Hi there!
My name is Eugenia.
I was born and raised in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. There, I graduated from high school, completed two Bachelor’s, and two Master’s programs by the time I was 20 (I was a busy one). From there, my exciting journey began…
I moved south three different times; in doing so, I realized the highs and lows of life (along with experiencing the vastness of life itself, I was also diagnosed with diabetes). During this time, I also got myself into freelancing; and I discovered all the highs and lows of freelancing, as well. For instance, I even met my beloved husband… on a freelancing website (it was more romantic than it sounds).
Do you love freelancing, as I do?
“Be an employee and diligently perform orders of the boss.”
Sounds kind of dreadful, right? Well, being the kid of two top-level managers, that was my mantra growing up- to be a good employee.
However, deep down, I secretly wanted to be a fashion designer, a musician, an analyst of international relations… someone famous and independent.
When your educational background is in four foreign languages, not thinking about earning some extra cash as a translator is a sin (especially while in school). So I gave it a try. At first, it was a way to just earn some extra money for ballroom dancing lessons and to catch up financially after my father passed away. Eventually, it became a lifestyle (to admit, at times, not the healthiest one), and what I used to call ‘earning some extra cash’ eventually became my profession in 2008. Needless to say, it was rather unexpected.
However, I must admit that my freelance life then and now are two completely different things.
Originally, it was just a part-time workload that filled the spaces of my time that weren’t occupied by attending classes and preparing for exams at two different universities, and practicing ballroom dancing. Over time, I gained a few regular clients and, thus, spent less time browsing freelancing websites but rather devoting my free time to searching for smaller one-time orders.
As the years passed by, my husband and I moved to Cyprus. This is where my freelance life really evolved. Currently, my life as a freelancer looks more like a life of an outsourced professional who is employed by two companies in two different time zones…and devotes her ‘free’ working hours to taking care of translation orders that occasionally come from her other regular clients.
In other words, every day I feel a great sense of being demanded, even if sometimes I have to sacrifice a weekend, sleep, or even communication with the outside world. This is quite opposite from the idea that most people have about freelancing, which is that it is very difficult to find work and that freelancers must be starving.
One may ask: What do I do with the days/hours I am not communicating with my clients and working on their projects?
Lot’s of things!
I am pleasing my inner gourmet; I love trying a variety of salads, desserts, and coffees/teas. As well, (sorry vegetarians), I am a meat and fish lover. I love experimenting in the kitchen and I love to learn how to live with insulin-dependent diabetes (which appeared in my life in 2012) and still enjoy all this delicious food!
I am traveling; if I had enough extra cash and if my passport allowed me to travel to most countries without a visa, I would travel to a new country for about 5 days every month! Right now, it is a couple of destinations per year (but I could totally go for more!).
I am watching Turkish (and other) TV series and films.
I am playing the piano.
I am hanging out at the gym.
I am writing poetry, embroidering, drawing, reading historical novels…
The list can go on and on.
My Freelance Life Blog is all about how to maintain this balance while being in demand, the desire for true freelancing, and the small delights of life.