Meet Anyi!

Anyi went through our July accelerator after working at Uber. She specializes in Customer Engagement and Product Marketing with a focus on helping startups develop marketing strategies to drive growth and retention.

Read her story below about how she went from full-time to freelance in under a month!

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What was your career like before you started independent consulting?

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Before I started freelancing, I had 10 years of marketing experience across a few industries and was most recently doing product marketing at Uber Freight.

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What drove you to think about working for yourself? What doubts did you have along the way?

I was drawn to the idea of freelance consulting because I wanted to expand my experience across different types of companies while working on interesting challenges and projects. I had only known what it was like to be a full-time employee, so I kept putting off the transition because I didn't know if I had enough experience or how to even get started.

The chance came when I was impacted by layoffs due to the pandemic. I decided it was finally time to go for it, and haven't looked back. I now realize that my doubts were mainly driven by imposter syndrome and I'm very glad I took the leap.

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What are the biggest ways in which Mylance helped you navigate launching your freelance business?

Mylance gave me all the tools and resources I needed to get set up and start finding and closing clients. Without Mylance, I probably would have spent months trying to do this research myself. Above all, what I valued the most was the community. I met some awesome people who I could relate to and were going through the same journey.

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Give us some details about how you found your first client, what your pitch was like, how the negotiation process went, and how you closed them?

I found most of my clients through my network via connections. My first client was a startup. I had 1 discovery conversation with the CEO, where I identified an opportunity area and suggested a specific project that was similar to something I had done in the past. This led to follow-up conversations with 2 other members of the team, where I was able to get an understanding of what the project scope could look like.

From there, it was easy to develop and get sign-off on a proposal because I knew exactly what they needed help with. I was also able to get the client to agree with my initially proposed rate. I closed this client within 2 weeks of completing the Mylance accelerator.

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What does your professional life look like now?

I'm now working with 3 clients, about 40-45 hours a week. On a monthly basis, I'm making more than I did before I started freelancing even though I'm working a similar number of hours.

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What are your favorite parts about freelance consulting?

My clients are great and the work is fulfilling. I'm also enjoying the flexibility of being able to choose when I work and knowing that every hour is valued because it's going toward a clear objective or deliverable.