Selene Da Silva quit her 9-to-5 job and today her former employer is one of her clients. Courtesy of Selene Da Silva
After Selene Da Silva quit her job to become self-employed, she took on her former employer as a client.
Now she earns more from her business and freelance work than she did in her previous job.
Quality work and good communication skills can help others follow in Da Silva’s footsteps
This is a machine translation of an article from our US colleagues at Insider. It was automatically translated and checked by a real editor. We welcome feedback at the end of the article.
In 2021, Selene Da Silva was nervous when she had to tell her employer – an independent hotel company where she felt like part of the family – that she was quitting after working there since 2017. She wanted to concentrate on her own business. But instead of burning the bridge, the hotel took her on as a customer.
Selena Da Silva fulfilled her dream of becoming self-employed
While Da Silva worked as a marketing manager for the hotel company, she had two side hustles: running her company Selene Art & Design, which offers services such as photography and graphic design, and taking jobs through the freelance website Fiverr. Today, she earns more than her salary at the hotel company, which Business Insider verified through documents. She also fulfilled her lifelong dream of being her own boss.
“I really enjoyed traveling and always wanted to be completely independent, but as someone who recently moved to the US, that just wasn’t possible for me,” she said, adding that she came from Venezuela in 2017: ” I didn’t know how to find clients.”
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How employers can pave the way to self-employment
Now her former employer is just one of her customers. Companies can work with freelancers and other self-employed people if they are losing talent after layoffs or need help during busy times.
“In the last year, maybe the last two years, it’s become more and more common for people to use their previous employer as a starting point for freelance work,” said Trisha Diamond, senior director of customer success at Fiverr, in an interview with Business Insider. So there are a lot of options that maybe not everyone thinks about when they take this step.
Quality work can help convert a former employer into a customer
If you want to emulate Da Silva’s strategy, the entrepreneur recommends talking to your employer about switching to a freelance model before quitting. Good performance is an important quality for someone hoping to convert a former employer into a customer, Diamond says.
“If your performance is great, your quality is great, your communication is excellent, then that will help you when you make the suggestion to break away from the company and go into business for yourself,” Diamond said, “even if it is a company that you have worked with in the past and that you will contact again once you have established yourself as a freelancer.”
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Transparency towards the employer can be an advantage here
Your freelance or independent work doesn’t have to be a big secret before you quit your 9-to-5 job. Diamond says you can be transparent with your employer while expressing how much you enjoy working there. If you then quit to pursue your part-time job, your employer will not be unprepared. If a company declines your offer, Da Silva suggests asking why to get feedback.
“When approaching a former employer, start with a friendly and interested approach,” says Diamond. For example, ask your contact how the company is doing before introducing yourself, she adds.
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Silva believes this is not just beneficial for people looking for work. The potential employer also benefits from this. “The employer doesn’t have to pay for benefits while continuing to work with someone who already knows the company and who they know is capable of doing the job,” says Da Silva. The former employee also receives flexibility and the opportunity to take on more projects since they are not working in the office.
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