- Katie Janner, 28, works 15 to 30 hours per week doing freelance podcast editing and voiceovers.
- It's allows her to pursue her interests, travel the world, and avoid "endless Zoom meetings."
- She says "faking it till you make it" can work for new freelancers.
In 2019, Katie Janner was struggling to make ends meet in New York City as a cater waiter, brand ambassador, babysitter, and a freelancer specializing in voiceover work.
Today, the 28-year-old is freelancing full-time as a voice actress and podcast editor. She made nearly $47,000 in 2021, according to documents verified by Insider, and says she's on track to make $50,000 to $60,000 this year. 80% of her income comes through the freelance platform Fiverr, where she's been able to find work, receive reviews, and charge increasingly higher rates.
While she wishes she was making "a little bit more money," she loves her quality of life — which includes only working 15 to 30 hours a week. This past summer, she traveled for six weeks to Thailand, Turkey, and Spain — where she worked in the mornings and did activities that included scuba diving, hiking through caves, and bathing with elephants in the afternoons.
"I think a lot of people my age are like, 'I'd rather make less money, but at least be in charge of my time and not go to endless Zoom meetings and sick days and having limited vacation days.'" she said. "So I definitely think more and more and more young people are looking into freelancing and being self-employed."
Janner is among the millions of Americans that have embraced the flexibility self-employment can provide. A 2021 Upwork study found that 59 million Americans — or 36% of the US workforce — had performed freelance work over the prior 12 months, and more could join them if the economy slows. She's also among the many workers that have used their newfound flexibility to work not just from home — but wherever they want. Over 15 million Americans describe themselves as digital nomads — remote workers who travel for weeks or months at a time. This number has risen 42% since 2020 and more than doubled since 2019.
She started getting work on freelance platform Fiverr, and "it just kind of snowballed"
In 2017, Janner graduated college with a degree in theater and felt "really confused" about her future career path. She moved in with her parents, who she recalls asking her, "'If you could do anything for a living, what would you do?'"
She replied that she'd probably be a voice actress, as she'd enjoyed the voiceover class she took in college.
In November 2017, she began looking for voiceover work on freelance platforms, which ranged from voicemails for companies, internal content for a dentist office, and a technical training video for manufacturing workers.
She found the most success on Fiverr, where she says she received an order her first day. And then "it just kind of snowballed," she says.
As she received more work and five-star reviews from her clients, Janner began raising her prices from $5 to $10 to $45. But when she moved to New York City in 2018, she was forced to take on additional work as a cater waiter, babysitter, and brand ambassador to make ends meet.
But in 2019, she realized she was making enough through freelancing — roughly $2,600 per month — that it "didn't make sense" to go to her catering job. She decided to quit to focus on her voiceover work full-time.
When her voiceover work slowed a bit, she began exploring podcast editing. Now, she says roughly 70% of her income comes from podcast clients, who she now charges an average of $115 per episode.
She says she can usually count on roughly $2,000 per month from podcast editing from recurring clients that record on a consistent schedule. As of August, she said roughly 88% of her clients were repeat customers. In her busiest month last year, she earned over $5,600.
Janner says she wants to work with people who "see the value" in what she does and that most clients "don't second-guess" her prices.
"I don't want to work with people who would want to pay me $5 for something," she said. "I try to make it clear on my profile — I'm a real person living in New York City. So obviously I can't live off a $10 project."
Freelancing allows her to travel the world
Janner loves the flexibility that her working life offers her.
She says she usually tries to wake up as early as she can, get her work done, and "enjoy the rest of the afternoon." She recalls one fairly typical day, when she spent four hours editing two podcast episodes, for $125 and $110.
While she lives in New York City, Janner plans to continue exploring the digital nomad life — and hopes to travel for two to three months a year.
She says that working 10 to 15 hours a week while traveling — and subletting her apartment the six weeks she was gone — helped her pay for her summer travels.
"It was so easy," she said of her subletting experience. "I didn't think we'd have any interest because the rent went up so much on this place. I posted on Facebook and I had like 200 messages."
"Faking it till you make it" can work for new freelancers
To be sure, Janner says that freelancing has its drawbacks.
"It's really tough in the beginning," she said. "You have to get reviews until people trust you and only then can you raise your rates."
Even now that she's found success, the lack of a consistent paycheck can create anxiety during slower periods. In 2021, for instance, her monthly income ranged from $2,700 to $5,600. She also has to pay for her own "pretty pricey" health insurance.
Due to these challenges, Janner says she has sufficient savings in case things go south.
Ideally, she says new freelancers should work part-time while freelancing on the side — "doing a little bit at a time and watching as things grow" — before committing to it full-time.
In the early days, she says "faking it till you make it" can work out.
"I advertised myself as a podcast editor before I was editing podcasts and I just learned on the go," she said. "I think you kind of just have to believe in yourself and be disciplined and over time you'll learn more and can raise your rates."
Moving forward, Janner intends to continue her lifestyle for the foreseeable future. She values the flexibility freelancing has provided her and says she would only take a full-time position if the pay and benefits were worth it.
"I really, really, really like being self-employed and having full control over my time and traveling as much as I have," she said.