Ece Kurtaraner is a community and online events strategist based in Manchester and the cohost of Leapers Accountability Pods. She wants to help you become part of a community that works for you. What led you to a role in community management and strategy? My background was working in servicebased, fast-paced corporate events. In 2019 I left Turkey to move to the UK and from the beginning of 2020, there weren’t any events happening. I went self-employed and discovered the term community. I was feeling alone in a new country and working for myself so joined online networking events. The ones that I stuck with were the ones built around community and I understood the necessity of this as a freelancer. I now love working with freelance-focused businesses the most. I realised that community was already one of my values joining people together who have similar hobbies, interests and struggles.
I cohost Leapers Accountability Pods - a membership for freelancers for those who want structure and don’t have a team but want a team. Find out more at leapers.co.
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Why is community so important for freelancers? It helped me to stop beating myself up about things like not having the motivation 100% of the time. I started listening to some podcasts and saw other people’s social posts talking about how they were struggling to market themselves and I thought, ok I’m not the only person having those feelings or that hasn’t got it all figured out. When you first go self-employed, that initial Google search isn’t that helpful. You find perfect websites and Freelancer Magazine
