Get Social

+

Blog /


February 10, 2017


Blog On Me Speak Freely Fridays Natalie Mueller Comments Off on Work-From-Home Myths – Speak Freely Fridays

Working from home has become so popular and common that its corporate acronym has become a hashtag. #WFH tweets, snaps and instagrams flood my feed on a regular basis — some from people permitted to work from home because of weather or sickness, some from people whose company gives them 1-2 WFH days a week, some from people who WFH every day, like me. I’ve worked from home for going on four years. I have a dedicated office space with a better set up than I can expect any time a client calls me onsite for a project. I am organized, focused and productive. And, if I may speak freely, I’d like to say that a lot of what you’ve heard (or what your boss thinks) about working from home is...


August 5, 2016


Blog On the World On Writing Speak Freely Fridays Natalie Mueller Comments Off on All is Fair in Rates & Wages – Speak Freely Friday

Fair Pay. It is a popular and passionate conversation among creatives and freelancers. More often than not we find ourselves wishing we could just say “Fuck you, pay me” and call it a day. Can you blame us? What other career forces its’ specialists and experts to constantly justify why they deserve to be compensated for their work? And why is income such a taboo topic? As a [now] forever freelancer, it has always baffled me how quiet other freelancers are about their rates and how quiet full-time creatives are about their salary requirements. Meanwhile, the big, quantity over quality recruiter firms are constantly bombarding us with “senior” freelance opportunities that pay rates so low an intern would reject them. When you are eager to work and no one is talking about what...


July 6, 2016


Blog Natalie Mueller Comments Off on Introducing Speak Freely Fridays

Real talk. Running your own business can be hard. Dealing with an often sexist industry is hard. Negotiating rates, fighting to be fairly compensated for your work is hard. Defining yourself in a creative field, carving your own unique path is hard. Working from home can be hard. Fitting in to a new agency atmosphere when you know that you will only be there for a few weeks is hard. Art is hard. Life is hard. So let’s talk about it. Instead of shrugging it off, or avoiding ‘difficult’ conversations, let’s talk about it. Let’s speak freely about the challenges and joys of creative jobs, the agency life style, freelancing and managing your own piece of creative heaven. And let’s do it on Fridays so that I can make a...


January 13, 2016


Blog On Me Natalie Mueller Comments Off on When a Copywriter Gets Married…

When a copywriter gets married she hems and haws about each and every word and comma on each and every print piece and sign. She stresses not about whether or not her dress will still fit on her big day but whether or not the program she wrote will still fit her and her future husband’s voice on the big day. She has trust and respect in more traditional invitation language, but at the same time resists the traditional or “usual” phrasing. She obsesses over finding the perfect balance between personality and clarity. She takes great care. Her invitations are direct with a degree of play. She chooses clarity. She chooses simplicity. She comes to regret the use of a negative (“can’t wait!”) when asking for RSVPs for her big day....


July 7, 2015


Creative Spaces Natalie Mueller Comments Off on Creative Spaces: Chris Hershman, Rock ‘n Roll Filmmaker, Photographer, Musician

Let me start this by saying, Chris Hershman is an absolute angel. This blog was supposed to go live in February. However, life, and super-fun clients, got in the way and here I am postponing this gem of a human for five months. That’s five months some of you folks didn’t know who Chris Hershman was! It doesn’t feel right. I’m deeply grateful for him for his patience and continued excitement for this feature while I got my sh!t together. Now down to business… Chris Hershman is a rock star. He’s a rock star filmmaker and photographer, he films and photographs rock star and he is, himself, a rock star, making music and playing guitar with his Chicago-based band, Tall Walker. Previously the Creative Director at Chicago Music Exchange, Chris has...