Women Still Charge Less Than Men, Even When Setting Their Own Rates 🤦🏻♀️
Issue #3 🕊 The gender gap persists even among freelancers, cold outreach becomes a thing of the past, how to stop procrastinating, your freelance rates calculator, and the 13 laws of good luck.
The economy is finally - slooooowly - waking up from a long hibernation. It took years! However, the world is still a mess: Russia is fighting with Ukraine, India is fighting with Pakistan, Israel is fighting with the Middle East, and the USA is fighting with itself 🙄
Meanwhile, in what feels like another lifetime, we had a global pandemic. That cracked open the gates for remote work and plugged the whole world into one labor market. And then AI exploded. The latest hype? Sure. But also a hard reset because trust online is now gone. That alone will push us faster back into offices and face-to-face meetings.
So, how do we make sense of all this chaos? Even more importantly, what’s the safest choice: freelancing or employment? The honest answer is: neither. Safety is an illusion. Comfort is a luxury. But what is real? Solving timeless problems. Providing simple services that people always need. Codie Sanchez calls them “boring businesses”. And boring might just be the smartest thing in the room.
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📢 News
The gender pay gap persists even when freelancers set their own rates - women charge 26% to 48% less than men, depending on the industry and region (to adjust your rates accordingly, check out the rates calculator here under Tools).
On 3 April 2025, a new legislative proposal was published for consultation in the Netherlands, aiming to bring long-awaited clarity to the legal status of self-employed individuals.
The USA is afraid that someone else might win the race to set the global rules for platform work - and if that happens, we will surely end up with a “rigid, one-size-fits-all framework” that will “stifle innovation, shrink opportunity, and misrepresent the nature of gig work around the world” 😄
Pakistan's freelance community has voiced strong opposition to proposed taxation measures targeting freelancers and content creators - including YouTubers, vloggers, and TikTokers - urging the government to prioritize foreign exchange inflows and economic inclusion instead.
A digital training initiative is helping young Ethiopians turn freelancing into a viable career, opening up new opportunities for income, independence, and access to global work.
The Future of Work Study 2025 highlights the rise of the Employers of Record (EoRs), the European laws they must follow, and the related policy changes that are still needed.
Meta is in the news again for tracking users against their consent - not that anyone expects Meta to respect personal data and privacy, but they definitely continue to surprise with how low they're willing to fall for it 🤨
Cold outreach may be on its way to becoming a thing of the past, courtesy of AI:
📆 Events
TNW Conference on 19-20 June 2025 in Amsterdam, Netherlands - a 2-day event where startups, scaleups, and innovators showcase their new, big ideas (wait for the pop-up on the home page to load - when you subscribe to their newsletter, you get 40% off).
Bansko Nomad Fest in Bulgaria on 22-29 June 2025 - a week-long celebration of the remote lifestyle featuring conference sessions, networking, community-led skill shares, and many fun and interactive activities.
Gen-E in Athens, Greece, on 1-3 July 2025 - Europe's largest entrepreneurship festival showcasing the achievements of European students, 15 years old onwards, who will be competing for the titles of Best Company of the Year and Best Start-Up of the Year.
Nordic Business Forum 2025 in Helsinki, Finland, on 24-25 September 2025 - Europe's largest business and leadership event, with amazing speakers on the roster for this year.
Coliving Conference in Barcelona, Spain, on 15-16 October 2025 - an immersive two-day event to connect with coliving and shared-living enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders who shape the future of shared living.
🏆 Tips
I’ve written a quick guide on how to start freelancing (especially if you’re an English speaker in Germany, but not only).
Another short guide on freelancing.
How to stop procrastinating if you have ADHD (in short: the more you procrastinate on a task, the more you should break it down into micro-tasks - and make them visual and physical).
🔬 Tools
Check out this rates calculator from Freelancing Females.
Python users, you might need these scripts.
📚 Resources
A list of European freelance platforms - 482 resources in 35 countries (some of them obsolete, but still quite a good directory).
More information and research on the gig economy for US freelancers.
A nice collection of articles on the future of work.
The New Gig - a podcast on and for the dynamic workforce of today (related website to keep an eye on for EU policy changes).
Wisepreneurs Podcast: Reinventing Work After 60 - thoughtful conversations and practical strategies for women 60+ building meaningful, independent careers.
The business case for hiring a Fractional Executive - when to do it and why.
The challenges of training artificial intelligence to behave ethically.
Thoughts on where AI might lead us.
Luck requires preparation:
🎉 Other
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