An Interview with Julia Valdez: What Makes FreeUp a Leading Freelancer Platform

This past week, I spent time meeting with one of the freelancers currently working on the FreeUp platform, Julia Valdez. With the growing popularity of the platform for experienced eCommerce and online business freelancers, I wanted to understand what she enjoyed about the network and why she preferred it over other platforms out there like Upwork, Freelancer.com, and the many others in the industry.

Below is a number of topics that we covered and her thoughts on each. Give her answers a read and let us know what other questions you’re wondering about in the comments. We’ll be sure to have someone respond to your questions so you fully understand what it’s like to work on the FreeUp platform.

What has your experience been like working on the FreeUp platform thus far? 

Being with FreeUp has been an amazingly rewarding experience for me. In all the 24 years that I have been earning my keep, I haven’t found a place where I enjoy working more, or a group that I truly love being a part of.

What was your experience before joining FreeUp as a freelancer?

For the bulk of my professional life, I spent time with a diverse range of companies, and was even an employer for a time. I have assisted sole proprietors, joined both large and small companies, built small teams for these enterprises, and also a few of my own.

Regardless, however, of how much I loved the work, there was always something missing. I struck out on my own after about a decade of this, building my own business and taking on freelance work. Sadly, these, too, proved painfully troublesome. I never realized just how much of my career has been simply powering through until I found FreeUp.

With all of that experience, you must have freelanced on other platforms as well.

I have enjoyed the freedoms of freelancing on several other platforms – Upwork, Outsourcely, and Freelancer, to name a few. I am most happy, however, with how things work on FreeUp. I hope to work through FreeUp for many years to come because the platform provides additional value that I have not found anywhere else.

What is most important to you when freelancing? 

There are two cardinal qualities that I hold true to when searching for work online.

First, the freedom of flexible work time so that I can take care of all my other responsibilities – and the things I just never got to enjoy as an employee – and still be productive at work. This is true of most freelance work, and I have benefited from it on platforms like Upwork and Freelancer. As a freelancer on FreeUp, however, I have enjoyed even greater flexibility with clients who better understand what it means to hire a freelancer.

In addition, the ease of getting jobs, the administrative support, and the security provided on the FreeUp marketplace have made it so much more fulfilling and productive. Now, working remotely doesn’t have to mean that I sacrifice time looking for clients or take the risk that they may not be trustworthy or willing to offer a reasonable rate for my services.

Second, I have the option of taking on varied tasks to help me grow professionally and keep me optimally motivated every day. The world moves so fast these days, and it is no longer possible to just learn one skill and ride on that until the end of time. There is something to be said for finding and sticking to a particular niche, but this is my personal preference. I like to be both relevant and flexible. On other platforms, this was troublesome because the trust factor was lacking. By building trust with FreeUp, I have the chance to work different projects to further hone my skills and remain challenged – which to me equates to work satisfaction.

How does FreeUp provide that?

FreeUp is built on the principle that both clients and freelancers should be able to find a good fit without going through the harrowing and injurious process of trial and error. Through my experience here, I believe that it is this unique approach that has most contributed to the superior pool of clients at FreeUp who have plenty of work available.

As a result, I have the time and opportunity to carefully select which projects I can do best – and love to do – assured that I will be adequately compensated for any tasks I take on. I am free to focus on getting the work done, and enjoy doing it! This works perfectly for me, and I am sure that my clients are also happy that I can give them all the time and attention they need.

Something that I really appreciate about FreeUp is that I don’t have to present a list of degrees and accomplishments to be given a chance. Many times, client NDAs preclude me from sharing past work. This was always an issue on other platforms where clients could only judge a freelancer’s worth by looking at such things. On FreeUp, I can meet a prospective client whom FreeUp has initially matched me up with, and talk about what is needed and how I can help. We can both feel at ease knowing that FreeUp has done its due diligence, and if needed, do a trial run that is safe for both sides.

Is there anything that you want to share about FreeUp that makes it unique?

I have found one other crucial element here at FreeUp that I have been longing for all these years. At FreeUp, the concept of teamwork is more than just another company policy that everyone agrees to with painted smiles. The entirety of the FreeUp marketplace, led by our very involved and sincerely concerned CEO Nathan Hirsch and of course you, Connor, is focused on real cooperation.

The FreeUp assistants are there to give help freely and gladly, and this has been for me like water to a parched soul. There are no airs in this community, and I can moreover feel how happy everyone is to put themselves out there, whether it is to extend a simple welcome handshake or share valuable information that they could very well choose to keep to themselves to get a leg up.

The community of freelancers on FreeUp is one of a very few that I can say I have been with that truly operates as a unit. They always provide timely assistance, and without pointing fingers or expecting one person to bear the burden for how or if the whole is functioning.

I have always believed that earnest collaboration makes or breaks any group, and I can see this one racing ahead, growing stronger every day. This in itself is a great inspiration to me, a rare quality that draws me to FreeUp like no other freelancing network has before.

Want to Freelance Through FreeUp?

If you’re interested in applying to join the FreeUp platform as a freelancer, please fill out our freelancer application. Once you’ve submitted your application, our dedicated assistants will be in touch regarding the interview process.

Please note that we only accept the top 1% of freelancers online in an effort to provide our clients with the most reliable remote freelancers from around the world. Do you believe you are in the top 1%? You’ll never know until you apply!