0
0

Kristina – Graduate Coach

Hey There!

I’m Kristina Whittam, Graduate Coach at StephMyLife Freelancer Bootcamps. I joined the team in April 2021 after completing the accelerated freelancer bootcamp the previous year. Quite quickly after doing the course, I knew I was ready to give up my 9-5 in favour of a freer life, not chained to a job which had drained me over the years!

Like many during the pandemic, I re-evaluated my values and although I’d forged a successful 10 year long career in corporate sales, I often found myself at the end of the working day yearning for a job that was more fulfilling, that I was genuinely passionate about. That’s when I came across Steph’s Bootcamps, and not to sound dramatic but doing the course really changed my life. I soon quit my job and began working full time with clients and am now back to help others do the same thing. I love working with students on the courses because not only do I get excited about web development, but I also love talking all things business.

‘A 10 year long corporate career sticks with you, so when I coach you, you’ll get business advice as well as technical help.’

Since swapping business suits...

…for web design, I’ve been able to combine my love for travel simultaneously with my freelance work. My work/life balance has never been better! When I’m not working, you can find me throwing shapes to 80s classics, flower arranging, or tending to my growing brood of rescue animals!

So where to find me at SML Bootcamps?

I’ll be coaching you on the Freelancer and Entrepreneur bootcamps, however you can also book on to my Scale Your Business course or have a 1:1 Tutoring session with me. I look forward to seeing you!

My Services

Reviews

  • Michelle Kelly

    I’ve loved the course from start to finish. You’d think that a call on a Sunday morning for 8 weeks would require some effort but theyw ere my favourite part of my week and I’m missing them already. Kristina is a natural coach – she’s down to earth, bubbly, fun & such a pleasure to talk to. She motivates you and lifts you up in ways you didn’t know were possible. I found myself feeling so inspired after our calls each week & loved how they were laid out, each week taking away something new.

    @mkcreativewebdesign
  • Sarah MacNamara

    The Scale Your Business course with Kristina has been super beneficial. I have learnt so much in the last 8 weeks! I’m now mega motivated to continuously work on my business goals and have learnt many tools from the course to support me on my journey. The course has helped in so many areas from Social Media, business tools to using SMART goals…

    … The course is fantastic and I would certainly do another SYB course, highly recommend thank you, Kristina. I will miss the zoom calls each week!

    @tribewebdesigns
  • Claire Anderson

    This is my second Scale Your Business course. The course was well laid out and each week had a different topic to focus on relevant to freelancing and running a business. It was especially helpful for those that were working still alongside running a business.

    @andecreation

How Can I Help?

I am available to help graduates of the SML Bootcamps with any of the services below. Whether you just need a single tutoring session, or a longer term course on how to make that leap to full time freelance, there’s an option for you. If you’re not sure which service is for you, or want further information. Send me a message on slack, or email me here.

1:1 Tutoring

Need technical support, client/business advice or advanced learning? Use these sessions to strategise business development and enhance new skill sets to scale up your enterprise. The hourly sessions of advanced technical or business tutoring with Kristina will help you continue your development post course and can be customised to your requirements.

Book Tutoring

Website Reviews

Are you about finished working on a client site and just need a once over to point out any above the fold/design/responsive issues? Our website reviews give you the opportunity to get personalised video feedback for your site to give you tangible points of improvement before you handover to your client.

See Options

Courses

Have you recently graduated from one of the bootcamps or you’re maybe wondering now how to take the leap to go freelance full time? The ‘9-5 To Freelancer’ Scale Your Business course is an 8 week course to provide accountability, focus and coaching to help you achieve your goals!

If you just need someone to keep you accountable to help you goal set, take a look at the accountability course which you can drop in and out of.

Book Graduate Courses

1:1 Tutoring

Sessions are priced per hour, and you can receive a discount for block bookings.

Website Reviews

When booking, just select the date of your deadline and we’ll have your website reviewed and sent to your inbox for you to implement those final pixel perfect points!

For reviews needed in 4 days or more time, select the standard review. Need it quicker? We’ll review in 24 hours if the urgent option is selected.

Scale Your Business

The 9-5 To Freelancer SYB course is an 8 week course to provide accountability, focus and coaching to help you achieve your goals in 2022 and 2023. This course will particularly be helpful for those who are still working full or part time and juggling their freelancing or online business. Kristina will coach you on how to scale your business alongside your career with weekly coaching & accountability calls.

When booking, the date shown will be the start date of the course, which will then run at the same time for the following 8 weeks via a zoom link which will be emailed to you upon completion of booking.

If preferred, individual modules are also available to book below.

Weekly Outline

Week 1:  Business plans

We’ll be goal setting this week, focusing on writing business plans and creating SMART objectives to give us something to aim for to eventually make the leap to full time freelance.

Week 2: Sales 101

The topic here is business development with a focus on finding the best ways to pitch, how to find the right clients and most importantly maximising your time if you’re juggling that work/life balance.

Week 3: Your tool kit

Time is precious so we’ll get to grips with all those great tools and apps to help increase our productivity and efficiency!

Week 4: Sell yourself

Now you have a business, you want to establish your brand and make the most of all the ways to sell yourself to potential clients. We’ll work on social selling, and perfecting that elevator pitch.

Week 5: Kaizen

The Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement, guides us to revisit our offerings and services. This week we’ll be assessing our own sites, and thinking about how to perfect each step of our user journey.

Week 6: Saying no

Establishing your brand means knowing your worth and sometimes this involves saying no. This can be particularly tricky when you start out but is arguably even more important when you’re juggling a 9-5 alongside freelancing. This is an exciting time but long hours and the demands of everyday life can cause exhaustion and burn out. We’ll talk about keeping an eye out for the warning signs of fatigue.

Week 7: Making the leap

How do you know when you’re ready to leave your job? Identifying when the right time is for you to make the transition to part time or freelancing full time and how to do so, including discussing that tricky conversation with your boss.

Week 8: Walk. Run. Fly. 

Now you have all the tools in your arsenal, it’s time to plan for the next step. We’ll create an action plan for you to make the switch to freelancing full time and help you get in to the right mindset.