Advice for Early-Career Data Visualization Freelancers: Ann’s Interview with Jane Zhang

Courtney Sims — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 15:08:00 +0000

When Jane Zhang wanted to interview me for her article for the Data Visualization Society, I agreed!

We decided to record our conversation so that even more people could benefit from learning about the business behind my business.

This conversation might be especially helpful for early-career data visualization freelancers—or those contemplating the switch from a salaried job into a freelancing job. If that’s you, welcome to the dataviz community! And enjoy this video interview.

What’s Inside

How I got started six years ago
Whether I’d planned to work for myself from the beginning
The critical turning points in my decision-making process
What type of advice I received from mentors early on
How the work I’ve done has shifted over the past six years
All of the correct ways to make a living with data visualization
How my previous workplaces were so supportive of data visualization
Whether I think anyone can teach
What High Schooler Ann thought she’d be when she grew up—and how my career path isn’t that different from what I originally planned
How I found my earliest clients
How blogging for several years before going solo unintentionally became a solid portfolio
How professional volunteering on boards built my network and helped/helps me find projects that are a good fit for me
Why I always recommend that early-career dataviz enthusiasts start blogging
Where my income comes from (the percentage from in-person training, online training, consulting, keynotes, and other sources)
Why I’m trying to do even more online training
How I manage traveling in the U.S. and internationally with my family
How I’ve moved mountains for the right work-life balance
Why you need to niche-down for your own sanity
How you actually decide what to specialize in
What my staffing structure has looked like in the past, and what it looks like now
Why I’ll never, ever hire full-time employees
How I learned how to run a business
Why so many people hesitate to run their own business
How little I understand about my own visibility and presence
What I’m really aiming for during my training—which is often much different than the workshop objectives written out on paper
Why it’s critical to give yourself a Dabbling Year(s) when you’re first starting out
What Jane’s currently working on