The Footloose Freelancer
Gains and Losses: A Life in Balance
Like many of you, my 2020 was filled with ups and downs, struggles and blessings, gains and losses. I have been reflecting on how those gains and losses contributed to me being where I am this very moment. I’m grateful for the good space I’m occupying right now and hope that I can, in some…
Ever an Applicant
I don’t think it occurred to me until I was a few months into freelancing that I was turning into a perpetual applicant. I realized from the start that as a grant writer, I’d be in the applicant role while seeking funding for the organizations I was representing. But it caught me a bit by…
Words of Affirmation
Hardly anything thrills my heart more than cheering someone on. As an elementary school teacher for over a dozen years, watching my students learn, grow, discover, and delight in those discoveries brought me indescribable joy. Later, as a Territory Manager for a global wellness company, I found that same joy in leading a team of…
The Christmas Puzzle
On November 30, 2020, I lost my sister after a difficult and heartbreaking battle with the coronavirus. She spent her birthday and Thanksgiving in the COVID-ICU, non-responsive and on a ventilator. It seems unreal to me that she’s gone. A dozen times a day, I pick up the phone to call or text her, and every…
Footloose and Fancy Free
I was a first-grade teacher for a dozen years, and I loved asking my students what they dreamed of being or doing when they grew up. I delighted in their answers, and I was especially thrilled by their hopeful abandon in reaching for the stars. In first grade, they believed they could be and do…
Learning Seasons
I love learning. I always have, and I hope I always will. That’s why I’m so over-the-top giddy about the upcoming Grant Professionals Association’s Annual Conference. As a new member, this will be my first year to attend, and the line-up of sessions available is mind-blowing. I’ve already started participating in the on-demand sessions that…
Doing it Justice
I am fortunate to live in a quiet little neighborhood bordered by a beautiful creek with a walking trail beside it. The walking path runs several miles through town and connects to a couple of city parks. It’s peaceful and lovely and one of my favorite places to walk and bike. For years now, I’ve…
It’s All About the Message
Today I’m celebrating a completed project, submitted to the client a full 24 hours before the deadline. It was a substantial ghostwriting gig, a technical writing assignment in the health and wellness space. In the interview that landed me the contract for this book, the recruiter asked me why ghostwriting appealed to me, and two…
Welcome to the Footloose Freelancer Blog
For this inaugural blog post, I thought it only fitting that I introduce myself and give you a little color around what you’ve just stumbled into. Hello. My name is Dena, and I’m the Footloose Freelancer. The business of hiring myself out, of using my words to tell your story, that’s brand spanking new. But…
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The Footloose Freelancer 