MAKING A FREELANCE LIFE WORK FOR YOU
When you were a kid, did you ever think, “I want to grow up to be a freelancer and work on a contract basis”? Probably not – does anyone? I know that was not what I thought about as a child, even though I always knew I wanted to work in theatre. Freelancing and working as an independent contractor is rarely talked about in high school and college – is it even mentioned in college courses, other than perhaps an Entrepreneurship class? Unless someone you live with is doing it, or there’s a specific class in your department geared toward the business side of your intended career, you probably aren’t familiar with that lifestyle (and its specifics, tax implications, and other ripple effects through the rest of your life) until you’re living it. Like many people, I picked a career that has a ton of variables – there’s no one path to success, there’s a vast number of environments and organizations in which to work, and though some of the work is as an employee, a lot of it is as an independent contractor.
HOW IT STARTED
I am primarily a stage manager. I first learned the job in high school, but it wasn’t my focus for a long time. Since then, I‘ve had approximately 20 jobs that were not stage management, and I took a long, meandering path to become a professional stage manager. Once I decided to cast off the safety nets of part-time jobs outside the industry, apply to grad school, and pursue it as a full-time career, I was laser-focused on working in regional theatre. But even once I felt I’d “made it” – I had my AEA card, I had a professional credit, I had an MFA – when the theatre jobs did not come frequently enough, I had a hard time calling myself a stage manager. How can I give myself this title when I’m not consistently doing what I was trained to do?
After a few years, I realized that this narrow definition of my career didn’t serve me. I discovered I wasn’t meant only to do one thing. I’d always considered networking difficult – my impression of it was that I’d have to constantly talk to people I didn’t know and ask them for something, which didn’t appeal to my introverted self. But I reframed that too. I built up my network by connecting online and/or keeping in touch with just about everyone I attended graduate school with (and meeting the students who arrived after I’d graduated), plus everyone I’d enjoyed working with on past gigs, and through those connections I started trying new things and saying yes to almost anything entertainment-related. I was a Production Assistant for corporate events at the Convention Center. I stage managed large choral concerts, and one-day jazz and classical music concerts. I tried non-traditional opera, and college dance shows. I was a Production Coordinator for a site-specific interactive experience, and a local touring devised Shakespearean production. I (reluctantly) became an off-and-on production manager. Through all of these experiences, I learned a LOT about myself, my work, and the people and organizations I do and do not want to work with. Still, the most valuable thing that emerged was the realization that I could take my skill set, be thrown into any live-event situation, and add value to it by helping it all come together.
Over time, with experience, I was able to start saying no to the jobs that weren’t right for me, and make room for more of the work I really liked. I had to make a conscious decision not to leave my schedule wide open “just in case” a theatre called and actively pursue other work that felt interesting to me. I wrestled a long time with this big shift: was I a failure if I wasn’t working consistently in theatre? If I filled my schedule with other work, how bad would I feel if I suddenly got an AEA contract offer? I wasn’t in a position to go wherever the work was, so I saw few choices if I wanted to continue in my field – either pivot to another role like administration, production management, or company management, or cast my net wider and see what else was out there for a stage manager.
A sidebar that I think is especially relevant for entertainment freelancers – because of the passion we usually have for our work, and the constant need to hustle for more work, sometimes our job title becomes our whole personality. When I wasn’t consistently working in theatre, not only did it feel like a professional crisis (“Am I even a stage manager?”), but it also felt personal (“When I’m not working or trying to find work, who even am I?”). This can be a lonely career path, as we often say no to vacations, family events, and social gatherings due to work. Friends and family might even stop inviting us because they assume we are always working. We often work erratic, long hours or six days a week, leaving little time for hobbies. In the early-career stage, it can be easy to sign up for this life, thinking you have to say yes to everything to build your resume, and there’s going to be time later to re-prioritize family and friends and work/life balance. When I found myself “not stage managing,” I had to make a conscious decision to spend time discovering who I was outside of my work – and I started actively making plans with family and friends, actually buying tickets for events I wanted to attend, and trying out hobbies and activities to see what was fun for me (which is why I can now play and sing “You’ll Be Back” from Hamilton on the ukulele). Making concrete plans was scary (“What if someone offers me a job that conflicts with this??”) but totally worth it – even if I occasionally had to say no to a gig or give my event ticket to someone else. I was still getting out there and making my non-work life and relationships a priority – which I think is so important for mental health and overall balance. And that personal journey was especially relevant once the pandemic hit and we all were out of work – it made it the slightest bit easier that I already had decided my career didn’t define me. So I’d encourage everyone who has that kind of grind mentality to prioritize your outside life to the extent that your finances allow – it will serve you in the long run.
HOW IT’S GOING
These days, because I said yes to so many people and companies, they think of me when they need someone. In addition, I took a flexible part-time job as a Production Coordinator for the nonprofit that manages two of the largest presenting venues in San Diego, so I am learning production management, scheduling labor calls, and advancing tours – a lot less reluctantly now. I am an Event Coordinator, Show Caller, Deck Manager, or Producer, depending on the client, but in all of these I’m handling production logistics/planning, and/or calling cues or running the show. To some of my clients, I am sort of a consultant and catch-all for all the production-related needs they don’t yet know they need. I’m the peace of mind that their event details will be taken care of so they can focus on their content or their audience. Once you walk into a number of events with almost no prior knowledge and just figure out in the moment how to get them organized and running, you gain the confidence and experience to think quickly and outside the box, sometimes even out of your normal scope of work.
USING ONE JOB TO INFORM OTHERS
I’ve spent a lot of time comparing the theatrical process to the event process, and how working in one can inform the work in the other. In theatrical training (whether it be in an educational or on-the-job setting), you usually learn that there’s “a way” and an order of doing things, and also that it can vary person to person, show to show, theatre to theatre. But there are many more similarities than differences as you go from one production process to the next, and you may fall into a pattern or way of working that looks very similar from show to show. So your approach to rehearsal, problem-solving, and running the deck may start from the same place each time and adapt as necessary. There’s nothing wrong with that; in fact, it’s very efficient. But if you work on a play, and then you work on a 50-choir choral festival, then a corporate event general session, then an awards dinner, and then another play, you may have some fresh ideas about how to work in theatre from your last couple of experiences. You might feel empowered to speak up when the creative team is discussing a potential logistical issue. You might be a little more efficient in tech rehearsals because suddenly, it feels like you have so much more time to keep the backstage and paperwork organized after the chaos of getting groups of (non-theatre) people from one place to another while keeping the last event running.
While this is certainly helpful, I’ve found that it works even better the other way – I’ve used my theatrical training to run events more efficiently, and the organizations that hire me are astounded at how “easy” it can be – running events is not necessarily their area of expertise, and they don’t know what they don’t know. Often I will walk in (or look through their event paperwork) and observe what’s going on, ask a few questions about how they want things to go, and make a few subtle suggestions or tweaks. Since so much of this fast-paced process uses “soft skills,” it can be difficult to describe exactly how you are making the event run more smoothly or efficiently – it also is likely very different each time you approach a new event. In fact, jumping into the unknown used to be scary for me – I’d much prefer to know as much as possible before I get there, including the key players and who makes decisions for each part of the event. However, this is not always possible, and even if you ask all the right questions in advance, the answers can change quickly the day of, and you have to be flexible and adapt either way. These days, I take all the info given to me but show up expecting to take in a lot more very quickly and go with the flow even while trying to make the flow better. Sometimes, it feels like you are dropped into chaos and have to make sense of it and organize it very fast – this used to cause me anxiety, but now I take it as a given, and it’s exciting to me.
CHANGING MY MINDSET TO CHANGE MY TRAJECTORY
It’s increasingly common these days, in this economy, to see that there is a lot more competition for the “good jobs” and also a lot of burnout among those who hang onto their “good jobs” when they don’t want to, out of fear of not getting another gig. For me, life circumstances (mainly having children) have dictated that I can’t be as mobile as I once thought I would be, and not being willing to travel for months-long theatre contracts takes me out of the running for a large percentage of work. I’ve also carried with me since my teenage years the scrappy mindset of always having to hustle for work and pursue every angle I can think of to get more work. So having a lot of job titles and a stack of W2s and 1099s at year’s end has always felt “normal” to me, though not “successful.” But why did I feel that way? For one thing, it took a long time for all those jobs to add up to a respectable yearly income range. (Here’s where I acknowledge my privilege and the fact that I have a partner with a stable job.) For another, my generation grew up with a lot of advice like “go to college, pick a career, and excel at that” and “you can’t be a lot of things, or you won’t be good at any.” Well, the world has changed since then, and you definitely CAN excel at more than one thing. In fact, it makes more sense to diversify your income streams. Once I started thinking this way, I reframed my mindset to consider myself successful – and pursue all the avenues I felt I could excel in. I am also a theatrical electrician, and I worked enough in one theatre between other gigs that when the overhire stagehands unionized, I got to join the union as well. I once thought I might like to be a Meeting & Event Planner, so I took some classes and met a lot of incredible folks who work on the other side of events, which not only broadened my perspective but expanded my network (more on that later). And this shift (plus the work that went into it) brought me more work I loved, even if it wasn’t in a theatre!
Perhaps you are now looking to diversify your work, or make a slight pivot, and are not sure how to start. First – expand your network any way you can, and let them know you’re open to different types of positions. It’s possible that if you only focus on one type of work, that’s what others assume you want to keep doing. But if you start asking questions about other similar positions, those folks will think of you when an opportunity crosses their path. Keep in touch with people you’ve worked with, on any groups or social media you have. I have gotten job inquiries from not only stage managers I’ve worked with or gone to school with, but designers, professionals who have become educators, event professionals I kept in touch with after they gave a lecture, and other places I would have considered “random.” You never really know where a great gig could come from, so keep in touch with everyone.
Adjusting your mindset can also do wonders for finding work. Once I stopped comparing myself to my peers, and decided to pursue stage management-adjacent work, interesting gigs started coming to me, and I said yes. Even if I did not intend to repeat a gig, I always gained some valuable experience and made new connections (some of whom have then asked me about working on something that was more aligned to my interests). Once I stopped thinking I needed to “pick a lane,” jobs opened up that were great opportunities I never knew I wanted. I feel so much more well-rounded now that I have done production management, project coordination, and stage managed civic events, awards, and different types of corporate events, because each time I have taken something with me to the next gig. I’ve always believed that understanding different parts of the whole process makes you better at your individual job, and I’ve now been able to put that into practice and show organizations what an asset it is. Diversifying my work has also led to more gigs, and more recurring gigs, which has added some stability to my career for the first time. One of my best examples of an out-there connection leading to a perfect opportunity is this: in a Meeting & Event Planning class, I joined the instructor’s email list. She moved away and started a new business, and I received their marketing emails. They planned an online summit during COVID and needed people to run the event. I applied and did not get a position, but they encouraged me to volunteer, so I did. From helping produce this one-day event, I made connections that led to getting paid work for other event planners, producing Zoom corporate conferences – which was more or less what I’d been looking for in the first place!
I’ve also consciously changed my mindset to think more like an entrepreneur – for most of these gigs, I am an independent contractor, so these organizations are my clients. I can set my rates, negotiate my contracts, and diversify my income streams. I network and look for new connections to make, and try to make sure I’m on as many lists and in as many groups as possible, so I can apply for work as I see it pop up.
THE TAKEAWAY
My biggest revelation of the last few years is that I don’t have to put myself in a box and only try to do one thing – that’s very limiting! The advice I heard growing up – “jack of all trades, master of none” – is outdated. You can become an expert in more than one area; in fact, that makes you more versatile and marketable in the industry. And each type of work can make you better at the others, which can lead to more success and more income.
Freelance life isn’t easy. My mom once said to me “I don’t know how you do it, always having to look for more work. That would stress me out so much.” I said to her “I don’t really know any other way, so I’m used to it!” There are folks who focus on one kind of job and make a career of it – but I know there are far more people with more than one job title, a stack of W2s and 1099s every year, and likely a lot of interesting stories – whether they started out thinking their life would be this way or not. It’s not for everyone, but over time you can make it work for you, instead of feeling like you are beholden to whether certain employers or clients choose you. And feeling more in control of your career is definitely empowering.
Laura Zingle is a Stage Manager for theatre, choral concerts, classical/jazz music, and events based in San Diego, CA. Theatre credits include: Cygnet Theatre: Angels in America, Parts I & II in repertory; San Diego Repertory Theatre: A Doll’s House, Part 2, Fun Home, Detroit. La Jolla Playhouse: The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical (sub ASM), Kill Local, WithOut Walls Festival 2017, Tiger Style!, Kingdom City, El Henry (in association with San Diego Rep), His Girl Friday, and Hands on a Hardbody. The Old Globe: Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Sense and Sensibility, The Metromaniacs, Arms and the Man. She is Event Coordinator for San Diego Water For People’s annual Jazz on Tap charity jazz festival, and a Production Coordinator for San Diego Theatres (Civic and Balboa Theatres). Other credits include: Spoleto Festival USA: U.S. premiere of opera The Little Match Girl (Helmut Lachenmann); different words for the same thing (workshop, Center Theatre Group), La Jolla Music Society, San Diego Symphony, Anchorage Ballet, and virtual and in-person events for companies including Dell, 3M, Electronic Transaction Association, Caring Across Generations, and AuditBoard. Laura is the Resident Stage Manager of San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus. M.F.A., Stage Management: UC San Diego. Proud member of AEA and IATSE 122. So far, her peak numbers of W2s and 1099s was in 2022, with 8 each.