In March I attended Free Spirits LIVE; an online conference for freelancers and small business owners working in L&D. It was my first time and I’ve got to say, it was brilliant I came away with new ideas, some reassurance and a lot to think about.
What is L&D Free Spirits?
Before I get into the event itself, it’s worth saying a bit about the community behind it. L&D Free Spirits is a membership community for self-employed people working in people development, so trainers, facilitators, coaches, learning designers, L&D and consultants. It was founded by Kim Ellis, who built the community she wished had existed when she went self-employed herself. The idea is simple really: freelancing in L&D can be brilliant, but it can also be a bit lonely and full of decisions nobody really prepares you for. Free Spirits is the place where people figure it out together. I can already see why people value it.
Free Spirits LIVE!
When I first signed up to the live conference, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve attended a few online events over the years and they can be a bit hit and miss. But it wasn’t just a string of presentations with a chat box running alongside. There were real discussions, and space to actually think, which I don’t always get from events like this. I also appreciated that it was online. I find in person conferences quite pressured if I’m being truthful, so being able to attend from my own space, on my own terms, made it much easier to engage properly.
A few sessions that stood out
The CPD Group Q&A was one I found particularly useful, mainly because I could ask the questions that were actually on my mind rather than just listening to someone else’s agenda. I came away with a much clearer picture of how CPD accreditation works and how it could support what I offer.
I also really liked Judy Parsons’ session on LinkedIn company pages. Visibility is something I think about quite a bit but I’ll admit I’ve put it off more than once. What I liked about this session was that it wasn’t about doing more for the sake of it. It was about being more intentional with what’s already there. That felt manageable and actually quite motivating.
Tom McDowall’s pricing session gave me a lot to think about. Pricing insights are always useful and I don’t think I’m alone in that. The bit that’s stayed with me is the idea of pricing for value rather than time. I think a lot of us who work independently undersell ourselves because we’re still thinking in hours, and so much of what we actually bring, the thinking, the problem solving, the years of experience, doesn’t show up in a timesheet.
What I took away from the day
I think what I valued most was the reassurance. When you work for yourself it’s quite easy to focus on everything you haven’t done yet, the gaps, the things on your list that keep getting moved. Events like this can be a useful reminder that some of what you’re already doing is actually going in the right direction. I needed that. It also just felt honest. There wasn’t a lot of polished success story stuff, it felt more like a room of people being real about what freelance life is actually like. I find that much more useful.
I’ve already signed up for the session running in Autumn and I’m looking forward to continuing the conversation. If any of this resonates, it might be worth having a look at the L&D Free Spirits community https://ldfreespirits.com/.