The oft-cited statistic that only 0.1%1 of creative agencies are founded by women is a murky data point, routinely stated without attribution or verified sources. More egregious, it fails to account for a growing new reality: solo ventures are on the rise.
When I left my full-time creative director job to become my own boss, I questioned whether I qualified to be a part of this meager statistic. Watching other women-founded studios use it as self-promotion catalyzed my desire to not only shine a light on the stories of women creative solopreneurs like myself but also push to classify “agencies” beyond headcounts and office spaces. Or if we can’t broaden existing categories, maybe we should create our own?
In the United States, business culture is obsessed with scale — because if you’re not growing, you’re failing, right? And I would be lying if I said I hadn’t considered scaling at one point or another; as a passionate people leader, I nurtured a fantasy about one day having my own agency with a dedicated physical space and team of designers. But, after much reflection and experience, I realized that I wanted to remain independent without taking on the responsibility of hiring employees or sub-contracting work. Being a solopreneur does not mean you act entirely alone or do everything yourself. Building a network of specialized collaborators you can strategically partner with enables you to augment your offerings instead of limiting yourself to your expertise and bandwidth. This approach gives people the option to choose when to be bigger than themselves.
“In this country, we glorify entrepreneurs building large businesses and that bigger is better. When it came to crafting my own business, I only wanted to worry about myself, first and foremost, be able to take on the projects that I wanted to, including very large-scale, high-budget assignments where I could bring on help on a project-by-project basis. It’s taken me six years to really come to peace with the fact that I want to work for myself and do the bulk of the work — and guess what? I’m doing well. I don’t necessarily believe that scaling is always the answer.”
—Haruko Hayakawa, Independent CG Artist & Creative Director
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My hope is for creative consultancies like mine to be acknowledged as forward-thinking, woman-founded businesses — not merely “freelancing.” This is our livelihood, not a side hustle. Though freelancing is commonly used to describe the model of working independently on a per-project basis, I’ve talked to many creatives who view the term as outmoded, junior, and overall inadequate (even devaluing) the complexity of what seasoned self-employed professionals actually do. Many identify more strongly with aspirational labels like “founder” or “principal” of their solo operation. To fellow independent creatives Kristine Arth, Melody Yung, Haruko Hayakawa, Shanee Benjamin, and Grace Walker, it doesn’t seem to matter how they refer to themselves title-wise as long as they’re respected — and not misunderstood. For them, the 0.1% figure rarely crosses their minds because it doesn’t reflect their realities. Walker stated, “The 0.1% statistic must have been from a study invented by men, because everywhere I look there are women running and starting thriving design businesses. And I absolutely think independents should be counted — the way we work is evolving and so too should our definitions and metrics.”
“I feel strongly that I will be operating as an independent for the long term, and incorporating my business is a signal to myself and my clients that I’m committed to my work. I am not a freelancer working for myself in between jobs because it is my only option — I very intentionally chose to work on my own because it is the most rewarding form of work for me. Incorporating was a promise to myself and my clients that I’m in it for the long haul.”
—Grace Walker, Independent Web Designer & Principal
Website | Twitter (X)
As a fractional design leader for brands like Airbnb and Dropbox, my practice reflects one under-recognized way that women, including queer women like me, can claim their agency in a male-dominated, disproportionately white industry. Benjamin believes that “the rise of the internet has made information a lot more accessible so that women — especially younger women — can create their own businesses. There are so many resources that can help you get started sooner.” Technology, combined with post-pandemic hybrid working models, definitely made solopreneurship more possible and sought after. There’s something deeper happening right now: a collective redefinition of success. Solopreneurship is one undervalued and important way self-identifying women and non-binary individuals can start to right the balance.
Unfortunately, while many women dream of opening businesses, few start them. Women are often burdened in ways that many men aren’t and may be less likely to assert their identities as founders. As a solopreneur, you are a founder, and no one has the right to say otherwise. Solopreneurship simply means owning and running an independent business by yourself (as opposed to running one with partners or co-founders). Being an independent creative is a desirable pursuit with many benefits — for both the individuals seeking work and the companies outsourcing talent. I enjoy the flexibility it affords me and the ability to design my life with intention — from selecting clients whose missions align with my values and mentoring emerging designers to volunteering with nonprofits and speaking engagements. I’m building my business on my own terms while crafting a career encompassing both professional and personal fulfillment.
“Some people want to scale because they want to manage, and they eventually want to be hands-off, and they want to sell their company. The reason that I went to do this in the first place is because I wanted to do the work.”
—Kristine Arth, Founder & Principal Designer
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Personal Site
All the women I spoke with could relate, citing freedom as a key reason to stay independent long-term. Between layoffs, shrinking budgets, and larger agency structures fracturing, Hayakawa predicts that “people in our position are going to become more and more in demand.” After reading this recent Fast Company article about the identity crisis of an entire generation of experienced design leaders, I agree that we are witnessing the “emergence of…[independent] creative leaders who can come in and help or work on projects at a very high level, bringing decades of experience.” With modern organizations placing a growing emphasis on agility, skilled solo practitioners will want to increasingly adopt value-based pricing, moving beyond a time-based model. Will 2024 be the year when we’ll stop only glorifying entrepreneurs who build big business ventures? Because there are other ways to be successful. And we’re living proof.
“I wanted to open up a queer-owned female-owned agency, working specifically on messaging for LGBTQ individuals and integrating our lifestyle into everyday campaigns rather than just June. And that is — and was — a huge, huge passion of mine. But in reality, it was really hard to start building a team and finding the right people for the work. And then I quickly realized I didn’t want the stress. So I thought to myself: there are plenty of people out there who are going to do it and I applaud them. It’s no longer my dream.”
—Shanee Benjamin, Independent Illustrator & Art Director
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn
That said, I want to acknowledge the privilege embedded in this trajectory. The ability to pursue this path relies heavily on relationships built over the last 15 years working in-house and agency side, and being a 36-year-old white woman living in a dual-income, no-kids household — I recognize that my situation has allowed me to capitalize on opportunities not available to all. And while systemic disadvantages for all women in our profession persist, there’s an additional layer of bias against solopreneurs no matter what they look like. When you’re alone, you’re not taken seriously. There is power in numbers. Yung echoed this when she said, “I think one can recognize what’s working against you and find a way to tackle it. I don’t care if I have to bring someone with me to close the deal. Sure. I’ll do that. Because that shouldn’t stop me from running my business.”
“What’s great, though, is that women founders tend to be attracted to working with other women founders so 75% of our clients are women founders too. So although I did not actively promote this fact [that I’m a woman], it is something that I realize people desire […] to have more women on their creative teams is important.”
As we celebrate another Women’s History Month, my goal is to continue building awareness for all women-identifying creative solopreneurs like myself. People often ask me for referrals to women-led design studios because they don’t know how or where to find them. While I don’t necessarily think we should further silo women-founded independent small businesses, improved representation on directories would help. Sites like Women Who Design, Queer Design Club, or Doing Cool Stuff provide welcome catalogs of women and LGBTQIA+ creatives, but enhanced search and more real-time updates would make hiring women-led businesses easier. With heightened visibility, the perception that women-led firms are hard to find can finally shift. Design By Women, founded by graphic designer Mary Hemingway, is a great example of this. The organization OWN IT, which “exists to grow the number of powerful, influential, and diverse female and non-binary agency owners in the advertising industry,” mirrors my aim to shine a light on individuals who are often dismissed. Strong digital presences and purposeful personal branding will allow us to be discovered by those seeking our perspectives and inspire other women to embrace solopreneurship proudly. When I talked to Kristine Arth about yearning to be called a founder instead of a “woman” founder, she responded with an impassioned statement that has stuck with me since: “Men don’t have a badge to say they’re a male-run company, so why should I? I’m not going to spend the money to promote the obvious.”
If the only data we have to measure the gender imbalance in our industry is poorly sourced and poorly defined, let’s do the work to champion solo ventures rather than quibble over the tenths-of-a-percent scrap. It’s time we disrupt outdated metrics and share our stories of forging new profitable career models.
Now it’s your turn.
Rachel Gogel is a Parisian creative director, designer, speaker, mentor, and educator. She runs her own small consultancy as an independent design executive and has led major brand initiatives at GQ, The New York Times, Meta, Godfrey Dadich, Airbnb, and Departures. Now working as a solopreneur, Rachel has influenced many exciting projects for her clients — from launching editorial publications from scratch, to leading org design efforts, to designing TV show pitch decks for influential public figures, to building brand systems for global media and entertainment companies in a fractional capacity. After hours, you can find her museum hopping, taking baths, or relaxing with her wife at home in San Francisco. @rgogel (across socials) | rachelgogel.com | LinkedIn
Banner illustration by Rachel Gogel and Susannah Hainley.
- Articles referencing the 0.1% statistic: Creative Boom; Ad Age; The Drum; Lions Creativity; Design Democracy; AdWeek; It’s Nice That; and Design By Women. ↩︎