Are you a freelance professional or are you considering the idea? Do you feel like you might need some tips on how to survive a freelance career? If you want to know how Axelle Brown-Videau, PR and PWA member, manages her freelance life and what she learned in 4 years of freelancing, check her post “Freelancing – quello che ho imparato durante 4 anni in 10 punti” (in Italian).

The new year welcomed in a new event, the start of a monthly Entrepreneurs’ Breakfast.The group, so far, is composed of five women, all with several years of experience as entrepreneurs or free-lancers. The meeting started with everyone presenting who they were, what they are doing, why they came and what their expectations were.

This was enough to start a lively creative brainstorming on the issues we were facing. For one attendee, we developed a strategy to transform her self-employment into a business that has growth potential, better branding and visibility while protecting her from copy-cat competition. As two of us were looking for new projects, we discussed several new business ideas and we may be starting something together soon. We also discussed the challenges of Italian clients who are not yet used to appreciating quality and professionalism.

In a nutshell, the breakfast resulted in a very creative, intense and productive morning. The group was homogeneous – as far as interests and experience were concerned – and it was extremely helpful and inspiring to hear about their experiences and realise how being an expatriate can be an advantage. All in all I can heartily recommend working in small groups and I hope that more PWA-members take the initiative to start their own groups.

Thank you to the PWA members that took part in the Entrepreneurs’ Breakfast and see you at the next one!

Barbara Niemann-Fadani