Heidi (04:55):
Okay. Wait. Hold on. One thing led to another, and you
met the person who waspresenting. How did that
actually happen?
Harshini (05:02):
So, she was someone I was really looking up to. She's
like, so she's the direct atthat point, she was the director
of mindset, the bespokeconsultancy division where they,
but right now, she's, I think,director of trend. She's also
from London College of Fashion.Although I had no idea about
this. This was, like, beforethe, you know, seminar, you kind
(05:24):
of look up on who's speaking andall of that, and I was super
inspired by her and her journeythereafter.
And the trend seminar wasinsane. Like, she was so good.
She's such a amazing orator, andI think kind of figured that
WGSN trains the, like, theemployees so well that that that
they all have that same to hervoice and the same, you know,
(05:45):
presentation skills or whatever.So I absolutely love the
presentation. And I just thoughtit would be nice to go and talk
to her.
And I didn't even go ask her fora job or anything. Like, I just
said, oh, I I love what you'redoing, and I would like to be
somehow involved in it or try to
Heidi (06:01):
do it, like, own. Email her or what was how to No.
Harshini (06:04):
In person. So the trend seminar was in person.
Heidi (06:07):
Oh, this was in person. Okay. Like I was thinking this
was in line. Okay. Gotcha.
Harshini (06:11):
This was this was pre pandemic. So after
Heidi (06:14):
she gave the presentation, you know, I
approached her and
Harshini (06:17):
said went up to her and
Heidi (06:19):
Gotcha. Yeah.
Harshini (06:19):
Okay. So, Yeah. So I just, like, chatted, and then we
we had a talk. And I sort ofwanted to talk a little more
about something that she spokeabout, about how sustainability
is gonna be big. I mean, thiswas back in I wanna say 2017,
when sustainability wasn't sobig at that point in time.
Sure. And then she was talkingabout loungewear, and they were
(06:42):
predicting loungewear. I mean,it's everywhere now. Yeah. And
at that time, I was like, wow.
This is interesting. Like,transitional clothing. I mean,
all these terms are interesting,and I would like to talk to you
about it. And we kept talking.Like, we really hit it off, and
it was so nice, to chat withsomeone like that.
And I felt she was veryinspirational. And, I mean,
(07:03):
that's about it. And I I didn'treally ask her for a job because
I knew that the visa situationwas really tricky in London.
Yeah. Being a being somebodyfrom I mean, an international
student, that sort of stops youfrom a lot of opportunities.
So I just told her that, yeah,that, you know, it was it was
tough for me to get a job thereor whatever, but I love what you
(07:23):
do and and that's about it.Yeah. And then I went home and I
couldn't stop thinking about it,and I wanted to do something of
my own. So I just sort of, like,stalked them and read everything
that I could about trendresearch or whatever. And at and
at this point in time, I hadn'tapplied for a full time job when
I was back in India.
Heidi (07:44):
Yeah.
Harshini (07:44):
And I wanted to do something on my own, so I had
quite some time on my hands. SoI, tried to look at the latest
trends and put somethingtogether. So I put, like, a I
put, like, a capsule, trendreport, range plan inspired by,
you know, runway. So I sort oflooked at, I don't know, more
(08:04):
than a 150 designers. I I lovedit.
Like, it didn't seem toolaborious a task for me. And
then I sent her something thatwould that would be something
that WGSN would do. And at thispoint, I was still looking for
full time jobs there. Like, Iwas still interested in a full
time gig. I didn't know iffreelancing existed.
I didn't know I didn't know itwas a thing. Yeah. It's so funny
(08:30):
because when I was studying,being a freelancer was viewed as
somebody who who didn't who wasa freelancer because they
couldn't land a full time job.
Heidi (08:40):
Uh-huh. You
Harshini (08:41):
know? At least in India, that that was a
perception. So I was like, oh,no. No. It's not come to that.
Like, let me try for a full timejob. So I emailed her, and I'm
like, hey. This is what I puttogether. And she just gave me
notes, on on it, and she gave mefeedback. And I was so happy
that she did.
Yeah. And then she evenforwarded it to, like, the
(09:01):
runway catwalk, researchdepartment. And then they gave
their feedback. And I was just,like, so grateful that I even
had this conversation. So I waslike, hey.
This this is the takeaway that Ihave. I do know that, asking for
a job is a little too much orwhatever. So I said, that's
fine. I'm I'm grateful for thisconversation. And then I think I
(09:22):
just kept I don't know.
I just kept researching or doingthe things that I wanted to do.
And then, there was anothertrend seminar, I think. And
then, she told me about it,like, a few months later. She
was like, hey. I'm gonna behere.
Do you wanna come and catch up?And I was like, yeah.
Absolutely. So I go and catch upwith her, and that's when I met
(09:46):
the India team. And Okay.
I sort of connected with themand shared emails or whatever.
So this was just literallynothing. Didn't go anywhere.
Just emails back and forth. Andthen out of the blue, the India
person asks me, hey.
So there's this project in, theAsia Pacific office, and, you
know, they're looking forsomeone, and this is, like, the
(10:07):
topic. Would you be interested?Then I said, yeah. And then
she's like, have you done thisbefore? And I was like, no.
I haven't. But here's thepresentation that I put together
for WGSN, and, you know, I'verun this by this person. Self
Heidi (10:23):
directed project. Yeah.
Harshini (10:25):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, and that I'm happy to, you know,
really learn and, you know, domy best and, all of that. And
she was like, oh, okay.
I mean, she wasn't she didn'tsound too, you know, convinced,
but I told her that I'll puttogether a CV, and I'm happy to
do a mock presentation or aproject for them as well.
(10:46):
Uh-huh. And because, you know,the learning is what I want. And
then she said, okay. That'sfine.
And I kind of put that in myemail as well when I was
emailing them. And they said,oh, let's schedule a call. And
then and then it just, you know,I just landed the project after
that because it was insane. Icouldn't believe what was going
on.
Heidi (11:06):
You built a relationship though.
Harshini (11:08):
Yeah. I did.
Heidi (11:09):
Yeah. Like, the the like, to put it super simply, you
built a relationship and you ledwith value. You were like, thank
you so much. I love thepresentation. And then, also, I
just wanted to show you thismood board, this trend report
that I put together.
Yeah. And you just built arelationship based off of value.
(11:30):
Yeah. And that's how some of thebest gigs get landed.
Harshini (11:34):
Yeah. I think I didn't strategize at that point, to be
honest with you. I I think itwas just something
Heidi (11:39):
That was just how you were doing it. It
Harshini (11:41):
I was just like I was just like, I want to learn this
field that is so so, I don'tknow, nuanced and so niche.
Yeah. And not too many companiesdo this. At least now, there are
quite a few companies. But atthat time, there
Heidi (11:57):
weren't too many. Doing trend reports and forecasting.
Harshini (12:01):
Yeah. Doing trend research or to have courses that
kind of delve deep into it, andyou kind of learn only by doing
this. So Yeah. That way, it wasit was really cool. And, yeah,
it was it was amazing.
I've never felt more fulfilledby a project, than than what I
did. It was insane. Like, eventhough I haven't met, like, you
(12:22):
know, the Hong Kong officepeople in person, it was all,
remote, but it was insane. Yeah.
Heidi (12:30):
Yeah. It's funny. I some people sort of innately through
their just this is how theyoperate. They do what you did.
They build the relationship.
They offer value. And that is anamazing place to start. Some
people have to learn that skill.Some people
Harshini (12:48):
are more
Heidi (12:48):
a little bit more like, hey, I'm looking for a job. Do
you have a job? Right? And theyit's just for whatever reason,
the way they were brought up orthe their environment or
culturally sometimes. Right?
Okay. So you get this, like,dream opportunity. Yeah. Yeah.
Then at some point, you aredoing trend for another company
(13:11):
that's not growing as well.
Harshini (13:14):
Yeah. This is, like, way many like, so many years
fast forwarded. This was, like
Heidi (13:19):
How long did you work with WGSN on a freelance basis?
So, you can say
Harshini (13:24):
that I they have me on file or whatever. Like, they
that I that they would reach outto me if they have anything
related to India. Okay. Becausethey work with hyperlocal
insights. So I did 2 I did 3more projects with them Okay.
And, which was over a span of 3years. Okay. And, yeah, I mean,
(13:45):
hopefully
Heidi (13:48):
more. Yeah. Okay. So you're working with them and
then I'm working with them. ThenSo at some point, you land this
other client that you Yeah.
Emailed me about. You're like,Heidi, what do I do?
Harshini (14:00):
So that was so I think the context is, so this was,
yeah, this was way before WGSNhappened way before I got
married and had a child Andthis, other trend, company so I
guess I don't know. After youhave a child, I took, like, a 9
month, break because I neededit. And I could do it because I
(14:23):
was freelancing. And, it wasjust at that that mark where I
was like, okay. I'm getting backto work now.
And, and then this project cameup, and I didn't wanna say no.
Because I was like, hey. This isTrend Research. I wanna work
with them. I mean, however, Iguess I guess it's the low self
esteem of of of a new mom thatyou just undercharge.
Heidi (14:49):
You're not sleeping. There's a baby on your body,
like, all the time. It's tough.Yeah.
Harshini (14:55):
Yeah. You're not making the best decisions. No.
No. You're not.
So, so, yes, I just quotedsomething, and I was just like,
I I need this project. That'sit. Like, I I am getting back to
work. This is my identity. I'm awalking mom.
And so yeah. So yeah. And itdidn't go so well because, 1, I
(15:18):
guess I I mean, you can say thatas a starting point, it was on
me because I have set the bar solow in terms of rates. The price
is down. Yeah.
And then, this I mean, the whathappened was scope creep. Like,
it really like, every project. Imean, I guess that happens with
(15:41):
startups. Mhmm. Because this is,again, a startup company, and
they wanted me to help me helpthem put together things in
place.
So, you know, you just keepdoing more and out of passion
and interest. You know, linesget blurry, and I ended up doing
quite a lot. And then we kindahad to check-in and, you know, I
(16:02):
increased my rates a little bitmore. But then they weren't
willing to stretch beyondanother point. And then I don't
know.
I just started, feeling veryresentful of the work because I
was getting really good projectsoutside of this in women's wear
design.
Heidi (16:21):
They were paying a lot more.
Harshini (16:22):
That were yeah. They were paying my full rates. And
it was work that I loved, but Ididn't feel that I was putting
in so much work and not gettinganything in return. You know
what I mean? And and more thananything else, people who think
so much about the rates, youknow they are not the clients
(16:43):
for you.
Like, it's like and I rememberreading that in fast as well.
Like, you call them the repeatour clients. Yeah.
Heidi (16:52):
Pain in
Harshini (16:53):
their ass. That's literally what they are. And
then you just realize, how do Ibreak up with this toxic
relationship? And then, yeah.And then finally, I think I had
a conversation, and then, I atthat conversation, I realized I
wasn't being valued at all.
(17:14):
You know, and you kind of getthese feelers when, you know,
when you're presenting and allof that, and then I realized,
okay. Fine. This is just not agood match for me, and, I think
it's time to move on. Yeah. Andit was recurring income.
It was like you know what Imean? Like, it's, constant work
every month, but you're paidsuper low. And it was such a
(17:38):
tough decision to take becausehow do you say no as a
freelancer to stable income? Andthen, you know, how do you it
it's tough one.
Heidi (17:49):
And so Yeah. Go ahead.
Harshini (17:51):
Yeah. Please. What what do you wanna ask me?
Heidi (17:53):
I mean, I guess I was just I'm wondering, like, where
what was the tipping point?Like, you're like, okay. Well,
it's stable. It's ongoing. But,also, like, I'm doing so much
more than I'm getting fairlycompensated for.
So, like, what was the tippingpoint where you're like
Harshini (18:06):
The tipping point was I know it was So the budget, so
I kind of outsourced a littlebit of the work to another
freelancer. K. And, so she wasworking with me on, like,
previous projects. So we had,like, a good relationship, and
so she would, take care of,certain things. But what
(18:27):
happened was, it took so muchtime that my entire chunk of
time that I have chalked out forwork would go only in this, and
I couldn't concentrate on theother clients.
And it wasn't doing justicebecause they are paying my full
rates, and it's nowhere near theball ballpark of what these
(18:47):
people are playing. Mhmm. And Iwanted to make more time to
pitch and get new clients aswell. Mhmm. And this was coming
in the way.
Mhmm. And I felt I can't keepgoing on like this. Right? Yeah.
So yeah.
Which is why I sort of Are you
Heidi (19:05):
willing to talk about some of the numbers?
Harshini (19:09):
The actual rates? Project?
Heidi (19:11):
I guess all of them.
Harshini (19:12):
For the
Heidi (19:12):
I mean, whatever you wanna share.
Harshini (19:14):
Sure. In terms of dollars, I think per report, I
think it was not the best atconverting, but I wanna say it
was, You
Heidi (19:30):
could put in the email You were initially
Harshini (19:33):
If you wanna pull that up. Yeah. Okay.
Heidi (19:34):
I assume if is I wanna make sure you're comfortable to
share. Yes. You initially werecharging them $95 per report,
and then Yeah. You increased itto a $120. Yes.
Yes. K.
Harshini (19:49):
And, that was still How
Heidi (19:50):
much time were you putting into each report?
Harshini (19:54):
It would take me, I think, around 6 to 8 hours. K.
But, I mean, I was I didn'tcalculate hourly clearly. Right.
Right.
Because I've just sort of giventhem a round number. But now I'm
kind of doing a project basedpricing, but, hey, at that time,
(20:17):
it just didn't really work. And,yeah, and simple. Like and and
more than anything else, it wasit was just, I guess, the
mentality because, I mean, forthem, the reports, them
(20:39):
restructure everything from theground up, and I don't think
that that I need to do that.Like, I need to stretch and do
that.
Yeah. But I wasn't getting the,like, the value of what like, I
wasn't I felt like they weren'tunderstanding the value that I
was bringing by offering thesethings because Yeah. You don't
(21:00):
just blindly say that I'm gonnabuild your structure from ground
up. It's it's because I havesome plans that I'm willing to
put in the work. Yeah.
But yeah. So I felt like yeah.1, definitely the rates, and 2
yeah. I guess it it was just inwasn't a good fit. Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. But I think it's thebest decision I made. Yeah. How
(21:49):
did you how
Heidi (21:49):
did you break up with them?
Harshini (21:52):
So I sent them an email, like, sorry, a text
message. Because I felt likeemail is too suddenly out of
nowhere professional. You knowwhat I mean? Because I was in a
text conversation.
Heidi (22:03):
Okay. So
Harshini (22:03):
you texted them normally sometimes? Okay. Yes. I
followed your advice, and Iwaited for them to, give me the
payment. And then Yep.
Yeah. Because I figured, okay,that's definitely an issue, and
that's something we need to,think about. And so Yeah. By the
(22:25):
time I waited for that, theywere also already ready to go
for the next season and the nextset of reports. So that's when I
said, hey.
This is, you know, not not agood fit. And, I also said that,
you know, it it's not doingjustice to my time because I
have other clients who arepaying me full rates and all of
(22:45):
that, and I wish you well. Andliterally, like, thing like
yeah. I didn't make it I justdidn't give too many reasons. I
was just like Mhmm.
Heidi (22:56):
Yeah. Yeah. Not a good match. I've I'm busy with other
clients. Yeah.
Harshini (22:59):
But I did thank them and everything and all of that.
Yeah. Yeah. So it's pretty,pretty solid.
Heidi (23:05):
Take it? They take it okay? It was like, okay? Yeah. I
think I
Harshini (23:09):
mean, I don't get a response for a few hours. I
mean, that's quite a lot Ontext. For a text message. So
maybe they had a panic attack. Idon't know.
And then after that, they justsaid, yeah. That's fine. All the
best. Like Good. Good.
And then I knew that, okay. It'sfine. Like Yeah. Yeah. I feel
better when I'm getting newclients.
Heidi (23:31):
Yeah. So talk to us. I wanna hear about these other two
clients that you're working withthat are paying full rate. What
is your full rate? How are youcalculating that?
Harshini (23:39):
So I'm doing project price. And, so the project
price, I have different, like,packages of, like, what I'm
doing. So, depending on whatthey would like, like concept,
collection, sampling, I sort ofpitch accordingly. So I think it
varies between 1,000 to $3,000at this point for
Heidi (24:03):
that entire project.
Harshini (24:05):
Yeah. Yeah. For the for what they need. Okay.
Because I'm offering, you know,an end to end service, like from
concept till preproduction.
Okay. And some clients wanttextile design as well, which I
do kind of offer because it'swomen's wear anyway. And Okay.
So I kind of yeah.
Heidi (24:25):
Yeah. So where'd you get these 2 other new clients that
are paying your full rate?
Harshini (24:30):
Yes. So, I connected with someone who is my, alumni,
from London. And so she runs,like, she has her own
consultancy business, and shehelps, small brands in India,
stock wholesale in the indifferent countries. So US,
Australia, UK, and, they so sheisn't really any she doesn't
(24:55):
have anything to do with design.She's a marketing agency.
Mhmm. But she wanted she feltlike there was a gap where
clients wanted this help, and sowe kind of connected. And then
and then we worked, on 2, 3projects. Yeah. And, yeah.
And so the the the initial pricefor them was quite a shock for
(25:17):
sure. But, but once we startedgetting on discovery calls and
talking to them about the valuethat we're bringing and what
we're gonna be doing, it workedreally well. So so I assigned 2
3 clients through her. Okay.And, now I've signed a new
(25:38):
client on my own.
And Amazing. Has this news?
Heidi (25:41):
Yes. Where did this come from?
Harshini (25:44):
This is as of, I I think, last 2 weeks and
surprisingly through LinkedIn.Yeah. Yeah, they found me. Like,
and it was really interesting.It's a small brand, and she
wants to launch her firstcollection.
So, yeah, I'm super excited.And, yeah, I'm like, finally,
(26:05):
like, for all these years, I'vebeen working with so many
different types of brands,different sizes of brands. But
for the first time, I feel like,okay. With small brands, you
have so much more potential andso much more value that you can
really show. And, so that wasthat's been really nice.
And, finally, I feel a littleconfident. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Heidi (26:31):
What's making you like, what change that is is helping
you feel more confident?
Harshini (26:36):
Definitely fast. I have to say it. Yeah. Because, I
didn't know that there were somany people doing this. I didn't
know that there was such ademand for it.
And even though I've beenfreelancing for 7 years, I
didn't focus so much. And, youknow, I think once you become a
mom, you become superproductive. Oh, like Yeah. You
(27:01):
hit the kids' mommy.
Heidi (27:02):
Like, hyper product. You're, like, all of a sudden
getting something done in 5minutes that you used to spend,
like, 5 hours on. Yeah. Yeah.For sure.
Harshini (27:11):
It's like a giant shark tank.
Heidi (27:13):
Use your time.
Harshini (27:14):
Yeah. Was that It's giant. So there's this, what's
his name, Kevin something,mister wonderful on Shark Tank.
So he talks about how yeah. Sohe just talks about how most of
his invest like, investmentshave been women run businesses
because he's like, I investedmoms because they are the ones
who bring in the money.
(27:36):
They don't
Heidi (27:36):
wanna get shit done.
Harshini (27:38):
Yeah. Absolutely. So it's like, working through chaos
and all sorts of, ununpredictable messes thrown at
Heidi (27:51):
you. Yeah.
Harshini (27:51):
So I guess yeah. It was the it was the right time
for me also. FAST came at theright time. Because then I knew
that I could structure mypricing in such a way that I can
niche down and focus on women'swear and, you know, wovens more
specifically. I don't mind doingcasual knits, but, I mean, you
(28:12):
do talk about how you you know,we can figure it out as we go
along and Yeah.
Yeah. But for now, this is whatI was thinking, and I was
thinking of niching down evenmore to resort wear. But I
haven't really taken thatspecific, step because, I mean,
resortware, I feel I mean, it'squite a tricky, category because
(28:34):
it's it's more season thancategory. And at this point,
it's it has a whole set ofbrands on its own, but I'm still
figuring that part out. Like, doI wanna niche down?
Do I wanna stay? It's somethingI'm figuring out. But, yeah,
it's been good. Yeah.
Heidi (28:50):
You have time to figure it out. Yeah. This is awesome. I
love your story so much. Thankyou.
How does it feel like not tookay. I will just tout fast.
But, like, you you made thecomment in your email, when you
first were start when you firstdid those trend reports for that
(29:13):
first company Yes. For $95. Yousaid I was, this was way before
Fast, and I was reallyundercharging.
And then after Fast, you're,like, charging the right rates
and stuff. So I feel like yourfreelance career now is quite
different than it was beforefast. Like, how like, you said
(29:33):
mentioned confidence and andobviously, like, the pricing
you're charging. You're like,I'm charging what I'm worth, and
I'm getting that. And you evencommented, like, the brand that
you're you're the brands thatyou're working with with your
marketing agency friend.
Yeah. The price was a shock tothem, but then you went in, you
did the discovery calls, and youpitched yourself and presented
the value that you were actuallydelivering. Presented the value
(29:53):
that you were actuallydelivering. So, like, how would
you maybe compare and contrastyour freelance career before
fast versus after fast? How doesit look different?
Harshini (30:06):
I think, 1, hourly based pricing I think, 1, hourly
based pricing
Heidi (30:11):
is not something
Harshini (30:11):
I consider at all. Mhmm. Or rather, to even, think
about, you know, your timespecifically, because it's not a
big thing in India. Like, theydon't pay you hourly here in for
design for freelance design.Everything is poor like, it's
poor design or Poor deliverable.
Back. Yeah. Yeah. And thevarying rates on it doesn't go
(30:35):
much up or up or down. It like,it doesn't change depending on
how many experience you have orhow many years of experience you
have.
You know what I mean? So it itwas a very different system that
I had seen over here. And in theUK, I think they charge day
rates. But I hadn't come to thatbut I hadn't come to that or
figured that out at all. Mhmm.
(30:59):
But, yeah, I guess after FAST, Ifigured that I can that it's
under my control. And I can setthese prices depending on what
I'm comfortable with and thenslowly figure. Because I I mean,
end of the day, you wanna be,happy doing the work that you do
and, you know, and at the sametime, being compensated fairly.
(31:21):
Yeah. And, yeah.
And and there were a lot ofclients, asking me to, I don't
know. Like, this is before fast.But the rates, they were unhappy
with the rates that I wascharging, Radu. Like, they
wanted it to be much lower. And,it was tough to say no.
(31:42):
But I felt like, you know, ifyou say yes, you're just stuck
in that loophole again. And soafter FAST, I think I it just
opens your, mind to the factthat there are possibilities.
There are so many freelancersworking with the brands that
they love. Mhmm. Charging therates that they love.
I'm like, wait. Really? Arethese people real? They're on
(32:04):
drops? Yeah.
Heidi (32:06):
Wait. Like, before you enrolled in FAST, you were like,
is this real?
Harshini (32:10):
Like, really skeptical? I was binging on your
podcasts. And I went and lookedup all these people. And I think
there were 1 or 2 people fromIndia.
Heidi (32:20):
And I'm like, okay.
Harshini (32:20):
So so there are Indians as well. Like, there are
other people Yeah. Like, it'snot just it's not just you know?
So it really blew my mind. And Iwas like, maybe this is what I
need.
And it it gave me structure andto understand how to talk to
clients, the value that webring. You know, just it just
gave me structure to all the toeverything that I was doing.
(32:43):
Like, how you spoke about WGSNand all of that. I was doing the
things, but I just didn't knowthe, you know, the plan or the
strategy or things like that. Ididn't have it so streamlined.
I think that's a better word.Yeah. Yeah. So it you kinda
helped me streamline things andyeah. Get the ring too.
Love. Yes. I love that. The cashmoney. Yeah.
Heidi (33:08):
Are the so you're working with 3 clients with your friend
and then a 4th client that yougot through LinkedIn. Are they
all for where are those clientsbased? Are they all in India?
Harshini (33:19):
Yeah. I mean, one is in Paris, but she's an Indian,
in Paris who's trying to do acollaborative collection. Okay.
And there was one in Finland aswell. Again, an Indian in
Finland.
Okay. But what's interesting isthese are Indian brands who are
looking to, pitch to foreignbuyers. So Mhmm. Buyers so you
(33:41):
kind of design with an Indiansensibility, but something that
can be worn by, women abroad. SoEurope and the US, which really
interested me.
Mhmm. Which sort of also gave methis insight about all the
brands in the US and Europe whoproduce in India. Right? Because
(34:03):
it's cost effective. Yep.
And, how that could be somethingthat, you know, I can really
niche down also into. Like,that's something that I can
really bring value to.
Heidi (34:13):
Yeah.
Harshini (34:13):
Because I'm looking to, work with international
clients as well. Yeah. And thatwould be really cool.
Heidi (34:20):
Yeah. To then help them source into their production in
India because you're physicallythere and, like, obviously, have
a different type of network andaccess to than someone abroad
has.
Harshini (34:32):
Yes. Yeah. I think I realized that during the, I
mean, I did a small stint withZara. And, a freelance? Was
like, yes, freelance, but notdirectly.
It was through the it wasthrough the supplier side,
through the Oh, okay. Throughthe buying and supplier side.
Yep. And that sort of gave me aninsight into this. Like, how
(34:55):
how, you know, such big brandsproducing in India in such Yeah.
Large quantities. Yeah. You dohave, scope to to grow there.
Yeah.
Heidi (35:09):
You're you've already taken off. And I just I know,
like, in 6, 12, 18 months, it'sgonna be, like, a whole
different thing.
Harshini (35:18):
I hope. I hope. I mean, it's just You've already
done so much. Balancingmotherhood, your freelance
career, and everything, it'sit's quite, quite the task, but
it keeps you motivated. Yeah.
How old is your kiddo? Just 1?He's 2. He's 2. He turned 2 a
few days back.
Yeah. Yeah. Where How old isErrol?
Heidi (35:40):
Errol is well, he'll be 4 in February. So he's a little
older than a little more than 3ahalf. Yeah. Yeah. How are you
balancing that?
Harshini (35:52):
Do you have help? Well, I found a playschool.
Heidi (35:57):
Yeah.
Harshini (35:59):
Yeah. Yeah. I think I think it worked well for him as
well as me. So Oh, really? Yeah.
Yeah.
Heidi (36:05):
I Errol went into daycare when he was about 14 months.
Mhmm. And that it was a it wasreally good for both of us.
Harshini (36:13):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's nice.
And, yeah, I can't wait to seehow this grows and, what I make
out of this, because, you know,niching down has always been
something that, you know, I'm Iwas afraid to do. Because,
(36:35):
because you crave variety as afreelancer and or at least as an
individual. And you don't wantto say no to opportunities that
come your way. I think that'sit's as simple as that. And you
also wanna learn or rather, Iwanted to learn a whole bunch of
things.
So I dabbled with a lot of, youknow, areas. But now I realized
(36:57):
that, okay, I can actuallystructure this into the way that
I wanna go, which is to helpbrands right from trend research
to, preproduction and, you know,sampling. So that way, I kind of
have a a hold on the wholeprocess. But,
Heidi (37:19):
But, like, specific kind of I mean, you said women's
wear. You said mostly wovens,perhaps even focusing so much
on, like, resort. So, like, what
Harshini (37:31):
why do you feel so
Heidi (37:32):
much more comfortable and or creatively fulfilled niching
down now? I may maybe just yougot the opportunity to explore
stuff previously and now youfeel good? Or yeah. Like
Harshini (37:45):
Yeah. No. I felt like I was doing men's wear as well.
Like, if there was a men's weart shirt project, I would say yes
to it. And then it was, thingslike that.
So there was, a women's wearactive, person who'd come to me.
I would say yes to it. But it'snot like I enjoyed doing that.
But right now, I know that Iwanna work with small to medium
(38:06):
sized brands.
Heidi (38:06):
Mhmm.
Harshini (38:07):
And I want to, help them, design their collections.
And it's clearly, like, it'scasual wear. Like, it's not
women's active or it's notwomen's swim. It's specifically
wovens. So we're talking topsand dresses and light jackets,
things like that.
And people seem to really want alot more print right now. And so
(38:30):
I mean, print is also somethingI've done. But I felt like I can
weave that into this, you know,realm of fashion and find my
space. Yeah. If if that makessense.
Yeah.
Heidi (38:42):
No. It makes absolute sense. Yeah. I am pumped for
you, Harshini. This is amazing.
I mean Thank you. It's somemassive progress you've already
made. And I know so much moreis, is coming your way.
Congratulations.
Harshini (38:58):
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Heidi (39:01):
Yeah. Where can everybody connect with you online?
Harshini (39:04):
So I think on LinkedIn, I can add my link
there. And Instagram, well, it'sit's all over the place. It
doesn't have my freelance designwork. But, yes, I guess, email
and LinkedIn would be great.Okay.
Heidi (39:19):
We'll put those that information in the show notes.
And I will end with theinterview that I ask everybody
at the end, which you knowbecause you're a builder. Girl.
Harshini (39:28):
But it's one thing
Heidi (39:32):
people you're like, wait, is she really legit? And now
here you are. I love that Itcame full circle. What is one
thing people never ask you aboutfreelancing and fashion that you
wish they would?
Harshini (39:50):
Wow. Of everything, I didn't think about me being
asked this question. But, yes, Ithink, I think people don't ask
freelancers much about what theyactually want to do because I
feel like, like, I don't know.In terms of, their services or
(40:14):
what they wanna do. Like, Idon't know, their passion, if
you if if I can say.
Like, you end up being abusiness owner, like, you
because you're a small businesson your own. Mhmm. And you end
up strategizing so much that yousort of get lost in in all of
the admin work and all of that.So I guess maybe a question that
(40:35):
you can really ask them is whatwhat do you really, really enjoy
doing? You know?
Something that maybe you youdon't think about money for or
something like that. Becausethat way, you kind of really
tune into things, and I guessthe strategy aspect comes in
naturally, and you don't have tothink, okay. So because I've
done art, I'm gonna do onlytextile design. Or if I'm gonna
(40:57):
do this, I'm gonna do only that.So maybe that's something that
people I I guess dabbling withdifferent things also helps you,
niche down.
But, yes, the question isdefinitely, you know, because a
hobby is different and abusiness is different.
Heidi (41:15):
Mhmm. And
Harshini (41:16):
I think merging these two aspects is really difficult.
Making money, doing what youlove, it's not as easy as what
people say. Yeah. So, yeah, so Iguess that's that's a question.
Because it's it's tough being afreelancer.
It's not the easiest. No. No.And, so I guess yeah. I don't
(41:39):
know.
Did I answer your question?Yeah.
Heidi (41:41):
I think so. I mean, basically, you're just saying,
like, what is the thing that youwhat I kind of heard was Yes.
What is the thing that you justlove to do? Like, if money
wasn't an issue, like, what isAn issue. You have to do?
Harshini (41:56):
Yeah. Yeah. What is
Heidi (41:57):
that for you?
Harshini (41:59):
Honestly, it's it's what I'm doing, for sure. And
you're getting money for it. Iam getting
Heidi (42:05):
money for it.
Harshini (42:05):
I mean, I was undercharging. I think that kind
of explains it.
Heidi (42:09):
Yeah. You're like, well, I mean, I enjoyed doing the
trend board, so what the day.
Harshini (42:16):
Yeah. Yeah. No. I guess it's it's, definitely more
of the trend research. Designfor sure, because I love putting
looks together, and I love, youknow, creating and the whole
process of creation.
Mhmm. So, yeah, I mean, yeah,pretty much what I'm doing.
There you
Heidi (42:33):
go. That's a great answer.
Harshini (42:35):
Yeah. So that's yeah. That's about it. Yeah.
Heidi (42:39):
You're in a great spot. Congrats, Harshini. You've done
some amazing work and gottensome amazing success from it. I
appreciate you coming on theshow.
Harshini (42:47):
You. Thank you so much for having me, and thank you for
doing what you're doing,honestly. I think it's it's such
a unspoken about I I don't know.Like, people don't talk about
freelancing and fashion. And,again, the industry has its
whole set of, you know, like,secrets or whatever.
You you don't get to know this.You don't read it anywhere.
(43:09):
Mhmm. And you doing this opensup avenues for fa freelancers
all over the world. And I wouldnever imagine that in a
pandemic, I would chance upon apodcast like yours and and even
figure that this is gonna helpme majorly in my career.
I don't know. How many everyears? 4 years by 4 years after.
You know? Yeah.
So that's that's insane. SoYeah. I love what you're doing
(43:32):
and Thank you. Purelyappreciate, yeah, everything
that you do. So thank you.
How do you land a freelance gig with WGSN without
any experience? I'm gonna tellyou the spoiler alert, and it's
not that exciting. It comes downto relationships and adding
value. Harshini is a superdriven and hardworking freelance
fashion designer who's learned alot in her 7 years of
freelancing. For a while, shewas undercharging and working on
projects she would ultimatelyresent.
(01:18):
But then after going through myfreelance accelerator program
fast, she started landingprojects she loves at, as she
puts it, prices she loves.Harshini shares all about how
she found her clients, includingher first client WGSN. The hard
lessons she's learned aboutpricing, including getting
premium rates from Indian brandsand how she has juggled her
(01:39):
freelance career while being amom. You're gonna love this
episode of Fashion Designers GetPaid. Let's get to it.
(02:06):
Hi Harshini. I'm so excited toshare your story in the podcast.
You've had a you sent me a verylong email with everything
that's gone on in your freelancecareer essentially and I'm
really excited to dig thoroughlyinto that. Quick backstory on
yourself in the fashionindustry. What's your story?
Harshini (02:26):
Yes. So, first up, hi. And I can't believe I'm on this
podcast that I was listening toduring the pandemic. If you
don't I mean, if that's gonnasurprise because I literally,
chanced upon you through thepodcast. So that's yeah.
So it was like a pandemic listenand I was then it was a binge.
(02:47):
So yeah. So happy that I'm here.And, yeah. Definitely, I would
like to tell you a little bit ofmyself.
So I've been in the industry for8 years, and, I've been
freelancing for the past 7years. I'm a freelance women's
wear designer and trendconsultant, and I work with
brands, women's wear brands,right from initial concept to
(03:10):
preproduction. Yeah. So that'swhat I offer them. Yeah.
And, yeah. It's been good sofar. Yeah.
Heidi (03:17):
And where do you live? No. I'm not sure
Harshini (03:19):
right now. I'm based in Chennai, India. Okay. Gotcha.
Yeah.
Heidi (03:23):
So it's late for you now? Is it, like at night? 10:40 PM.
Yeah. 10.
Okay. Yeah. Okay. Alright. Thankyou for coming on so late.
No problem. Okay. So I guesswe'll start with maybe your most
notable claim to fame here as afreelancer is that you have
freelanced for WGSN. Yeah. Talkus through that.
(03:44):
How'd you get that gig? What didthat look like?
Harshini (03:47):
Oh, man. That was that was quite the journey, I think.
WGSN is something, is a companythat I wanted to work with or be
associated with for a very longtime. Mhmm. So I was, I was at
my full time job, my first job,after my, BA.
And, so during that job, that'swhen I came across WGSN, and
(04:09):
then I love what they do andtheir reports. And so I was just
like, oh, it would be so cool ifI, you know, applied for a job
and all of that. But they don'treally have a large presence,
like, in India, like, in termsof the head office or anything.
It's more of a sales division.But I just sort of left that in
the back burner, and then I wentto London.
And, again, I chanced upon them,but it just something just
(04:33):
didn't sit right. And then onceI finished my MA in London
culture fashion and I came backhere, I came across a trend
seminar, and, I figured why notgo and attend it. And then one
thing led to another. I met theperson who was presenting, and
then I landed up with afreelance project, after that.
Heidi (04:55):
Okay. Wait. Hold on. One thing led to another, and you
met the person who waspresenting. How did that
actually happen?
Harshini (05:02):
So, she was someone I was really looking up to. She's
like, so she's the direct atthat point, she was the director
of mindset, the bespokeconsultancy division where they,
but right now, she's, I think,director of trend. She's also
from London College of Fashion.Although I had no idea about
this. This was, like, beforethe, you know, seminar, you kind
(05:24):
of look up on who's speaking andall of that, and I was super
inspired by her and her journeythereafter.
And the trend seminar wasinsane. Like, she was so good.
She's such a amazing orator, andI think kind of figured that
WGSN trains the, like, theemployees so well that that that
they all have that same to hervoice and the same, you know,
(05:45):
presentation skills or whatever.So I absolutely love the
presentation. And I just thoughtit would be nice to go and talk
to her.
And I didn't even go ask her fora job or anything. Like, I just
said, oh, I I love what you'redoing, and I would like to be
somehow involved in it or try to
Heidi (06:01):
do it, like, own. Email her or what was how to No.
Harshini (06:04):
In person. So the trend seminar was in person.
Heidi (06:07):
Oh, this was in person. Okay. Like I was thinking this
was in line. Okay. Gotcha.
Harshini (06:11):
This was this was pre pandemic. So after
Heidi (06:14):
she gave the presentation, you know, I
approached her and
Harshini (06:17):
said went up to her and
Heidi (06:19):
Gotcha. Yeah.
Harshini (06:19):
Okay. So, Yeah. So I just, like, chatted, and then we
we had a talk. And I sort ofwanted to talk a little more
about something that she spokeabout, about how sustainability
is gonna be big. I mean, thiswas back in I wanna say 2017,
when sustainability wasn't sobig at that point in time.
Sure. And then she was talkingabout loungewear, and they were
(06:42):
predicting loungewear. I mean,it's everywhere now. Yeah. And
at that time, I was like, wow.
This is interesting. Like,transitional clothing. I mean,
all these terms are interesting,and I would like to talk to you
about it. And we kept talking.Like, we really hit it off, and
it was so nice, to chat withsomeone like that.
And I felt she was veryinspirational. And, I mean,
(07:03):
that's about it. And I I didn'treally ask her for a job because
I knew that the visa situationwas really tricky in London.
Yeah. Being a being somebodyfrom I mean, an international
student, that sort of stops youfrom a lot of opportunities.
So I just told her that, yeah,that, you know, it was it was
tough for me to get a job thereor whatever, but I love what you
(07:23):
do and and that's about it.Yeah. And then I went home and I
couldn't stop thinking about it,and I wanted to do something of
my own. So I just sort of, like,stalked them and read everything
that I could about trendresearch or whatever. And at and
at this point in time, I hadn'tapplied for a full time job when
I was back in India.
Heidi (07:44):
Yeah.
Harshini (07:44):
And I wanted to do something on my own, so I had
quite some time on my hands. SoI, tried to look at the latest
trends and put somethingtogether. So I put, like, a I
put, like, a capsule, trendreport, range plan inspired by,
you know, runway. So I sort oflooked at, I don't know, more
(08:04):
than a 150 designers. I I lovedit.
Like, it didn't seem toolaborious a task for me. And
then I sent her something thatwould that would be something
that WGSN would do. And at thispoint, I was still looking for
full time jobs there. Like, Iwas still interested in a full
time gig. I didn't know iffreelancing existed.
I didn't know I didn't know itwas a thing. Yeah. It's so funny
(08:30):
because when I was studying,being a freelancer was viewed as
somebody who who didn't who wasa freelancer because they
couldn't land a full time job.
Heidi (08:40):
Uh-huh. You
Harshini (08:41):
know? At least in India, that that was a
perception. So I was like, oh,no. No. It's not come to that.
Like, let me try for a full timejob. So I emailed her, and I'm
like, hey. This is what I puttogether. And she just gave me
notes, on on it, and she gave mefeedback. And I was so happy
that she did.
Yeah. And then she evenforwarded it to, like, the
(09:01):
runway catwalk, researchdepartment. And then they gave
their feedback. And I was just,like, so grateful that I even
had this conversation. So I waslike, hey.
This this is the takeaway that Ihave. I do know that, asking for
a job is a little too much orwhatever. So I said, that's
fine. I'm I'm grateful for thisconversation. And then I think I
(09:22):
just kept I don't know.
I just kept researching or doingthe things that I wanted to do.
And then, there was anothertrend seminar, I think. And
then, she told me about it,like, a few months later. She
was like, hey. I'm gonna behere.
Do you wanna come and catch up?And I was like, yeah.
Absolutely. So I go and catch upwith her, and that's when I met
(09:46):
the India team. And Okay.
I sort of connected with themand shared emails or whatever.
So this was just literallynothing. Didn't go anywhere.
Just emails back and forth. Andthen out of the blue, the India
person asks me, hey.
So there's this project in, theAsia Pacific office, and, you
know, they're looking forsomeone, and this is, like, the
(10:07):
topic. Would you be interested?Then I said, yeah. And then
she's like, have you done thisbefore? And I was like, no.
I haven't. But here's thepresentation that I put together
for WGSN, and, you know, I'verun this by this person. Self
Heidi (10:23):
directed project. Yeah.
Harshini (10:25):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, and that I'm happy to, you know,
really learn and, you know, domy best and, all of that. And
she was like, oh, okay.
I mean, she wasn't she didn'tsound too, you know, convinced,
but I told her that I'll puttogether a CV, and I'm happy to
do a mock presentation or aproject for them as well.
(10:46):
Uh-huh. And because, you know,the learning is what I want. And
then she said, okay. That'sfine.
And I kind of put that in myemail as well when I was
emailing them. And they said,oh, let's schedule a call. And
then and then it just, you know,I just landed the project after
that because it was insane. Icouldn't believe what was going
on.
Heidi (11:06):
You built a relationship though.
Harshini (11:08):
Yeah. I did.
Heidi (11:09):
Yeah. Like, the the like, to put it super simply, you
built a relationship and you ledwith value. You were like, thank
you so much. I love thepresentation. And then, also, I
just wanted to show you thismood board, this trend report
that I put together.
Yeah. And you just built arelationship based off of value.
(11:30):
Yeah. And that's how some of thebest gigs get landed.
Harshini (11:34):
Yeah. I think I didn't strategize at that point, to be
honest with you. I I think itwas just something
Heidi (11:39):
That was just how you were doing it. It
Harshini (11:41):
I was just like I was just like, I want to learn this
field that is so so, I don'tknow, nuanced and so niche.
Yeah. And not too many companiesdo this. At least now, there are
quite a few companies. But atthat time, there
Heidi (11:57):
weren't too many. Doing trend reports and forecasting.
Harshini (12:01):
Yeah. Doing trend research or to have courses that
kind of delve deep into it, andyou kind of learn only by doing
this. So Yeah. That way, it wasit was really cool. And, yeah,
it was it was amazing.
I've never felt more fulfilledby a project, than than what I
did. It was insane. Like, eventhough I haven't met, like, you
(12:22):
know, the Hong Kong officepeople in person, it was all,
remote, but it was insane. Yeah.
Heidi (12:30):
Yeah. It's funny. I some people sort of innately through
their just this is how theyoperate. They do what you did.
They build the relationship.
They offer value. And that is anamazing place to start. Some
people have to learn that skill.Some people
Harshini (12:48):
are more
Heidi (12:48):
a little bit more like, hey, I'm looking for a job. Do
you have a job? Right? And theyit's just for whatever reason,
the way they were brought up orthe their environment or
culturally sometimes. Right?
Okay. So you get this, like,dream opportunity. Yeah. Yeah.
Then at some point, you aredoing trend for another company
(13:11):
that's not growing as well.
Harshini (13:14):
Yeah. This is, like, way many like, so many years
fast forwarded. This was, like
Heidi (13:19):
How long did you work with WGSN on a freelance basis?
So, you can say
Harshini (13:24):
that I they have me on file or whatever. Like, they
that I that they would reach outto me if they have anything
related to India. Okay. Becausethey work with hyperlocal
insights. So I did 2 I did 3more projects with them Okay.
And, which was over a span of 3years. Okay. And, yeah, I mean,
(13:45):
hopefully
Heidi (13:48):
more. Yeah. Okay. So you're working with them and
then I'm working with them. ThenSo at some point, you land this
other client that you Yeah.
Emailed me about. You're like,Heidi, what do I do?
Harshini (14:00):
So that was so I think the context is, so this was,
yeah, this was way before WGSNhappened way before I got
married and had a child Andthis, other trend, company so I
guess I don't know. After youhave a child, I took, like, a 9
month, break because I neededit. And I could do it because I
(14:23):
was freelancing. And, it wasjust at that that mark where I
was like, okay. I'm getting backto work now.
And, and then this project cameup, and I didn't wanna say no.
Because I was like, hey. This isTrend Research. I wanna work
with them. I mean, however, Iguess I guess it's the low self
esteem of of of a new mom thatyou just undercharge.
Heidi (14:49):
You're not sleeping. There's a baby on your body,
like, all the time. It's tough.Yeah.
Harshini (14:55):
Yeah. You're not making the best decisions. No.
No. You're not.
So, so, yes, I just quotedsomething, and I was just like,
I I need this project. That'sit. Like, I I am getting back to
work. This is my identity. I'm awalking mom.
And so yeah. So yeah. And itdidn't go so well because, 1, I
(15:18):
guess I I mean, you can say thatas a starting point, it was on
me because I have set the bar solow in terms of rates. The price
is down. Yeah.
And then, this I mean, the whathappened was scope creep. Like,
it really like, every project. Imean, I guess that happens with
(15:41):
startups. Mhmm. Because this is,again, a startup company, and
they wanted me to help me helpthem put together things in
place.
So, you know, you just keepdoing more and out of passion
and interest. You know, linesget blurry, and I ended up doing
quite a lot. And then we kindahad to check-in and, you know, I
(16:02):
increased my rates a little bitmore. But then they weren't
willing to stretch beyondanother point. And then I don't
know.
I just started, feeling veryresentful of the work because I
was getting really good projectsoutside of this in women's wear
design.
Heidi (16:21):
They were paying a lot more.
Harshini (16:22):
That were yeah. They were paying my full rates. And
it was work that I loved, but Ididn't feel that I was putting
in so much work and not gettinganything in return. You know
what I mean? And and more thananything else, people who think
so much about the rates, youknow they are not the clients
(16:43):
for you.
Like, it's like and I rememberreading that in fast as well.
Like, you call them the repeatour clients. Yeah.
Heidi (16:52):
Pain in
Harshini (16:53):
their ass. That's literally what they are. And
then you just realize, how do Ibreak up with this toxic
relationship? And then, yeah.And then finally, I think I had
a conversation, and then, I atthat conversation, I realized I
wasn't being valued at all.
(17:14):
You know, and you kind of getthese feelers when, you know,
when you're presenting and allof that, and then I realized,
okay. Fine. This is just not agood match for me, and, I think
it's time to move on. Yeah. Andit was recurring income.
It was like you know what Imean? Like, it's, constant work
every month, but you're paidsuper low. And it was such a
(17:38):
tough decision to take becausehow do you say no as a
freelancer to stable income? Andthen, you know, how do you it
it's tough one.
Heidi (17:49):
And so Yeah. Go ahead.
Harshini (17:51):
Yeah. Please. What what do you wanna ask me?
Heidi (17:53):
I mean, I guess I was just I'm wondering, like, where
what was the tipping point?Like, you're like, okay. Well,
it's stable. It's ongoing. But,also, like, I'm doing so much
more than I'm getting fairlycompensated for.
So, like, what was the tippingpoint where you're like
Harshini (18:06):
The tipping point was I know it was So the budget, so
I kind of outsourced a littlebit of the work to another
freelancer. K. And, so she wasworking with me on, like,
previous projects. So we had,like, a good relationship, and
so she would, take care of,certain things. But what
(18:27):
happened was, it took so muchtime that my entire chunk of
time that I have chalked out forwork would go only in this, and
I couldn't concentrate on theother clients.
And it wasn't doing justicebecause they are paying my full
rates, and it's nowhere near theball ballpark of what these
(18:47):
people are playing. Mhmm. And Iwanted to make more time to
pitch and get new clients aswell. Mhmm. And this was coming
in the way.
Mhmm. And I felt I can't keepgoing on like this. Right? Yeah.
So yeah.
Which is why I sort of Are you
Heidi (19:05):
willing to talk about some of the numbers?
Harshini (19:09):
The actual rates? Project?
Heidi (19:11):
I guess all of them.
Harshini (19:12):
For the
Heidi (19:12):
I mean, whatever you wanna share.
Harshini (19:14):
Sure. In terms of dollars, I think per report, I
think it was not the best atconverting, but I wanna say it
was, You
Heidi (19:30):
could put in the email You were initially
Harshini (19:33):
If you wanna pull that up. Yeah. Okay.
Heidi (19:34):
I assume if is I wanna make sure you're comfortable to
share. Yes. You initially werecharging them $95 per report,
and then Yeah. You increased itto a $120. Yes.
Yes. K.
Harshini (19:49):
And, that was still How
Heidi (19:50):
much time were you putting into each report?
Harshini (19:54):
It would take me, I think, around 6 to 8 hours. K.
But, I mean, I was I didn'tcalculate hourly clearly. Right.
Right.
Because I've just sort of giventhem a round number. But now I'm
kind of doing a project basedpricing, but, hey, at that time,
(20:17):
it just didn't really work. And,yeah, and simple. Like and and
more than anything else, it wasit was just, I guess, the
mentality because, I mean, forthem, the reports, them
(20:39):
restructure everything from theground up, and I don't think
that that I need to do that.Like, I need to stretch and do
that.
Yeah. But I wasn't getting the,like, the value of what like, I
wasn't I felt like they weren'tunderstanding the value that I
was bringing by offering thesethings because Yeah. You don't
(21:00):
just blindly say that I'm gonnabuild your structure from ground
up. It's it's because I havesome plans that I'm willing to
put in the work. Yeah.
But yeah. So I felt like yeah.1, definitely the rates, and 2
yeah. I guess it it was just inwasn't a good fit. Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. But I think it's thebest decision I made. Yeah. How
(21:49):
did you how
Heidi (21:49):
did you break up with them?
Harshini (21:52):
So I sent them an email, like, sorry, a text
message. Because I felt likeemail is too suddenly out of
nowhere professional. You knowwhat I mean? Because I was in a
text conversation.
Heidi (22:03):
Okay. So
Harshini (22:03):
you texted them normally sometimes? Okay. Yes. I
followed your advice, and Iwaited for them to, give me the
payment. And then Yep.
Yeah. Because I figured, okay,that's definitely an issue, and
that's something we need to,think about. And so Yeah. By the
(22:25):
time I waited for that, theywere also already ready to go
for the next season and the nextset of reports. So that's when I
said, hey.
This is, you know, not not agood fit. And, I also said that,
you know, it it's not doingjustice to my time because I
have other clients who arepaying me full rates and all of
(22:45):
that, and I wish you well. Andliterally, like, thing like
yeah. I didn't make it I justdidn't give too many reasons. I
was just like Mhmm.
Heidi (22:56):
Yeah. Yeah. Not a good match. I've I'm busy with other
clients. Yeah.
Harshini (22:59):
But I did thank them and everything and all of that.
Yeah. Yeah. So it's pretty,pretty solid.
Heidi (23:05):
Take it? They take it okay? It was like, okay? Yeah. I
think I
Harshini (23:09):
mean, I don't get a response for a few hours. I
mean, that's quite a lot Ontext. For a text message. So
maybe they had a panic attack. Idon't know.
And then after that, they justsaid, yeah. That's fine. All the
best. Like Good. Good.
And then I knew that, okay. It'sfine. Like Yeah. Yeah. I feel
better when I'm getting newclients.
Heidi (23:31):
Yeah. So talk to us. I wanna hear about these other two
clients that you're working withthat are paying full rate. What
is your full rate? How are youcalculating that?
Harshini (23:39):
So I'm doing project price. And, so the project
price, I have different, like,packages of, like, what I'm
doing. So, depending on whatthey would like, like concept,
collection, sampling, I sort ofpitch accordingly. So I think it
varies between 1,000 to $3,000at this point for
Heidi (24:03):
that entire project.
Harshini (24:05):
Yeah. Yeah. For the for what they need. Okay.
Because I'm offering, you know,an end to end service, like from
concept till preproduction.
Okay. And some clients wanttextile design as well, which I
do kind of offer because it'swomen's wear anyway. And Okay.
So I kind of yeah.
Heidi (24:25):
Yeah. So where'd you get these 2 other new clients that
are paying your full rate?
Harshini (24:30):
Yes. So, I connected with someone who is my, alumni,
from London. And so she runs,like, she has her own
consultancy business, and shehelps, small brands in India,
stock wholesale in the indifferent countries. So US,
Australia, UK, and, they so sheisn't really any she doesn't
(24:55):
have anything to do with design.She's a marketing agency.
Mhmm. But she wanted she feltlike there was a gap where
clients wanted this help, and sowe kind of connected. And then
and then we worked, on 2, 3projects. Yeah. And, yeah.
And so the the the initial pricefor them was quite a shock for
(25:17):
sure. But, but once we startedgetting on discovery calls and
talking to them about the valuethat we're bringing and what
we're gonna be doing, it workedreally well. So so I assigned 2
3 clients through her. Okay.And, now I've signed a new
(25:38):
client on my own.
And Amazing. Has this news?
Heidi (25:41):
Yes. Where did this come from?
Harshini (25:44):
This is as of, I I think, last 2 weeks and
surprisingly through LinkedIn.Yeah. Yeah, they found me. Like,
and it was really interesting.It's a small brand, and she
wants to launch her firstcollection.
So, yeah, I'm super excited.And, yeah, I'm like, finally,
(26:05):
like, for all these years, I'vebeen working with so many
different types of brands,different sizes of brands. But
for the first time, I feel like,okay. With small brands, you
have so much more potential andso much more value that you can
really show. And, so that wasthat's been really nice.
And, finally, I feel a littleconfident. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Heidi (26:31):
What's making you like, what change that is is helping
you feel more confident?
Harshini (26:36):
Definitely fast. I have to say it. Yeah. Because, I
didn't know that there were somany people doing this. I didn't
know that there was such ademand for it.
And even though I've beenfreelancing for 7 years, I
didn't focus so much. And, youknow, I think once you become a
mom, you become superproductive. Oh, like Yeah. You
(27:01):
hit the kids' mommy.
Heidi (27:02):
Like, hyper product. You're, like, all of a sudden
getting something done in 5minutes that you used to spend,
like, 5 hours on. Yeah. Yeah.For sure.
Harshini (27:11):
It's like a giant shark tank.
Heidi (27:13):
Use your time.
Harshini (27:14):
Yeah. Was that It's giant. So there's this, what's
his name, Kevin something,mister wonderful on Shark Tank.
So he talks about how yeah. Sohe just talks about how most of
his invest like, investmentshave been women run businesses
because he's like, I investedmoms because they are the ones
who bring in the money.
(27:36):
They don't
Heidi (27:36):
wanna get shit done.
Harshini (27:38):
Yeah. Absolutely. So it's like, working through chaos
and all sorts of, ununpredictable messes thrown at
Heidi (27:51):
you. Yeah.
Harshini (27:51):
So I guess yeah. It was the it was the right time
for me also. FAST came at theright time. Because then I knew
that I could structure mypricing in such a way that I can
niche down and focus on women'swear and, you know, wovens more
specifically. I don't mind doingcasual knits, but, I mean, you
(28:12):
do talk about how you you know,we can figure it out as we go
along and Yeah.
Yeah. But for now, this is whatI was thinking, and I was
thinking of niching down evenmore to resort wear. But I
haven't really taken thatspecific, step because, I mean,
resortware, I feel I mean, it'squite a tricky, category because
(28:34):
it's it's more season thancategory. And at this point,
it's it has a whole set ofbrands on its own, but I'm still
figuring that part out. Like, doI wanna niche down?
Do I wanna stay? It's somethingI'm figuring out. But, yeah,
it's been good. Yeah.
Heidi (28:50):
You have time to figure it out. Yeah. This is awesome. I
love your story so much. Thankyou.
How does it feel like not tookay. I will just tout fast.
But, like, you you made thecomment in your email, when you
first were start when you firstdid those trend reports for that
(29:13):
first company Yes. For $95. Yousaid I was, this was way before
Fast, and I was reallyundercharging.
And then after Fast, you're,like, charging the right rates
and stuff. So I feel like yourfreelance career now is quite
different than it was beforefast. Like, how like, you said
(29:33):
mentioned confidence and andobviously, like, the pricing
you're charging. You're like,I'm charging what I'm worth, and
I'm getting that. And you evencommented, like, the brand that
you're you're the brands thatyou're working with with your
marketing agency friend.
Yeah. The price was a shock tothem, but then you went in, you
did the discovery calls, and youpitched yourself and presented
the value that you were actuallydelivering. Presented the value
(29:53):
that you were actuallydelivering. So, like, how would
you maybe compare and contrastyour freelance career before
fast versus after fast? How doesit look different?
Harshini (30:06):
I think, 1, hourly based pricing I think, 1, hourly
based pricing
Heidi (30:11):
is not something
Harshini (30:11):
I consider at all. Mhmm. Or rather, to even, think
about, you know, your timespecifically, because it's not a
big thing in India. Like, theydon't pay you hourly here in for
design for freelance design.Everything is poor like, it's
poor design or Poor deliverable.
Back. Yeah. Yeah. And thevarying rates on it doesn't go
(30:35):
much up or up or down. It like,it doesn't change depending on
how many experience you have orhow many years of experience you
have.
You know what I mean? So it itwas a very different system that
I had seen over here. And in theUK, I think they charge day
rates. But I hadn't come to thatbut I hadn't come to that or
figured that out at all. Mhmm.
(30:59):
But, yeah, I guess after FAST, Ifigured that I can that it's
under my control. And I can setthese prices depending on what
I'm comfortable with and thenslowly figure. Because I I mean,
end of the day, you wanna be,happy doing the work that you do
and, you know, and at the sametime, being compensated fairly.
(31:21):
Yeah. And, yeah.
And and there were a lot ofclients, asking me to, I don't
know. Like, this is before fast.But the rates, they were unhappy
with the rates that I wascharging, Radu. Like, they
wanted it to be much lower. And,it was tough to say no.
(31:42):
But I felt like, you know, ifyou say yes, you're just stuck
in that loophole again. And soafter FAST, I think I it just
opens your, mind to the factthat there are possibilities.
There are so many freelancersworking with the brands that
they love. Mhmm. Charging therates that they love.
I'm like, wait. Really? Arethese people real? They're on
(32:04):
drops? Yeah.
Heidi (32:06):
Wait. Like, before you enrolled in FAST, you were like,
is this real?
Harshini (32:10):
Like, really skeptical? I was binging on your
podcasts. And I went and lookedup all these people. And I think
there were 1 or 2 people fromIndia.
Heidi (32:20):
And I'm like, okay.
Harshini (32:20):
So so there are Indians as well. Like, there are
other people Yeah. Like, it'snot just it's not just you know?
So it really blew my mind. And Iwas like, maybe this is what I
need.
And it it gave me structure andto understand how to talk to
clients, the value that webring. You know, just it just
gave me structure to all the toeverything that I was doing.
(32:43):
Like, how you spoke about WGSNand all of that. I was doing the
things, but I just didn't knowthe, you know, the plan or the
strategy or things like that. Ididn't have it so streamlined.
I think that's a better word.Yeah. Yeah. So it you kinda
helped me streamline things andyeah. Get the ring too.
Love. Yes. I love that. The cashmoney. Yeah.
Heidi (33:08):
Are the so you're working with 3 clients with your friend
and then a 4th client that yougot through LinkedIn. Are they
all for where are those clientsbased? Are they all in India?
Harshini (33:19):
Yeah. I mean, one is in Paris, but she's an Indian,
in Paris who's trying to do acollaborative collection. Okay.
And there was one in Finland aswell. Again, an Indian in
Finland.
Okay. But what's interesting isthese are Indian brands who are
looking to, pitch to foreignbuyers. So Mhmm. Buyers so you
(33:41):
kind of design with an Indiansensibility, but something that
can be worn by, women abroad. SoEurope and the US, which really
interested me.
Mhmm. Which sort of also gave methis insight about all the
brands in the US and Europe whoproduce in India. Right? Because
(34:03):
it's cost effective. Yep.
And, how that could be somethingthat, you know, I can really
niche down also into. Like,that's something that I can
really bring value to.
Heidi (34:13):
Yeah.
Harshini (34:13):
Because I'm looking to, work with international
clients as well. Yeah. And thatwould be really cool.
Heidi (34:20):
Yeah. To then help them source into their production in
India because you're physicallythere and, like, obviously, have
a different type of network andaccess to than someone abroad
has.
Harshini (34:32):
Yes. Yeah. I think I realized that during the, I
mean, I did a small stint withZara. And, a freelance? Was
like, yes, freelance, but notdirectly.
It was through the it wasthrough the supplier side,
through the Oh, okay. Throughthe buying and supplier side.
Yep. And that sort of gave me aninsight into this. Like, how
(34:55):
how, you know, such big brandsproducing in India in such Yeah.
Large quantities. Yeah. You dohave, scope to to grow there.
Yeah.
Heidi (35:09):
You're you've already taken off. And I just I know,
like, in 6, 12, 18 months, it'sgonna be, like, a whole
different thing.
Harshini (35:18):
I hope. I hope. I mean, it's just You've already
done so much. Balancingmotherhood, your freelance
career, and everything, it'sit's quite, quite the task, but
it keeps you motivated. Yeah.
How old is your kiddo? Just 1?He's 2. He's 2. He turned 2 a
few days back.
Yeah. Yeah. Where How old isErrol?
Heidi (35:40):
Errol is well, he'll be 4 in February. So he's a little
older than a little more than 3ahalf. Yeah. Yeah. How are you
balancing that?
Harshini (35:52):
Do you have help? Well, I found a playschool.
Heidi (35:57):
Yeah.
Harshini (35:59):
Yeah. Yeah. I think I think it worked well for him as
well as me. So Oh, really? Yeah.
Yeah.
Heidi (36:05):
I Errol went into daycare when he was about 14 months.
Mhmm. And that it was a it wasreally good for both of us.
Harshini (36:13):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's nice.
And, yeah, I can't wait to seehow this grows and, what I make
out of this, because, you know,niching down has always been
something that, you know, I'm Iwas afraid to do. Because,
(36:35):
because you crave variety as afreelancer and or at least as an
individual. And you don't wantto say no to opportunities that
come your way. I think that'sit's as simple as that. And you
also wanna learn or rather, Iwanted to learn a whole bunch of
things.
So I dabbled with a lot of, youknow, areas. But now I realized
(36:57):
that, okay, I can actuallystructure this into the way that
I wanna go, which is to helpbrands right from trend research
to, preproduction and, you know,sampling. So that way, I kind of
have a a hold on the wholeprocess. But,
Heidi (37:19):
But, like, specific kind of I mean, you said women's
wear. You said mostly wovens,perhaps even focusing so much
on, like, resort. So, like, what
Harshini (37:31):
why do you feel so
Heidi (37:32):
much more comfortable and or creatively fulfilled niching
down now? I may maybe just yougot the opportunity to explore
stuff previously and now youfeel good? Or yeah. Like
Harshini (37:45):
Yeah. No. I felt like I was doing men's wear as well.
Like, if there was a men's weart shirt project, I would say yes
to it. And then it was, thingslike that.
So there was, a women's wearactive, person who'd come to me.
I would say yes to it. But it'snot like I enjoyed doing that.
But right now, I know that Iwanna work with small to medium
(38:06):
sized brands.
Heidi (38:06):
Mhmm.
Harshini (38:07):
And I want to, help them, design their collections.
And it's clearly, like, it'scasual wear. Like, it's not
women's active or it's notwomen's swim. It's specifically
wovens. So we're talking topsand dresses and light jackets,
things like that.
And people seem to really want alot more print right now. And so
(38:30):
I mean, print is also somethingI've done. But I felt like I can
weave that into this, you know,realm of fashion and find my
space. Yeah. If if that makessense.
Yeah.
Heidi (38:42):
No. It makes absolute sense. Yeah. I am pumped for
you, Harshini. This is amazing.
I mean Thank you. It's somemassive progress you've already
made. And I know so much moreis, is coming your way.
Congratulations.
Harshini (38:58):
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Heidi (39:01):
Yeah. Where can everybody connect with you online?
Harshini (39:04):
So I think on LinkedIn, I can add my link
there. And Instagram, well, it'sit's all over the place. It
doesn't have my freelance designwork. But, yes, I guess, email
and LinkedIn would be great.Okay.
Heidi (39:19):
We'll put those that information in the show notes.
And I will end with theinterview that I ask everybody
at the end, which you knowbecause you're a builder. Girl.
Harshini (39:28):
But it's one thing
Heidi (39:32):
people you're like, wait, is she really legit? And now
here you are. I love that Itcame full circle. What is one
thing people never ask you aboutfreelancing and fashion that you
wish they would?
Harshini (39:50):
Wow. Of everything, I didn't think about me being
asked this question. But, yes, Ithink, I think people don't ask
freelancers much about what theyactually want to do because I
feel like, like, I don't know.In terms of, their services or
(40:14):
what they wanna do. Like, Idon't know, their passion, if
you if if I can say.
Like, you end up being abusiness owner, like, you
because you're a small businesson your own. Mhmm. And you end
up strategizing so much that yousort of get lost in in all of
the admin work and all of that.So I guess maybe a question that
(40:35):
you can really ask them is whatwhat do you really, really enjoy
doing? You know?
Something that maybe you youdon't think about money for or
something like that. Becausethat way, you kind of really
tune into things, and I guessthe strategy aspect comes in
naturally, and you don't have tothink, okay. So because I've
done art, I'm gonna do onlytextile design. Or if I'm gonna
(40:57):
do this, I'm gonna do only that.So maybe that's something that
people I I guess dabbling withdifferent things also helps you,
niche down.
But, yes, the question isdefinitely, you know, because a
hobby is different and abusiness is different.
Heidi (41:15):
Mhmm. And
Harshini (41:16):
I think merging these two aspects is really difficult.
Making money, doing what youlove, it's not as easy as what
people say. Yeah. So, yeah, so Iguess that's that's a question.
Because it's it's tough being afreelancer.
It's not the easiest. No. No.And, so I guess yeah. I don't
(41:39):
know.
Did I answer your question?Yeah.
Heidi (41:41):
I think so. I mean, basically, you're just saying,
like, what is the thing that youwhat I kind of heard was Yes.
What is the thing that you justlove to do? Like, if money
wasn't an issue, like, what isAn issue. You have to do?
Harshini (41:56):
Yeah. Yeah. What is
Heidi (41:57):
that for you?
Harshini (41:59):
Honestly, it's it's what I'm doing, for sure. And
you're getting money for it. Iam getting
Heidi (42:05):
money for it.
Harshini (42:05):
I mean, I was undercharging. I think that kind
of explains it.
Heidi (42:09):
Yeah. You're like, well, I mean, I enjoyed doing the
trend board, so what the day.
Harshini (42:16):
Yeah. Yeah. No. I guess it's it's, definitely more
of the trend research. Designfor sure, because I love putting
looks together, and I love, youknow, creating and the whole
process of creation.
Mhmm. So, yeah, I mean, yeah,pretty much what I'm doing.
There you
Heidi (42:33):
go. That's a great answer.
Harshini (42:35):
Yeah. So that's yeah. That's about it. Yeah.
Heidi (42:39):
You're in a great spot. Congrats, Harshini. You've done
some amazing work and gottensome amazing success from it. I
appreciate you coming on theshow.
Harshini (42:47):
You. Thank you so much for having me, and thank you for
doing what you're doing,honestly. I think it's it's such
a unspoken about I I don't know.Like, people don't talk about
freelancing and fashion. And,again, the industry has its
whole set of, you know, like,secrets or whatever.
You you don't get to know this.You don't read it anywhere.
(43:09):
Mhmm. And you doing this opensup avenues for fa freelancers
all over the world. And I wouldnever imagine that in a
pandemic, I would chance upon apodcast like yours and and even
figure that this is gonna helpme majorly in my career.
I don't know. How many everyears? 4 years by 4 years after.
You know? Yeah.
So that's that's insane. SoYeah. I love what you're doing
(43:32):
and Thank you. Purelyappreciate, yeah, everything
that you do. So thank you.
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