Episode 192: Freelancing is the Future – What We Can Learn from Other Industries – Interview with Ekaterina Howard
12/10/2018
5 Things You Need to Know Before Starting a Career in Translation
12/23/2018
In this episode, I’m addressing one of the pain points some of my listeners have – how to manage taking care of children and running a freelance translation business at the same time. I started out as a freelance translator when my son was 3 and my daughter a baby, so I know how difficult it can be. Instead of just providing my input, I am interviewing two freelance translators who are in the midst of raising children and running their freelance businesses, Catherine Christaki and Kristin Kamm.
Important things discussed in this episode:
- The fear of losing clients when becoming a parent
- Taking time off or not and getting back to work
- Changes in work schedule and how to structure time around work and parenting
- Child care alternatives
- How to deal with the parent guilt when working
- General tips on combining parenting and freelancing
Useful links mentioned in this episode:
- Catherine Christakis website and blog
- Kristin Kamm’s LinkedIn profile
- Baby Blues Cartoon
Being a freelancer is a great way to combine parenthood and freelancing, since we can adjust our schedules around the children, and above all, be there for them. Now over to you. Please tell us how you manage parenthood and freelancing at the same time. What is your biggest struggle, and do you have any other tips than these for others? Share in the comments below.
Bios:
Kristin Kamm is an ATA-certified French > English and Italian > English translator. After starting her career in the translation industry as a Project Manager, she received a Master’s degree in Translation Studies from the University of Edinburgh. She specializes in medical and pharmaceutical translation, focusing on clinical trial documentation. She worked as an in-house translator for over 4 years and started freelancing full time in March 2017.
Catherine Christaki has been a full-time English-Greek translator since 2001 and co-owner of Lingua Greca Translations since 2012. Her specializations include IT (lead Greek translator for Apple since 2011), Medical and Technical texts. In 2013, she translated the popular guide for translation buyers, Translation: Getting It Right, into Greek. She is active on social media, especially on Twitter @LinguaGreca, and writes the translation blog Adventures in Technical Translation.
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2 Comments
Hello Tess,
first of all, thanks for this insightful interview!
I’m also a freelancer mom, now my son Arthur is 8, and I started freelancing when I was still pregnant (I used to work as a manager in an office back then and did some translations occasionally just to gain some extra money). After a couple of years I understood freelancing was much more money-yielding than office work and switched to full-time freelancing.
Here are some strategies I used:
1) As early as possible, try to teach the baby that Mom can be busy sometimes. I started when Arthur was about 2, setting a timer for 2 to 5 minutes when he was supposed to play by himself while I was working. Then I increased the time period gradually, so by the time he was 5, he could entertain himself for 40 min at least.
2) I could use the time while I was breastfeeding to work because I was a happy owner of an iPad. Of course it’s not perfect, I couldn’t do complicated tables with it, but plain Word documents were no problem for me. Or, if I had no urgent work, I watched movies and TV series in any of my working languages (English/Spanish/German/Italian/French). Then, there are podcasts or audiobooks to listen to while you’re taking the baby for a walk (at least while they are still little enough to sleep through the walk).
3) Co-working with friends who have kids of the same age: for me, co-working in and of itself is incredibly inspiring and motivating, even if it is with someone who is not a translator. Seeing my friend work diligently makes me feel ashamed if I scroll down my Instagram feed 🙂 and the kids play together, so they are not bored, what can be better? If none of such friends are available, and I have lots of work, we go to a restaurant with a playing room for kids when it’s cold or raining. When the weather’s good, see #4 🙂
4) When my son was old enough to require no special supervision at public playgrounds (but too young to go out to play by himself, for in Moscow, where we currently live, an average child starts getting around by themselves like at 11-12 y.o.), I started taking my laptop with me whenever it’s warm enough to translate or do marketing/invoicing/whatever else.
5) I also use the time while I’m waiting for him to finish his extracurricular classes to work, again, I just don’t leave my home without my laptop (and try not to forget the recharger just in case).
6) Last year, Arthur started school (in Russia, you normally start school when you are between 6.5 and 8 years old), and I had the idea (but not tested it yet, for he’s caught a dozen colds this winter) to go freelancing together in cafes/restaurants/parks when spring finally comes: he would do his homework, and I would do my translations/marketing stuff 🙂
Hope at least some of it might come in handy for your subscribers 🙂
Have a great day!
Thank you for your valuable tips too Olga!