Powell Creative Studios is owned by advertising freelancer Freddie Powell. With over 12 years of experience working for an advertising agency over 2 continents, Freddie decided to switch to freelancing and set up his own business. Hear from him first hand what it’s like to freelance in a creative field.
1. Tell us a bit about Powell Creative Studios and what you do.
We come up with creative ideas for large businesses that will entertain and delight the world. It’s normally a big shiny new advertising campaign but it can also be a lot more interesting than that – a hilarious romance novel, a meteorite we melt down into the shape of a chicken burger and auction off, or sending someone’s product into space, just for giggles.
2. Why did you set up on your own?
I was tired of seeing my successes benefit someone else. The hardest step was detaching myself from someone else’s payroll. “Jump off a cliff and build your wings on the way down” a wise man named ‘Kim’ once said.
3. How do you find inspiration for your work?
We’re out to create stuff that makes people feel something, to make them laugh (normally), make them cry or give them goosebumps. So there’s nothing really to it – I just absorb as much culture as I can – I binge on Netflix, watch all the movies, trawl Reddit, watch way too much YouTube and never drink the same whisky twice. That’s my key: always be learning and experiencing new things so I have a reservoir of references to draw on.
4. How do you set yourself apart from other people in your field?
Everyone hates advertising. Why? Because most of it is terrible and produced by marketing robots who want ‘optimisation’. I set out to make work that normal (real life) people are happy exists in their world. It’s simple.
5. If you had one piece of advice for someone just starting to freelance, what would it be?
I can only speak for the advertising industry where you are only as good as your last year’s work. My advice would be to follow the work and the rest will come.
6. What is the biggest issue that you have encountered as a business owner?
Finding suitable partners to team with up.
