CELEBRATING 7 FREELANCERS OVER 70

30 under 30 is so 2015. Let’s give praise to the people still choosing to freelance in their seventies.

Celebrating 7 Over 70

Name: Lesley Naylor Age: 70 Based in: Comrie, a small village in Perthshire, Scotland

What do you freelance as?

I design and make mostly handbags and cushions. I love to sew and I’m passionate about Harris Tweed, so I make lots of other things too. Most of my customers come to me for bespoke gifts - for themselves, family and friends. I think that’s what I enjoy the most, the chats before, during and after the make.

I’ve recently been making Harris Tweed bow ties and cufflinks for a wedding party. It was great fun choosing different colours to suit the personalities of the male guests. Matching handbags to personalities is always enjoyable too, and discovering whether cushions are for hugging or placing strategically and definitely not for lounging on! I love my customers.

How long have you been doing this?

I’ve been working for myself and freelancing for exactly 10 years. I retired from nursing, and friends and family encouraged me to open up my studio as a little shop and I’ve never looked back.

What do you see as your greatest achievement as a freelancer?

My greatest achievement is the many, many friends I’ve made along the way. I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved, and the fact that the business survived the pandemic. Although I have to admit I had a great mentor at that time. I thought my business would disappear but I reached out to another small business owner via Facebook. Melissa of Wildcurrant Marketing held my hand through the maze of social media and set up a fantastic website for me. Although we’ve never met, we chat often and have become great friends. I’m not sure my business would have survived without her.

What advice would you give to others starting out on their freelance journey?

The advice I would give any freelancer starting out at the kitchen table or in a home studio is, just go for it. There’s nothing to lose and so much to gain. And never be scared to ask for advice.

Find Lesley on Insta @LesleyMacMaking or visit LesleyMacMakes.co.uk.

“Be sure that you enjoy what you do.”

Name: Bettye Haskins Age: 75 Based in: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

What do you freelance as and how long have you been doing this?

For the past thirty-five years, I have made my living developing and implementing curricula and workshops. The driving force behind my work is a simple, yet powerful statement -- “Never stop learning. “ It is the reason that I am a freelance trainer -- I love learning new things and sharing my knowledge and reflections with others.

Because of my love of learning and sharing, I have a wide range of knowledge and a myriad of interests. Consequently, I develop workshops and curricula in many areas including adult literacy, early childhood literacy, learning disabilities, and financial literacy. In addition, I am certified to train in health and nutrition for seniors. I consult with AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) to provide workshops to volunteers who work as tutors in elementary schools. I am also exploring opportunities in the world of professional storytelling. (In fact, I am doing my first public performance on Saturday.)

Is this what you thought you would be doing?

I come from a family of free-thinking individuals. My father, even though he was illiterate, had a flourishing home improvement business; my mother, a nurse, preferred to be a private duty nurse who could select her own clients. My grandfather was an entrepreneur owning a confectionery store; my uncles were businessmen who were into real estate. The fact that I come from an African American family makes this lineage all the more interesting and quite frankly, unlikely. So, though it took me a while to become a freelance trainer (I have had 11 different careers including a military officer, computer engineer and caterer) I believe that I was destined to be a freelancer.

What do you see as your greatest achievement as a freelancer?

I love what I do because of the reaction that I get from the participants in my workshops. They are excited because I’m excited; they are excited to learn because I am excited to share knowledge with them. Participants report feeling empowered because of their new knowledge and they let me know this by staying in touch long after the sessions are over. I am still in touch with many of my participants 20 years later. This has given me the opportunity to watch them as they use the information to grow and flourish in their careers and their lives.

How do you get clients?

I have been very fortunate that business has knocked on my door. Because I’m not in this for the money but rather for the joy that comes when I share information, I do not advertise and do not have a website or any social media related to my work. Most of my business comes from referrals from clients.

What advice would you give to others starting out on their freelance journey?

My advice to anyone wanting to be a freelancer is to be sure that you enjoy what you do. There are long hours, many of which you will not be paid for - hours of preparation and reflection. >

Name: Lynn Breeze Age: 74 Based in: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire - it’s full of artists, musicians, writers and freelancers.

What do you freelance as?

An illustrator and author of mostly children’s books.

How long have you been doing this?

I’ve been fully freelance since 1981.

How did you start freelancing?

I went to art school in Kingston-onThames and then was the art editor of a small regional magazine. Where I didn’t have photographic material in the files, I chose to do most of the illustrations myself because I wanted to. It got me used to deadlines and was great practice for drawing all the time. I also designed greetings cards for a local firm in Suffolk and an agent saw them and made contact with me - it was one of those strokes of luck. Another stroke of luck came when I was going to an interview in London at the BBC for Jackonory and I met a friend at the station who happened to be a graphic designer. I sat with him on the train and showed him my folio and he gave me a list of publishers to visit. I had hours to kill before my interview so I visited them all and got work from them all and Jackanory.

After this, I was at home feeling very tired and needing to lie down. I thought, ‘I’m going to have to phone a client to tell them I can’t do the work.’ I phoned them but they didn’t answer and then I found out I was actually pregnant so I gave up my job instead and focused on being freelance and the client work.

Lynn with Quentin Blake Is this what you thought you would be doing?

I don’t make plans very much but thought I’d end up as some kind of artist, probably in an attic in Paris with my palette, in a smock and beret, not making any money! I didn’t expect to be an illustrator or be able to bring up my family on it.

What do you see as your greatest achievement as a freelancer?

The best achievement was managing to put a roof over the heads of my children and food on the table. Being able to do that and have them around me at the same time while doing something I love. I’m very lucky that my job is also my pleasure. And my children liked seeing my drawings on Jackanory if it was good for them, it was good for me too.

What advice would you give to others starting out on their freelance journey?

I went to art school and had a good time, things fell into place after that but not straight away. I think you need to serve some sort of apprenticeship outside of art school and find out all the things that you didn’t learn in art school.

You will work on your own a lot, so it’s hard to know how other people get on. Talk to others and listen to their advice in terms of etiquette and how things work. Try and get an agent. I’d also say try not to turn anything down as the client might not think of you first the next time. Settle on the style that you want to draw as it’s better than having a range of things in your folio. I only had seven illustrations to Walter De la Mare’s poems in my folio and it got me all my work. Put in your seven best pieces of work that you like doing.

You can find Lynn at LynnBreeze.com.

Name: Edward Mills Jr. Age: 75 Based in: Upstate New York

What do you freelance as?

I’m a Global Strategic Sourcing Consultant in the manufacturing industry.

How long have you been doing this?

I’ve been freelancing since 2018. Over the last 40 years, I’ve had different positions in manufacturing in the pump industry - from supervisor to pattern maker, purchasing manager to operations manager. For another company in Kansas City, I was materials manager and then global strategic sourcing manager. In 2018, the company restructured and I was already over 70 but then other people I knew in the industry around the world asked me to be a consultant for them so I set up my own business.

Is this what you thought you would be doing?

I always thought I could do it with my experience. From the engineering part (from live development to actually manufacturing tools) to being involved in the quality assurance and machining parts - I have a unique knowledge that no one else has. I can cover the whole gambit without having to have other people travel with me who are experts in each one of these fields.

What do you see as your greatest achievement as a freelancer?

I set up a supply base for the pump companies in Mexico pretty much by myself with my experience from the last 20 years. I have lots of relationships with people in Mexico and China and solve their problems by talking between suppliers and company engineers. I also helped a supplier in Mexico build a complete foundry from scratch. They are now able to do close to £30,000,000 of business with companies in the US.

“Consulting gave me more freedom.”

What advice would you give to others starting out on their freelance journey?

Just because a company reorganises and you’re not included in the picture going forwards, you can figure out a way to take your knowledge and use it to your benefit in other ways.

Consulting gave me more freedom - I run my own timeframe and I still have all the relationships I developed. Use those previous relationships - I get clients from my reputation within the industry and word of mouth.

Find Edward Mills Jr on LinkedIn. >

Name: Margaret Hubbard Age: 73 Based in: The West of Scotland

What do you do as a freelancer?

I’m a tourist guide, storyteller and genealogist.

How long have you been doing this?

For 16 years - I was a school teacher for years and took early retirement and retrained as a tourist guide. Storytelling and genealogy emerged from this as they are all closely tied up together.

Is this what you thought you would be doing?

No, I really enjoyed teaching. I used to say they; will carry me out of my classroom in a coffin. Then I just got to a point where I simply wanted a change. I reached the end of the line and the relationship had run its course. I wasn’t ready to stop working and knew I wanted to do something else. Many years before I’d been in Alaska and I’d been on a tour. The tourist guide was very good and I thought it must be a wonderful job. I thought, ‘if I ever stop teaching (which I won’t) this is what I’ll do.’

“Believe. Don’t give up.”

What do you have to do to be a tourist guide?

You need a passion for it - to love your subject matter and what you’re talking about. I trained with the Scottish Tourist Guides Association. The assessment is practical and knowledge-based and involves writing essays, exams, being assessed on a coach and in the howling wind and pouring rain!

You’ve to learn a bit of everything - the land, sea, history, geology, flora and fauna, architecture, cultural aspects, art, medieval engineering. You’ve got to be able to answer any questions you might be asked and be able to manage people - physical crowd management and also to keep them gripped. You’ve got to take that knowledge and turn it into a story - the must tells, should tells and could tells.

What do you see as your greatest achievement as a freelancer?

I worked for a company based in Boston who caters for very old and very wellinformed people. At the end of the tour I told them, ‘this is the start of your relationship with Scotland. That’s the end of chapter one.’ I’m most proud of those that write to me about the relationship they’ve continued with Scotland. I’ve not just given them a holiday but opened for them a whole new interest. I had one lady come back for six months on an island to paint the seascape. People want to know more and visit again. It’s about opening minds.

How do you get clients?

When I started, the Scottish Tourist Guides Association matched me up with people and it grew from there. I work part-time and have enough work. I panicked during the pandemic and got a website. I’m lucky that the companies I predominantly work for have survived the pandemic. They give me repeat work and pass me on to others.

What advice would you give to others starting out on their freelance journey?

Allow yourself to panic and allow yourself to believe it will be ok. Take the steps to make it ok. Believe. Don’t give up. Take the steps you know you need to take.

Visit scotlandsstorywithmargaret.com.

Name: Stephen Hearnden Age: 76 Based in: Strumpshaw, Norfolk

What do you do as a freelancer?

I import and sell French wine.

How long have you been doing this?

For 20 years.

Is this what you thought you would be doing?

No. I trained in hospitality and worked for a few years in London hotels and a private member’s club in restaurant operations. Then I went into academia where I taught restaurant operations, oenology, gastronomy and marketing. I retired after 30 years then moved to Norfolk and took over the village Post Office and shop and started Tastebud Wines.

I’d run a wine club in London for years and thought I’d end up teaching but I didn’t think I’d retire that early to start a third career in retail. Because of my knowledge of wine, I got an alcohol licence for the Post Office and started importing and selling it.

What do you see as your greatest achievement?

Teaching and encouraging people to drink, understand and enjoy French wine (and buy them!). And teaching students who went on to have great careers. It was a very satisfying job for me, encouraging young people to think and do. I loved my 30 years in teaching and I’m very proud of them all. I’m very lucky, I’ve had a super life in that sense.

What advice would you give to others starting out on their freelance journey?

In theory, having a clear vision of what you wish to achieve. Anything and everything is possible if you put your mind to it. I can’t tolerate lazy people. I was brought up after the war when life was tough. You shouldn’t be bored in life, there’s always something to learn. Every day is a school day.

“Every day is a school day.”

Visit tastebudswines.co.uk.

Name: Derek Myers Age: 71 Based in: Cornwall, UK

What do you freelance as and how long have you been doing this?

I do export sales and project management and have been for 25-30 years.

Is this what you thought you would be doing?

No, I started out working as a photographer.

What do you see as your greatest achievement as a freelancer?

There have been so many good times working with different professional companies and people.

What advice would you give to others starting out on their freelance journey?

Get yourself fully prepared before you make the move from employment. Do your research and get ready to work from home.