The Future of Work is Freelance

Monica Davidson has never had a ‘proper’ job - she has been self-employed in the arts since she was a teenager, first as a journalist and later as a writer and filmmaker.

After freelancing for years Monica set up her own production company in the early 1990s, and learnt how to run a creative business the hard way. As her company grew, she started offering informal tutorials to help other creatives and is now a recognised expert in the field.

Monica regularly runs workshops and events about creativity and business, as well as mentoring individual practitioners and consulting to larger arts organisations. She is a regular guest lecturer on creative entrepreneurialism at institutions including AFTRS, NIDA, NAVA and Ausdance.

She is the author of the Australian version of Freelancing for Dummies, and is currently developing a series of books about creative business.

In 2013 Monica was appointed as the first Creative Industries Business Advisor by the NSW Small Business Commissioner, and the following year completed her Masters in Screen Arts and Business at AFTRS. Monica was recently named as one of the Westpac 100 Women of Influence for her work in the creative industries. Her company The Creative Plus Business Group was also awarded a Cool Company Award by Anthill Magazine in 2015.

In her down time Monica enjoys movies, spending time with her family, drinking pink champagne, and participating in the gentle art of pub karaoke.

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Rebekah Lambert is a content marketing freelancer at Unashamedly Creative. She’s also the founder of Hacking Happiness, a project designed to remind Australian businesses & professionals that stress has a productivity cost. As the founder of The Freelance Jungle, an online and offline social club designed to support Australian freelancers, she continues this message of community support and stress reduction through focusing on ending the isolation inherent in sole employment.

Rebekah is currently training as a Crisis Supporter for Lifeline Australia, spent 12 months as part of a joint COSBA and Beyond Blue work group tasked to improve the mental health outcomes of Australian small business, and is an Assistance Dogs Australia relief carer. When she’s not talking business and stress reduction, she’s exploring the wonders of Wollongong and the Illawarra. 

Cameron is a multidisciplinary digital strategist with with more than 10 years of experience in freelancing to advertising agencies and technology startups. 

Cameron is also the Founder of the Frankston Foundry, a technology incubator based in Victoria and Freelance Australia, an NGO whose mission is to represent the collective interests of Australian freelancers, contractors and independent workers as we progress towards a new future of work. 

For the last fourteen years, Lara Lightfoot has earned her gluten-free bread and dairy-free butter as an actress, independent theatre founder and producer, corporate role player, casting assistant, and youth mental health forum facilitator.

She intimately understands the challenges of the freelancer lifestyle, and the importance of community and self care. Although she has faced countless ups and downs, she wouldn’t have her life any other way.