Behind The Scenes: How We Created FF 2.0
One of our favorite things about our community is how much they love to hear about what other freelancers are doing and support each other!
So - we thought we would give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of our launch, walk you through how we created FF 2.0, introduce you to the freelancers behind the rebrand, and share the inside deets on what it *actually* looks like to plan a launch…
Why the Rebrand?
We have a whole post about why we decided to rebrand (you can read that right here!) but to keep it simple - everything was changing, and we needed to change too. Our audience is so much bigger, the world of freelancing is totally different from when we started, and our vision for Freelancing Females has evolved a lot since 2017.
When FF first started, it was a small Facebook group, but that was eight years ago, and we’re now the biggest community of Freelancing Females in the world - we just couldn’t stay the same anymore!
So, knowing that FF was already evolving and growing, it made sense for us to actually rebrand, properly - with a complete glow-up of our design, our socials, and our entire business strategy.
FF 2.0 is exactly that - a fresh new FF, that matches our growth and better supports our community - with all the things you’ve always loved, but with a ton more cool features added on top!
“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.”
“I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”
The Women Behind FF 2.0
Tia - The One Who Started It All
You all know Tia, Freelancing Females founder, the face behind FF, who grew us from a tiny Facebook group into the biggest community of freelancing women in the world.
What you might not know, though, is that Tia did most of that on her own! Freelancing Females has always been bootstrapped, without outside funding, and until the very recent past, Tia built the community and the brand just using her own wits, hard work, and vision.
It’s pretty amazing that what started as just an idea after Tia didn’t get paid by a client has turned into a place freelancers come to make sure the same thing never happens to them.
From our supportive community where women feel safe, to a full resource library that fights to get freelancers all the tools they need, Tia has built something great. FF is that girl - the hub for freelancers to break up with 9-5, and to define success on their terms.
Sara - The One Who You Know And Love
Even if you haven’t met her - you know Sara. She’s the woman behind the newsletters you look forward to every week, the writer behind the blogs at FF, the creative behind the memes you love on Insta, the voice behind the unhinged threads that make you laugh.
Sara has been working with FF for almost two years as our operations lead, and worked with Tia throughout the launch to keep the things our audience loves at the center of the rebrand, making sure the upgraded FF is all about them.
Outside FF, Sara runs a digital marketing agency (Studio Nowra) where she helps social impact brands tell their story through socials, strategy, and email marketing. She’s passionate about building community around causes that bring people together, whether that’s the climate, sustainability, or, of course, women’s rights.
(She also currently lives on a cattle farm if you were looking for an icebreaker on your next FF coffee chat with her!)
SaSha - The One With The Creative Vision
Founder of creative brand agency Aomih, SaSha is the genius behind the FF rebrand and launch. From brand strategy to web design - SaSha has worked with Tia throughout the FF launch to breathe new life into the brand and to grow FF strategically into a better resource, without losing our OG purpose - to support and empower female freelancers!
After meeting Tia at an SXSW event in 2023, SaSha signed onto the FF launch in 2024, working with both Tia and the FF team to develop the creative direction for the rebrand, a strategy to bridge the old FF with a new, more mature design, and build frameworks to help FF grow sustainably into a brand our community could really see themselves in.
If you want to learn more about SaSha - she’s the Founder and Creative Director of Aomih Design - a design agency that works with social communities, hospitality brands, and events - offering services like Brand Strategy, Visual Identity, and Interior Architectural Design. Aomih works with businesses to build strategic, sustainable, and unique brands and designs that go beyond just visuals and create entire worlds; from conception, creation, all the way to implementation.
Elle - The One Who Wrote It All
Elle is a copywriter and launch strategist who signed on for the dream job of writing the brand and launch copy for FF 2.0!
Tia hired her in late 2024 to write copy for the newly designed site, and she’s supported FF throughout the launch on copy, research, strategy, and planning. Working with Sara, she’s created content and messaging strategy for FF 2.0, keeping everything on track and making sure that the things we say speak to the right people - our community.
Outside FF, Elle runs a copywriting agency for women-owned brands, specializing in brand and sales copy, launch strategy, and copy audits, that helps brands grow and thrive through empowering, non-toxic copy and marketing that actually feels fun.
Built By Freelancers, For Freelancers.
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.”
FF 2.0: How We Did It
The Idea
Our journey toward launching and rebranding FF started the same way almost anything a freelancer does — over coffee. SaSha and Tia, after meeting at an FF event (of course!) came together for co-working and coffee, which turned into a conversation about the future of freelancing, the way the industry was changing - and, more importantly, the future of FF.
During the conversation, they touched on the current state of freelancing and where the industry was heading, how FF needed to evolve to help our community adapt to these changes, and - where Aomih, as a brand strategy agency, could support that.
Over the next few months, this idea grew into an actual plan for growing FF into more than a community, and introducing new resources for freelancers as well as more potential partnership opportunities.
The Brand Strategy
In June 2024, we made things official when SaSha signed on as creative director, and officially started planning the FF 2.0 that we have today. SaSha (the genius that she is!) follows a pretty intensive process (just as an example - there was a full 8-hour brand strategy session! 👀)
Over the next few weeks, Tia and SaSha took a deep dive into everything that makes FF what it is, and how to better grow the existing brand into something more sustainable, meet the new challenges our audience was facing, and increase our revenue opportunities.
At the end of this process, we had a finished brand strategy - including gorgeous new visuals, new frameworks for growth, a new business direction, and a clear understanding of the brand we wanted to become.
This included ideas for new features that SaSha and Tia had worked together to create - like our new rate calculator, two hot new newsletters, and a fully upgraded template shop. (Want the deets on this? We wrote a blog post ALL about our new features here)
The Design
SaSha then started to work on creating our new FF website and visuals. Something we really wanted with the new look was to feel like we were growing up by having a more mature design - still playful and relatable, just a little bit more polished (think - feminine tech meets editorial!)
SaSha wanted the ‘F’ of Freelancing Females to be as iconic as Glossier’s ‘G’ - and so the design process (mood boards, mockups, new colors, fonts) was developed alongside an in-depth growth strategy, framework creation, and a new visual identity. SaSha carefully planned a new look, website, and direction for FF that was sustainable, and that will help us grow with our audience into the future of freelancing.
The Copy
Then, in late 2024, Tia hired Elle to write copy for the new website. She started out by analyzing the brand and the audience (including interviewing many of our amazing FF members!) and creating a messaging strategy that prioritized the parts of FF that our community really cares about.
One of the challenges with the copy was trying to balance the voice and tone between different segments of our audience - like writing pages for both freelancers and partners. Elle and Sara worked together to make sure that the voice felt like FF and the copy was on brand, before sending it across to SaSha to add onto the new site.
The Launch
Once we were finished creating everything for the rebrand - it was time to plan the actual launch!
We decided to launch FF 2.0 in March (International Women’s Month) because we thought it was a cute way to celebrate Freelancing Females, and we wanted this launch to be about our members. (We really just wanted an excuse to shout out the girlies in FF with member spotlights!)
To actually plan the launch - Elle and Sara worked together to create a messaging strategy based on surveys we’d run with FF’s, and we created a ton of content to support the rebrand (like blog posts, email sequences, and social posts teasing the new design)
And - we also launched an FF broadcast channel, created and designed our new newsletters, collaborated with some of our favorite freelancers on the classifieds page, and planned a fun giveaway for our members to celebrate the launch.
What We Learned
We always say that FF is by freelancers, for freelancers. And, just like any other freelance project, there were some unexpected challenges with FF 2.0.
We dealt with tech issues (#freelancelife). And four different time zones. And specific features getting pushed back. And - classic freelancer struggle - work-life balance.
After planning the launch for basically a year, these are the main things we’ve learned:
The Team Matters
Every single freelancer who worked on this launch is amazing! The communication, the collaboration, and the support for each other made this launch a thousand times easier, and having a reliable, committed team who took care of each other AND of business made the launch fun as well as successful.
Strategy Is Everything
We made every decision during this launch for a reason - the colors for the new site, every word of copy, the date for the reveal - even the memes on our socials! Working with two strategists throughout the launch meant that it was easy to plan content, fix problems, and make confident decisions because we knew why we were doing everything.
Things Will Go Wrong
With a launch this big, something always comes up. With any freelance project, you need to be able to adapt (a skill we’re helping our members master this year, FYI) and by having a realistic mindset around this and staying calm when things don’t go to plan, it’s easier to deal with any bumps along the road.
Listen To Your Community
This rebrand was not just about us - it was also about our community. We spent a LOT of time speaking to our members and FF’s to find out what they needed, what they wanted, and how we could help them fall in love with freelancing. This helped us plan our content and our strategy, and made it so much easier for us to stay excited throughout the launch because we knew we were bringing something of value to our community.
So What’s Next?
We’re honestly in love with our rebrand, but the launch isn’t over yet! We’re adding new features and resources throughout the next year (so if you're not following us yet on socials or a newsletter subscriber, this is your sign to get on the list!)
We can’t wait to continue supporting our freelancers and to keep growing FF. We’ve learned so much from this rebrand, we’ve loved the process, and we’re grateful for the amazing freelancers who helped make it all possible (especially our community!)
Thank you for coming on the ride with us - here’s to the next eight years!
