Rashi Srivastava Is Revving Up Her Freelancing Career With Pepper

Rashi is a freelance graphic designer with over seven years of experience. Rashi’s creative bone had stuck out quite early, and she had made up her mind to pursue her higher studies in a creative field.

“I always knew a creative career was my calling. So I did my majors in VFX and animation,” says Rashi.

She worked for an agency for over a year, but it wasn’t long before she switched to full-time freelancing—she has been in this space for five years now. What she loves about freelancing is the freedom she has to choose projects. 

Starting Out

When she encountered a health issue, Rashi had to take a break from the corporate hustle for some time. As she was recovering, she took up projects on a freelance basis to ease herself into work mode.

“I soon realized that freelancing is so much better than a corporate job, at least in my field. It suited my personality better; so I took the leap and started freelancing full-time,” Srivastava recalls.

Rashi’s first freelance project was for a bakery. She helped the business with logo design and graphics. They were instantly impressed with her ideas, and the project was approved with minimal edits. She has also been working extensively on creating infographics for a long-term client. 

Self-Development as a Freelancer

Rashi’s learning curve has been steep ever since she started freelancing. Apart from core design skills, she also learned management and interpersonal skills. “Until now, there hasn’t been a project I haven’t learned something from,” she says.

For further self-development, she keeps a tab on all the latest design trends and predictions. She spends her time on platforms like Pinterest and Behance for inspiration. She also actively follows and studies the work of other experienced designers. She appreciates the self-growth and sense of fulfillment that come with freelancing. 

Designing With Pepper

Rashi has been following Pepper for a long time. As soon as she heard that we were welcoming graphic designers to our creator platform, she signed up! She has been a designer at Pepper since August 2021 and has earned close to two lakhs within just a few months.

“I had never worked on a platform like Pepper’s before. It’s seamless, to say the least. I love how detailed the briefs are, and I have the opportunity to ask questions whenever I want,” she shares.

Rashi is working on building her personal brand as a freelancer on social media. In the future, she sees herself either starting her own product line or teaching design.

Views on Freelancing 

Rashi feels that the awareness around freelancing as a career choice has been increasing. The COVID-19 pandemic is also partly responsible for attracting more people to the field. She encourages freelancers to continuously upskill themselves to stay ahead of the curve.

When asked about important freelancing skills and traits, she lists the following as her top picks:

• Inquisitiveness
• Time management skills
• Being receptive and open to criticism

Rashi emphasizes that tools are essential, but there’s more to design. Vision and imagination are what drive any design. She also advocates the use of free and open sources of information, such as YouTube.

Advice to Budding Freelance Designers 

According to Rashi, if you want to get into freelancing, you should jump in prepared. She advises against starting without any ideas or plan of action. The path can be especially rocky at the start. She also suggests working on retainers to maintain a steady flow of projects and income.

“Challenges are a part of a freelancer’s life. It’s not always going to be smooth-sailing. But if you can weather these challenges, there will be limitless possibilities for you,” she points out.

We are helping Rashi take her freelancing career to new heights. Our community of talented freelance designers is helping billion-dollar companies with their creative edge. Join forces with us if you want to give your design career a boost.