I’m moving to Tampa! What’s next for Freelance Unlocked

Hello friends! I’m here to share some very exciting personal news with you. I’m moving this week from Atlanta, Georgia to one of my favorite places—Tampa, Florida. ❤️ 

I wanted to write this blog post because our community has grown hugely thanks to in-person events in Atlanta, many of you are based in Atlanta yourselves, and I know there are going to be a few questions about what this means for Freelance Unlocked. 

So first things first: Yes, we will be continuing in-person events in Atlanta! 

I’ll share more about what exactly those events will look like (and how you can get involved) below. But first, I want to tell you a little bit about why I’m moving, and how it’s related to my own journey as a freelancer. 

In this blog: 

• Freelancing means I can live anywhere
• So why am I moving to Tampa? 🤔
• What’s next for our Atlanta community?
• Yes, Freelance Unlocked is coming to Tampa! 🌴
  
  

Freelancing means I can live anywhere

As more and more people are being called back to the office (including many of my friends in Atlanta), I’ve realized what a gift it is that my work will never require me to stay in one place.

I’ve taken advantage of this location freedom a bit over the years–including a few months spent traveling in Latin America—but at the end of 2022, I decided to make a home near my family in the suburbs of Atlanta.

I needed to create some stability in my life, so that I could stabilize my freelance business. And after a few rocky months, that’s exactly what happened: I closed a big retainer client and started growing my team, the rest of my client base, and ultimately, my income. I even conquered my driving anxiety!

I’ve loved living in Atlanta these past couple of years. I’ve built so many incredible relationships and discovered this wonderful community of freelancers. I’ve also learned so many lessons on both a professional and personal level, and though it hasn’t always been easy, I’m so, so grateful for everything I’ve experienced here.

It’s going to be very hard to say goodbye to Atlanta, but at the start of this year, I knew it was time to start the next chapter of my life. I signed a lease in Tampa, and began to put this big move into motion.

So why am I moving to Tampa? 🤔 

Ok, because I know you’re going to ask, let’s address it—why Tampa?

The short answer: I’m single, I’m 25, my business is thriving, and I can’t imagine a better time to give myself a fresh start and move to the beach. (Okay, I know Tampa isn’t on the beach, but it’s a lot closer to the ocean than ATL!)

The long answer: I visited Tampa for the first time in 2022, and I immediately fell in love with how easy it was to get around (at least compared to Atlanta), the warm weather, and the endless opportunities to take long walks by the water.

Tampa and St. Pete also have huge entrepreneurial communities, a growing tech scene, and tons of remote workers relocating from all over the United States. This has made it so easy to make new friends and business connections in my past visits to the city.

It’s all the things I love about Atlanta…with a little less traffic (okay, my driving anxiety isn’t totally gone), year-round warm weather, and the beach around the corner.

Ultimately, I want to stress that making a decision like this is never easy (especially when you CAN live anywhere…I know it can be tough to understand why someone would choose one place over another) and there is so much I will miss about Atlanta, but for now, moving to Tampa is absolutely the best decision for me.

Thank you to everyone who’s already shared their support and cheered me on throughout the years as I’ve made many, many big life moves. From leaving my home in NYC to quitting my job to now, this move, I could never have done any of it without you.

What’s next for our Atlanta community?

So this brings me to my next point: this is DEFINITELY not goodbye! 

As I mentioned above, my ENTIRE family lives in the Atlanta area (including my sweet sister still in high school and my adorable 1-year-old nephew), so I’ll be back on a regular basis. 

I am also going to be hosting quarterly in-person mixers for the Atlanta Freelance Unlocked community. Though I know we’d all prefer to have monthly meetups, please remember that this is still a brand-new community and at the moment, purely a passion project and side hustle for me. 

I’m already brainstorming ways to scale our events and the community, even from afar. I’m also always open to your feedback and ideas (the best way to reach me is through my Instagram DMs), so please don’t hesitate to reach out! 

And if you’d like to host an event for our Atlanta freelancers, please let me know! For example, you could sign up to host a “coffee and coworking day”—me and my team would handle all the logistics (table reservations, registrations) and you’d just need to show up as the event host and sign guests in. 

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, May 7 🥂 

We are already hard at work planning our Q2 mixer, which will be on Tuesday, May 7 in the evening. The fun part about quarterly (vs. monthly) events is that we can make them a lot more special—so keep your eyes out for some exciting details coming out soon. 

You can also visit our new upcoming events page here to learn about virtual workshops and events. 

Yes, Freelance Unlocked is coming to Tampa! 🌴

Whew, this blog post is getting long! The last thing I want to say is that we are planning to host freelancer events in Tampa! So if you know any freelancers in Tampa, please send them my way or share our Tampa event page with them. 

Thank you for being a part of this community and for all your support on this crazy freelancer journey. Remember: I’m here cheering you on, no matter what. 

Here’s to the next chapter! 🥂 

Love, 
Haley