Lauren Murillo’s Career Path: From Campus Manager To Marketing Freelancer
Lauren was a Fresh Prints Campus Manager at SUNY University of Buffalo. She started as soon as she joined college and stuck with the company until graduation.
‘The guy who reached out to me about the opportunity was cute,’ Lauren recalled laughing, ‘So I responded because of that but the job itself kept me going!’
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Studying communications with a focus on public relations and brand development, Lauren told us she was applying what she was learning and more as a Campus Manager.
‘I developed my entrepreneurial side.’ She explained, ‘I even did an internship with Fresh Prints because I loved everything I was getting exposed to.’
Sticking with us for all 4 years of college, Lauren told us that she was very passionate about her merch business. ‘Everyone at the company genuinely cared about what they were doing and wanted to do a good job - that energy was infectious and motivated me to do the same.’
Graduating during peak COVID, Lauren decided to briefly take up contact tracing for the state of New York where she would call people who were exposed to the virus.
‘I was doing something important and I was doing it from home, which was great but I wasn’t very happy.’ Realizing her love for creativity and entrepreneurship, Lauren decided to quit and pursue freelancing.
She put together an online portfolio for herself and signed up to gig websites like Pangea, Upwork, and Fiverr. ‘I put in all the work that I did at Fresh Prints and my internships on the portfolio. I’m not a web designer but I was determined to do it myself!’
Before she knew it, the clients started rolling in. From authors wanting help with their book covers and their PR to companies looking to spruce up their digital marketing, Lauren was saying yes to each and every project coming her way.
‘I am now in a good place. I have a stable client base, I’m relying less on websites like Upwork and moving into establishing my own business.’ Lauren now spends her time traveling and working as she travels. The digital nomad life that she craved has slowly but surely become her life.
On what advice she has for aspiring freelancers, Lauren shared a few principles and tips.
- Principle one, if you feel like freelancing is your calling, do it!
- Lauren said, ‘I think I hesitated for a long time before I finally decided to do it. I recommend people who know themselves and know what they want to not do what I did.’
- Principle two, go in with an optimistic mindset.
- ‘You have to be realistic, yes but it’s just as important to be optimistic. Don’t mean to get into the law of attraction and all - but going in with thoughts like what if it works out will help push you.’
Regarding tips to get started, Lauren shared these 4:
- Look at the resumes and experiences of the people whose lives you want and reach out to them.
- You will spend a lot of your time working in life, it is important you enjoy it.
- If you have nothing on your portfolio yet, volunteer your time.
- Whether you reach out to local businesses or work on something for a friend, do it when you're starting out to build your portfolio.
- Start off with websites like Fiverr and Pangea.
- Gig websites can help put your name and work out there and build a client base.
- Create a calendar schedule or use a binder.
- When you’re freelancing, you are your own manager. Keeping yourself organized with schedules and binders is extremely important.
A huge thank you to Lauren for sharing her career journey with us! For more tips on getting started as a freelancer, here are our favorite resources: