Brand, Visual & Web Designer Fungi Dube
About this episode…
Brand, Visual & Web Designer fungi dube
Fungi left university as a scientist. But it was her experiments with Photoshop that had unexpected results. She now wanted to be a designer.
Whilst working full-time in science, she designed on the side. By changing her entire persona online, she began to turn what started as a passion project, into a full-time freelance career.
Fungi’s focus is in lifting African culture and narratives to the forefront of her design. From the ‘Sunshine City’ Harare, Zimbabwe, she’s brightening brands, packaging and websites the world over.
Read the highlights in the next tab.
Scientist to designer
Fungi hasn’t always been a designer. In fact, she started her adult life as a scientist! But thanks to Photoshop, she found herself on the road to becoming freelance…
“After university, I was struggling to get a job in my field of study and I wanted to curb the frustration of that, so I decided to teach myself a new skill. A Photoshop video popped up on my YouTube and I just went for it. So fast forward, I did eventually get fully employed in my field of study, but the design bug had bitten me.“
Career Pivot
Changing her online persona gave Fungi all the evidence she needed to jump from scientist to designer…
“I decided to change my entire persona online. I had been tweeting about science… but I decided to take everything down, and I started posting my designs. I was shocked because more and more people started getting interested in what I was doing. And it hit me that, 'Hey, you could be onto something here. So maybe it is time for you to actually consider a career pivot and see what you can make out of it'”
A Gap in the market
With a love of design but no niche, Fungi started her freelance career picking up any work she could. Inspired by African culture, she tapped into a world of new possibilities, and a niche she loves.
“I decided to do a passion project, and that project was just a way of me seeing how I could step into the style and express Africanism, but do it through brand design, because I also noticed that there was a massive gap. We see African expression in music, in clothes, in film and photography, but we hadn't really been seeing it in brand design, and web design and UI/UX design.”
Backup plan
Moving from a side-hustle to a full-time career change can be a daunting task, but with a few clients and a financial backup plan, Fungi decided it was time to take that leap…
“I had a decent number of clients, but I did plan for it because I wasn't sure what this new side was gonna look like when it's fully freelance and I have to now step up and be like, ‘Hey, I'm not that science person that you knew me for. I'm now this full-time designer’. So I did have a bit of a safety net as well, not a lot, but I was like, if things really go south, then at least I know that for the next four - six months, then I should still be able to do something and still be able to take care of myself. ”
world-wide business
Fungi now has a client base all over the world, thanks to the power of the internet…
“My clients are everywhere. I serve clients in the Americas, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa. I think the nice thing about this day and age is that all you need is an internet connection, right? So for as long as that's going you can always have different kinds of conversations with different people in different places. So I'm not limited to my geographical location. I serve clients all over.”
Bringing scientific methodology and design together
Fungi may have taken the leap from science to design, but she hasn’t left all aspects of her science background behind. In fact, she’s found it useful to bring science into how she works as a designer.
“I find design to be quite methodical in the sense that you have to think of a strategy, you have to know where to get your resources. You need to know how to put everything together, to integrate that, to test it, to see if you need to introduce other external resources. So just like how I may have been used to scientific methodology where you have to break everything into steps and see what you need for it, that's exactly what I do with my design work as well. ”
“If I am going away, I'm going away.
If it's time to work, it's time to work.
If it's time to play, it's time to play."
Brand, Visual & Web Designer Fungi Dube
More from fungi dube
Transcript of the Being Freelance podcast with Steve Folland and Freelance Visual, Brand & Web Designer Fungi Dube
Steve Folland:
Freelance Brand, Visual & Web Designer, Fungi Dube. Hey Fungi.
Fungi Dube:
Hi Steve.
Steve Folland:
As ever, how about we get started hearing how you got started being freelance?
Fungi Dube:
I haven't always been a designer. I'm actually a scientist by training, but the whole design thing came about because, after university, I was struggling to get a job in my field of study and I wanted to curb the frustration of that, so I decided to teach myself a new skill. And it so happens that skill was design, because a Photoshop video popped up on my YouTube and I just went for it. So fast forward, I did eventually get fully employed in my field of study, but the design bug had bitten me. So I decided to start designing on the side. And then a few years later, I then decided to go full-time with it.
Steve Folland:
So how did you get your first freelance clients? You did it on the side of your full-time science job for a little bit, did you?
Fungi Dube:
Yes, I did. I just started off by sort of volunteering myself to my family members. A cousin of mine had a little baby shower, and I decided that I wanted to make something pretty just to let the family know what was going on. So she was actually my first client, I guess because she paid me for my service and that's when I kind of realised that, 'Hey, people actually pay people to make these things'. I just started self-marketing on my social media and that sort of thing. That's how I started getting a bit of traction. And then I got my first corporate client.
Steve Folland:
How did you know when you were ready to take the leap to leave your full-time job and go full in on this design career?
Fungi Dube:
I think it came about when I started getting a reaction that I had no idea was going to be so positive because what I ended up doing is, I decided to change my entire persona online. I had been tweeting about all things like science, maybe my job, just random things about football here and there, but I decided to take everything down, so all my tweets, all my Instagram posts, and I started posting my designs. And I was kind of shocked because more and more people started getting interested in what I was doing. And it hit me that, 'Hey, you could be onto something here. So maybe it is time for you to actually consider a career pivot and see what you can make out of it'.
Steve Folland:
Ah, so it wasn't that you maybe got to the fact that you had too much work to do or something like that? It was more kind of like a gut feel of actually there's a really good response to this?
Fungi Dube:
Exactly. So I wasn't the sort of person who was completely overwhelmed by how many people were coming to me, but I really felt like this was something that I wanted to pursue. So if anything, it came from, it was a very internal shift where I was like, you know what? This feels more you. And it feels like something that you should definitely be doing, so just give it a shot and see how it goes.
Steve Folland:
And would you, right back then, have designed anything <laugh> starting with the baby shower, but as you went full-time what were you kind of doing?
Fungi Dube:
Yeah, I was doing everything. I think the formative years of my creative entrepreneurial journey were very chaotic and extremely experimental. I did anything and everything. I guess I could say I didn't have a particular industry that I wouldn't serve, for as long as they were bringing work to the table I would do it, even if it was work that wasn't particularly inspiring or repetitive work. I would do it all. So you could have asked me the most random thing, Steve. You could have been like, 'My pug is turning six, can you design something?' and I definitely would've done it. So it was very messy when I started out.
Steve Folland:
Would you say you have a niche now or a certain thing that you design now?
Fungi Dube:
Yeah, most definitely. My work currently is heavily centred on being able to elevate African narratives. It's very culturally inclined. Those are the kind of stories that I like to tell. And I like to tell them in a modern interpretation, which is very different from what we were just talking about and what I used to do.
Steve Folland:
That's so cool. So you've niched. Obviously, I described you as a Brand, Visual & Web Designer. So you've niched specifically in what you do. By the way, I'll put a link at beingfreelance.com. Everybody, you have to go and check out Fungi's website, cause it's amazing, but you very much see this African narrative, as you put it, running through it. How did you make that shift though? As in, did you get a particular job that allowed you to do that style or did you start creating it yourself?
Fungi Dube:
I hadn't had any jobs of that nature, but what actually triggered everything is the fact that I encountered a book, and this book is called African Alphabets, and it's by professor Saki Mafundikwa, who is well known internationally, but he's also native-born here in Zimbabwe. So the book is cool in the sense that it highlights all these different writing systems in Africa. And I had never encountered anything like that because I feel like for most of my life, that sort of cultural aspect has been diluted or it hasn't been brought to the forefront as much. So when I saw that, I was like, wait, you're telling me that there are whole design systems that are centred around African culture and that sort of thing? And it honestly felt like such a revelation at that point.
Fungi Dube:
So I decided to do a passion project, and that passion project was just a way of me seeing how I could step into the style and express the Africanism, but do it through brand design because I also noticed that there was a massive gap. We see African expression in music, in clothes, in film and photography, but we hadn't really been seeing it in brand design, and web design and UI/UX design. So the passion project was actually a coffee packaging project that I did. And I went in illustrating different landmarks and natural features and patterns from major coffee-growing regions in Africa. And that was the thing that set everything off because when I put that on LinkedIn, I was shocked. I was like, what is happening right now? Why are people messaging me? Who is this person from this place? And from different corners, all being, 'Oh, we saw your project. It's really cool. And we like how you're doing this' and that sort of thing. I was like, whoa, okay, this could be something. So that's how it all started. And now I've just sort of stepped into it and I run with it every single day,
Steve Folland:
That must have felt so good.
Fungi Dube:
I was incredibly shocked because I just put it out there. I was like, I don't know what's going to happen. I went to bed and I woke up the following morning. I was like, why are there so many notifications on my phone? Did something happen? Have I been hacked? What happened? So then I got in and I checked, I was like, whoa, I must have had an out-of-body experience because I was like, I don't even know what's happening right now.
Steve Folland:
So that's how you kind of bought it to everyone's attention. How did you turn it into the thing that you were doing? Did a client soon come to you?
Fungi Dube:
So I did start getting enquiries about that kind of work. I did a few projects around that, which may or may not have made it to social media, but if anything, the drive was more internal at that point because I knew that it was something that I was very passionate about. I was like, regardless of whether clients are coming to me or not asking for me to do this particular style of work, I'm just going to keep doing passion projects or mock projects or just exploring ideas that I think are cool in that space and just putting them out there online.
Steve Folland:
And how did that translate into what you were showing on your website? Because as I've said, we can go to your website now and it's all very clear, but how did you get it in that direction?
Fungi Dube:
I actually launched my website this year in February, but I had started learning how to design websites and workflow last year. So I think because I've had this time, maybe two, three years where I've come into my own and I've established the kind of work that I want to put out, the kind of work that I want for people to be able to engage with when it came to building my website, it almost felt like a natural extension of who I am because I now have clear direction as opposed to when I started. I wanted to be able to portray that and be able to express that, like a natural extension of what people may already see on my Instagram, but have it flow through to my website as well.
Steve Folland:
So we're now in July, so that's quite a few months since it launched. Did you notice a difference once you put that live?
Fungi Dube:
Yeah, major difference. I actually ugly cried <laugh>
Fungi Dube:
I ugly cried because again it's one of those things like when you obviously are working from a point of view where you just want to be able to push things that are really important to you, but you don't realise how much of an impact that you're going to have on other people. So the reason why I ugly cried is because the response was massive, first of all, across all my social media, but also the fact that Webflow picked up my website and put it on the inspiration page. And I was like, whoa, what is actually happening right now? So I have seen also, just from being able to do that, there's been an increase in the number of different enquiries that I get, in the quality of the work that I also do, and the nature of the projects that I work on because I get to work on more projects that allow for me to be able to tell these kinds of stories.
Steve Folland:
I love it so much. So does that mean now, if I came to you, because your website's amazing right, if I came to you and went Fungi, I love your website. I'd like something similar, but clearly for me, as much as I love the African style that runs through it, that speaks of you and your culture, it wouldn't be right for me to do that. So would you take on my project if you see what I mean?
Fungi Dube:
Yes. I definitely see what you mean. And I think everything is very subjective. So I'm not going to say that there are projects that I do not take on that don't have that element of African storytelling. I do a lot of those kinds of projects that don't as well. I think at the end of the day, what really matters to me is to make sure that we align on the same level, that the project is something that I can resonate with regardless of whether it has a cultural aspect or not, and it's just something cool and fun that I could work on. So the nice thing about being a good designer is that we're able to break down different kinds of briefs. So for as long as there's alignment on the core issues and values and that sort of thing, I'll definitely take on your project, Steve, no problem.
Steve Folland:
<Laugh> But would you share it?
Fungi Dube:
I would share it. I'm not sure if it'll particularly make it to my Instagram grid because that has, you know, a certain vibe to it. But I share all sorts of projects on my stories all the time that I do, that are outside of African storytelling. So I would definitely share for sure. I've shared many on my Twitter as well. So I would for sure.
Steve Folland:
Okay. That's interesting. So there's that more fleeting nature of Twitter or Instagram stories, which means it's not sticking around, whereas Instagram grid and your website, that's more like an actual portfolio?
Fungi Dube:
Yes, exactly. Yeah.
Steve Folland:
I feel like we should just put some things in perspective. So how long were you freelancing alongside your job for?
Fungi Dube:
For six years.
Steve Folland:
And when did you go full-time freelance?
Fungi Dube:
In November 2020
Steve Folland:
At what point did your niche, like the African narratives, when did that come into your work?
Fungi Dube:
So that came into my work mid-2018.
Steve Folland:
So when you were freelancing in your full-time job, did you have quite a lot of work going on? Like how were you juggling that?
Fungi Dube:
I didn't sleep. <Laugh> Sleep? What was that? Yeah, I was probably functioning on three, four hours of sleep every single day because it was a lot of hard work for sure. Would I recommend it? No, but again, this also comes from the fact that I was very scared to go into full-time freelancing and I gave myself excuses as to why I should not do it. So I did end up getting very burnt out. I found myself falling ill as well, so in the sense that you get consistent headaches and that sort of thing, obviously, because you're not resting enough and you're just pushing at both jobs and it's a lot. That was a very chaotic time for me.
Steve Folland:
And when you then finally went freelance, had you built up a safety net of cash, for example, did you have lots of clients ready to go? How prepared were you?
Fungi Dube:
I had a decent number of clients. I wouldn't say lots. I had a few and I had a few who were repeat clients so that was great, but I did plan for it because I wasn't sure what this new side was gonna look like when it's fully freelance and I have to now step up and be like, Hey, I'm not that science person that you knew me for. I'm now this full-time designer. So I did have a bit of a safety net as well, not a lot, but I was like, if things really go south, then at least I know that for the next four, six months, then I should still be able to do something and still be able to take care of myself. So I had a bit of a safety net for sure.
Steve Folland:
How about where your clients are?
Fungi Dube:
So my clients are everywhere. I serve clients in the Americas, in Europe, in Sub-Saharan Africa. I think the nice thing about this day and age is that all you need is an internet connection, right? <Laugh> So for as long as that's going you can always have different kinds of conversations with different people in different places. So I'm not limited to my geographical location. I serve clients all over.
Steve Folland:
Obviously, you trained as a scientist. There's an element of that scientist still inside you. And I'm wondering whether that helps when it comes to the processes. Basically, I'm thinking scientists, forgive me if I'm being stereotypical. <Laugh>, I'm thinking of scientists as being very logical, for example. And sometimes the more creative side of our brain isn't, and actually, when we run a business, it pays for us to be a bit more efficient and get things in order. Am I talking nonsense or has that side of it helped you?
Fungi Dube:
You're not talking nonsense at all. I feel like it makes perfect sense that you would ask that question. So I have found that I'm able to marry the two because I find design also to be quite methodical in the sense that you have to think of a strategy, you have to know where to get your resources. You need to know how to put everything together, to integrate that, to test it, to see if you need to introduce other external resources and that sort of thing. So just like how I may have been used to scientific methodology where you have to break everything into steps and see what you need for it, that's exactly what I do with my design work as well. So I'm not afraid to read a research paper, to read 20 pages of what someone has written on something that I need to know about so that I can just come up with a visual for that because of my scientific background. So I find that the two I'm able to marry them and it works perfectly fine for me.
Steve Folland:
So from your experiments, as it were, in business, what have you found works best for you?
Fungi Dube:
Ooh, that is a very interesting question <laugh>. So in business, I had to learn very quickly because I'm obviously a solopreneur, so that means I do everything by myself. I work for myself, I am admin marketing, social content creation, all wrapped in one. And I found that from having gone through several avenues where I could have maybe started thinking about having someone on my team, that this is the model that works for me. It works for me because I'm able to really control variables and that sort of thing. And I'm really able to make sure that things are done to the standard that I would like for them to be done. It also allows me to work more on being productive and being organised. So all of this came out of trying different things and seeing if I could have other people come on and that sort of thing. And I was like, you know what, this is what works for me right now. And I'm just gonna stick with that. Things may change down the line, but for now, that's exactly how I would like for it to be.
Steve Folland:
Ah, so you tried hiring other people?
Fungi Dube:
I have, and it wasn't as great as I thought it was going to be. I think because there is this preconceived notion, or maybe my hiring techniques were just not the greatest, that's something that I would maybe have to think about. But I think there was this preconceived notion that if you have a team, there are certain things that you may not be able to do or you feel like they're beneath you and that sort of thing. I was like, well, we've got to put in hard groundwork as we're starting to make sure that this thing works and stays afloat right. But it just wasn't working out well. So I just decided that I just needed to do everything by myself for now. And that has been my preferred model.
Steve Folland:
Are you somebody who works on one thing at a time or do you have multiple projects and clients on the go at once?
Fungi Dube:
I do typically have multiple projects going on but within reason. So my thing is that I will probably onboard between one and three clients every single month, depending on the nature and the scope of the project, but it will never go beyond that. So I could potentially work with one client for eight weeks, or I could be working with three clients over a 14-week period. I know that everything is staggered and I'm able to balance when deliverables are expected, when we need to do review sessions and everything like that, and make sure that I deliver the projects on time. So that's how I structure it currently.
Steve Folland:
Does that mean sometimes you have to tell clients to wait or to go away?
Fungi Dube:
Not necessarily go away, but I do ask them kindly to wait. So the nice thing is that I have also realised that especially when you're running a business, being transparent and communication is very important. So if I am unable to take on the project at any given time, then I'll just let them know and let them know when I'll have an opening. And if they're okay with that, which most of them have been because they've been so gracious with me, they will wait, but if they're not, then I'm always happy to recommend them to someone who I think would still be able to do a good enough job for them.
Steve Folland:
I guess that's one great thing, particularly if you have a really specialised niche and a really wonderful style, that makes me think, well, actually, I don't know whether I could get that somewhere else. Maybe I will wait. Have you been able to figure out how to get that same sort of speciality into your pricing, for example?
Fungi Dube:
This is always very interesting because I get asked quite often, they're like, 'Oh, does it limit how much you can charge or does it limit who you can work with?' especially if you've decided to go down the specialised route. And what I've noticed with time is because it's something that a lot of people who resonate with that kind of work, want to be able to express that, is that they are actually not going to be in a position where they're trying to fight me because I've said that this is my rate for the work that we want to be able to do. I think that there's a mutual understanding of the value that comes out of it. And there's also a mutual understanding of the fact that it is something that is quite specialised, so they are willing to pay me what I asked them for.
Steve Folland:
How did you get a feel of what you should be charging?
Fungi Dube:
That is always a tricky question, isn't it? Because I feel like pricing strategy is so different for everyone, but I think just with time and with a little bit of experience, and maybe being in circles where you have different kinds of conversations with other designers, you just land on a number that you're able to go to bed happy with. <Laugh> Like you can go to bed and be peaceful about it, but also know that even from whatever number you're pegging it at, you're still able to cover your overheads if you have any, and you can still have good margins. So I think it was just a matter of doing the math to see what makes sense for me and my current business needs. And then pegging that in such a way that I'm also still able to go to bed and be like, okay, even if we do the work, I will still be happy with the amount that I charged. So that's just how I look at it.
Steve Folland:
One thing I remember noticing when I was looking at your website was you had a shop and I sort of went, oh, okay. Maybe you've got like products with your amazing designs on it. But intriguingly actually, it was more to help other creatives, right?
Fungi Dube:
Yes. That was very intentional on my part, where I decided that I was going to absorb all the eCommerce costs for my website and not charge a single dollar for what I have up there because I feel like when I was starting out, what I didn't have was access. And I see a lot of that now, especially with young and upcoming designers here on the continent where they may not necessarily know the back end or the more professional way of presenting their ideas or, presenting terms of engagement, making sure that them and their client's interests are protected and that sort of thing. So I put up those templates and I was like, you know what, whoever wants to get them can always get them for free because it's something that I never used to get. And I want for them to be able to see or get an idea or get an introduction as to how they can do these things. So that was really intentional on my part.
Steve Folland:
Yeah, it's really nice. But I also noticed that one of them, and by the way, eventually like I mentioned, there'll be a link at beingfreelance.com, but it includes a contract template and pricing and packages guide and things like that. And it's really kind of you to literally give it away. One of them though was a Notion client portal and that made me go, oh, you have a client portal. So this is how you deal with your clients?
Fungi Dube:
Yeah. So I found that Notion is the best platform for me. Other people use other things like Asana and that sort of thing, but Notion is just great in my opinion because it allows for you to manage projects and you can get feedback seamlessly, you can drop assets and that sort of thing, and it's all housed under one roof. So it means that I have very quick access to my client. My client has quick access to me and if we need to exchange ideas, if we need to exchange feedback, if I need to show them what I'm working on, then I can just easily drop it there. And everyone has access to everything.
Steve Folland:
So you're able to give Client A just access to Client A's bit of your Notion?
Fungi Dube:
Yes. So every single client that I work with will have their individual portal, but they're all housed under my account. So Steve will have one, Fungi will have one and I'm able to click through and see what's happening there and then go to the next and then just see what's happening there.
Steve Folland:
And does that mean, it also makes it easy to duplicate, I suppose this goes back to that process like when you bring somebody else on, you press a button and it kind of replicates itself?
Fungi Dube:
Yeah, exactly. I just duplicate and then I change all the client details, but all the content is still the same. So I'll still be able to upload your contract, any invoicing, any questionnaires, any discovery, documentation, all of that will still be there, but it will just be for a different client.
Steve Folland:
Have you found that that's helped running your business?
Fungi Dube:
It has helped a lot because I think it's also helped me to stay very organised and most of my clients have been like, 'Oh, I don't know what Notion is', but I'm like, 'Oh, it's actually quite easy to use'. So I've actually found that they've had a pleasant experience with it as well because we are able to have a seamless way of working together. So I really appreciate that as an addition to my current creative toolkit, because it does allow for you to be quite organised and for things to go about a little bit more seamlessly.
Steve Folland:
And how about the way that your clients find you now then? Is it purely through Instagram and Linkedin?
Fungi Dube:
Yes. I think that a big part of this, and it, wasn't always a case where you have people who do find you through your social media, but a big part of it had to do with really nailing down my marketing strategy and gravitating towards building a stronger personal brand. I do find nowadays that a lot of my clients find me through my LinkedIn which is probably 65-70% of my clientele and a few of them through Instagram. But right now a lot more enquiries are coming through my website. So I'm just going to have to check the metrics and see how the numbers are, but anyone who wants to work with me typically, they find me online.
Steve Folland:
And what sort of thing are you doing on LinkedIn? Are you on there every day?
Fungi Dube:
I am not there every day. But what I've done is, I went through a process of optimising some of the features that they have on LinkedIn. So being able to use my featured section, I pinned a few of my projects there. I pinned my website so that even if anyone is visiting my profile or they go and search for keywords, maybe they look for African Graphic Designer or African Brand Designer or Independent African Designer or something like that, I optimised all of those keyword searches so that at least my profile pops up. And when they do visit my profile, then they're able to at least engage with some content because it's all pinned on my profile. So they can see what I do, what I'm about and that sort of thing. And they can always reach out to me.
Steve Folland:
And you mentioned earlier, knowing other designers and things like that, are those online communities or do you know people locally doing a similar thing to what you do?
Fungi Dube:
I have a few friends who are in the same space. So when I say in the same space, I'm referring to being able to leverage culture as a means of visual storytelling, but we are all sort of doing it in a different way. I have really good friends who are doing it through type design. So they're trying to revive lost African languages through type. I have other friends who are experimental typographers. They draw inspiration from everyday African things like maybe braids and that sort of thing. And they're coming up with really cool typefaces for that. I also have friends who are exploring patterns who are exploring textures and that sort of thing, just from a cultural perspective. So I do know a few, but our work, when you do look at it, it's very, very different, but the source really is the same.
Steve Folland:
And how about locally? In your city, for example, are you the only person doing what you do, being a designer online, being a freelancer?
Fungi Dube:
Oh, no, not at all. I do know a lot of local designers as well, so there's quite a number of us who are doing it at different scales and in different ways.
Steve Folland:
Is that helpful?
Fungi Dube:
It is helpful because I think that sometimes when you are kind of stuck, you are able to reach out to someone and have a conversation about how you can get unstuck. But yeah, I do find it to be incredibly helpful and more so, not even on a local level, just on a continental level, if that is a word, I hope it's a word <laugh> and I hope it means exactly what I'm trying to express, but <laugh> on an African scale, I guess because there are quite a number of communities around, you can always reach out to different people about different things that you might be going through and you can get some perspective and that sort of thing. So it's incredibly helpful.
Steve Folland:
You've said entrepreneur or solopreneur quite a few times, that makes me feel like you are embracing the business side.
Fungi Dube:
I definitely am because I think for the longest time, there's this lie that's been told that if you are into art, you are a starving artist. Right? And I don't think that's the thing at all. So I've definitely embraced the business side of it because I'm a firm believer, a strong advocate actually, that we must make good money from our creative prowess. So I definitely run my creativity as a business, because as much as I'm in a position where I'm able to have a blank canvas and come up with this work that really makes my heart happy at the same time, I'm still able to make a good living for myself and take care of myself and do things and travel and that sort of thing. So it's definitely a business for sure.
Steve Folland:
And how about how you work? Are you based at home?
Fungi Dube:
I am, I can work from home from the coffee shop, from the park bench, from under a tree <laugh> for as long as I have an internet connection, that's all I need.
Steve Folland:
And how do you find your work-life balance? What's that like merging the two, for you?
Fungi Dube:
So I struggled when I started off because I felt like I had to work all the time. So I was probably spending 16 hours a day at my desk, just trying to make things happen because I didn't have proper structures in place. I was still trying to figure everything out. So work balance did not exist then at all. But with time I've managed to put proper systems in place that allow for me to have a more flexible schedule and I'm able to also set realistic targets for myself. So I have more of a balance now. I have a routine. I know when I wake up, I'm able to still go to the gym. I schedule work meetings at particular hours of the day. I also have little sprints, so I'll do like one-hour sprints to say, okay, this hour is solely for admin. This hour is going to be for any project proposals that I need to do, and that sort of thing, this hour, I'm doing edits. Also personal time, Hey, this hour, you're going to watch some Netflix or something, and that sort of thing. So I definitely have more of a work-life balance now than I did when I started for sure.
Steve Folland:
And do you get to take time out?
Fungi Dube:
I do. So I actually recently took a whole month out. And I travelled in that month. So that's something that I'm also able to do because then I know when I've scheduled my projects and when they're supposed to start and end and also any feature projects or clients, that could be waiting for me, I would've communicated already that I'm not going to be available during this space and time because I would be taking time for myself.
Steve Folland:
That is so good. So the secret to taking a whole month off is to have projects ready to go when you come back and having them wrapped up before you go away?
Fungi Dube:
Essentially yes. So I would say that the secret really is organisation I think,<laugh> so that at least, you know, what's happening and what's not happening.
Steve Folland:
Did you manage to not work during that month? Were you thinking about work? How was it?
Fungi Dube:
It was really good. I actually took my laptop and everything with me, but I didn't even open it, not even once. Because I think that's one of the things that I feel like we also need to be intentional about. And I know that it's something that's hard for most of us to actually dismiss ourselves from our work, especially when you work for yourself because when you're not working, you're not making money and no one is gonna be on the 25th, here's your salary. That's not gonna happen. So I was very intentional about it to say, you know what I think at this stage where I'm at, I need to prioritise the things that really make sure that I get peace of mind in that moment. So if I am going away, I'm going away. If it's time to work, it's time to work. If it's time to play, it's time to play. So I successfully managed not to do any work, which I'm very proud of, but now that I'm back, all I've been doing is working <laugh>. So I guess, it's a little cycle of life where you're like here rest a bit and then you come back, you're like, oh, reality is here again, so I've gotta make sure that I'm working again.
Steve Folland:
Do you plan to do it again in the future?
Fungi Dube:
Yes, actually. So I have two other trips that I'm hoping to take this year. So I will definitely be doing that as well.
Steve Folland:
Fungi, if you could tell your younger self, one thing about being freelance, what would that be?
Fungi Dube:
To go for it. Because I think that I took two years longer to go freelance than I should have because I just had so much anxiety around it and I felt like I wasn't ready for it, which is very valid, but I think I gave myself a lot of excuses as to why I couldn't have done it earlier. So if anything, just to really take that step. And what I've learned is that the ways that anyone can say is no and no, really isn't going to kill you. It sucks, but it does push you to sort of pull your socks up. So I would've definitely told my younger self to be a little bit more braver and a little bit more bolder for sure.
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