The Other Side

Lesley Pinder - Finding Your Compass in Freelance Life

• Jane Curtis

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Jane sits down with Lesley Pinder, founder of Compass, her start up company that explores how charities can make generosity feel great by designing experiences that reflect human behaviour, not tidy funnels. 

We unpack the moment Lesley chose to leave the 9-5, why specialisation is key, and how “you don’t need a map, you need a compass” became the north star for her consultancy.

We talk practicalities too, from shaping consultancy offers from live demand, to carving out routines to protect deep work. 

Expect honest reflections on recovery after busy roles, the slow path from first chat to signed contract, and the money mindset required to hold your rate without flinching.  

You’ll take away actionable ideas on donor retention, supporter journeys, and human-centred design. You’ll also hear how mentors and community can accelerate the leap, plus the unglamorous moves that matter early: choosing a clear niche, having a memorable brand, hiring a good accountant, and keeping a savings runway. 

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If you're looking for support with supporter experience - Lesley's happy to chat even if you're not sure what that means yet.

You can connect with Lesley on LinkedIn, head to her website or drop her an email.

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Enjoyed the conversation? Subscribe, share with a freelance friend, and leave a quick review so more charity professionals can find the show.

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Jane Curtis helps charity professionals transition from 9-5 employment to flexible and profitable freelance careers.

With over 20 years in the charity sector, she led teams that raised tens of millions of pounds from events before launching her own business in 2020.

She supported over 100 event fundraisers through her membership during the pandemic. Now, she offers her signature "Charity Freelancing Course," a high-touch 1:1 programme for consultants, coaches, and freelancers seeking to make more money working fewer hours doing what they love, and in-person events like The Rich & Restored Retreat. She also provides occasional strategic events consultancy to charities.

Known for her positive, creative approach and calm, no-nonsense style, Jane is a mum of two humans and one dog. She loves swimming, cycling, avocados and being by the sea.

Ready to transform your charity expertise into a profitable freelance career? Join Jane's Feel Good Freelancing community.

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Jane:

Welcome to the Other Side, the Charity Freelancers Podcast. I'm Jane Curtis, and this is where we explore the journey from charity professional to thriving freelancer or business owner. Each week I chat with individuals who've made this leap from the charity sector, sharing invaluable practical tips and incredible insights firsthand. So whether you're considering making the move or you're already on your freelance journey, you're in the right place. So grab yourself a cupper, settle in, and let's dive in to today's conversation. Lesley Pinder has for over 20 years worked across almost every corner of the UK charity sector, from individual giving to major giving to fundraising innovation. What drives her is simple. She wants supporters to feel amazing about giving and she wants charity teams to feel proud of the experience they create. Lesley recently founded Compass to help charities rethink how they engage with the people who choose to support them and to work with them to make that change. So that generosity feels awesome. Lesley, welcome to the other side.

Lesley:

Hi, thanks for having me.

Jane:

Oh, it's really nice to have you here. So we're going to kick off first of all by asking about your kind of motivation uh behind leaving nine to five employment and going at it alone and what you feel happy sharing.

Lesley:

Yeah, it's kind of multifaceted, I suppose. I I think I always knew um that I would end up wanting to to work specifically focused on supporter experience and and in a sort of freelance capacity because I love it. Um I my brain works much better when I'm able to focus on one thing. And obviously, supporter experience isn't just one thing, it's lots of things, but as a concept and as a thing to become an expert in, um I'm much happier when I've got a real clear focus and anchor, and it happens to be something I'm really passionate about. So um going 9 to 5 and going freelance from 9 to 5 gives me the opportunity to focus in on something which suits my brain. Um I live in Scotland now and I always hoped that I'd be able to spend a bit of my time doing my other passion, which is gardening, and I've done a qualification, and I'd like to at some point have a bit of a portfolio career, and that's not necessarily impossible to do when you weren't 95, but um there's a bit more freedom, I think, when you're freelance to be able to do that at some point, I don't know when, not right now, but at some point. Um, and I I knew I was gonna have to move on from the role that I was in at some point. Um, and I again because of where I live, actually finding the right role gets harder and harder. Um so I was like, right, this this is the time now, actually. Um need to stop putting it off and just do something that I'd kind of known I wanted to do for quite a while.

Jane:

Yeah, amazing. Um, so where did the idea for compass come about? And and yeah, what what what gave you that idea?

Lesley:

Yeah, well, as I said, I was head of sport experience at the British Red Cross, and and when I was there, you know, sport experience at that point, like 2018, was like a bit of a hot topic, but nobody really knew what it meant or what to do about it. So um I learned quite a lot about what it actually means to make delivering great sporter experience actually a real thing and not just a concept. Um, still lots more to do. I wouldn't say the job was done at the point I left the Red Cross, but um learned a lot there. And then I actually did a masterclass at IFC at the International Fundraising Congress last October with one of my colleagues from the Red Cross, Emily, on supporter experience. And it reminded me, a, how much I love working in that space. That I'm actually kind of know quite a lot about it, and also that there's a huge need for support. Um we had about 25 people join the masterclass, which is seven hours and for two days, from different sizes and different countries around the world, and all of them having similar issues around how do we implement this? We're really struggling to change, we know we want to do it, but we don't know how, um, our data's not helping us, um, we don't know what our supporters even want, nobody can agree internally. And I was like, uh I I kind of came away from that, and it it was with this feeling of like, I think I can help here, like, and I want to, this is something I want to do. And I I kind of came back to myself in that in that two days, which sounds really cheesy, but I felt like this is what I should be doing right now, and um and I shared on LinkedIn uh some as you do, here's my reflections from the conference I was just at. Yeah. Um, and I said, you know, one of the things people seem really obsessed with when it comes to support experience was like knowing exactly how it's going to be and designing journeys, like a linear, like this is what supporters will do. I said, it's not that's not how it works. Like it's more flexible than that, people are more human than that. You you can't force people in a linear path. And uh a friend of mine, Ruben Turner, who's a creative and freelancer, he said, You need a compass. You don't need a map, you need a compass. And I was like, Yes. And I messaged him straight away going, Can I use that as my business name, please? Thanks very much. Um, and so that's where it came from. Um, and I I knew that I just knew at that point that that's what I was gonna do. I was gonna set up a business, it was gonna be called Compass, and I was gonna help charities find a path, uh route to improve supporter experience.

Jane:

Yeah.

Lesley:

And that's where it came from.

Jane:

It's amazing. It's because it's so succinct, it's so, you know, and you can just fully get it just on the name. So I think it's brilliant. Um, so how did you sort of come to the conclusion that what you were what you're offering now was the thing that charities really wanted, really needed? Did you do a lot of insight kind of work? How did that work?

Lesley:

Yeah, as I often as somebody who bangs on about insight and doing research all the time was a core part of delivering great products. I always say you can't you can't create a great experience for people if you don't understand who they are. I probably didn't, like I, you know, I think there was a bit of me that was like, you should probably go and do some market research and you should go and speak to people. And I was like, I speak I do speak to fundraisers all the time, even when I was in my day job, you know, I was still in touch and sort of connected to the sort of supporter customer experience world in the sector. Um, and that session at IFC, I think, was to some extent a bit of a market research exercise because we asked people what their biggest challenges were. We then did a micro version of that masterclass for another another two sessions that were like 90 minutes long, and it was the same stuff. Lots of people came, lots of people with similar challenges. And I I just didn't I just could see that there there was a lot of appetite and ambition, but folk really just were kind of finding it hard to know how to start. And what Emily and I did at the masterclass actually was we talked about support to experience, like delivering better supporter experience is a change programme, like you're having to change things and it's more than people maybe expect. It's not as simple as, oh, we'll just do journeys different. It actually does require quite a lot of significant change in the way that you think and organise yourselves and as an organisation. And I don't think folk were really ever talking about it in that way as such. So I just felt like I I could help with that. Um and since I've gone over to the other side, um, it is still what I'm heeding. Um and there does seem to be a lot of appetite for training, for support.

Jane:

So yeah, yeah, yeah. So talk me through a normal working day in your world if there is such a thing. Um gosh. And or what you're currently working on, if that helps to kind of frame it.

Lesley:

Yeah. I mean, I've only been going three months, three months a week. So I've kind of purposefully not tried to um create too much structure or anything yet. Um kind of just like, let's just see what happens over the next sort of six months. Um but I do have having said that, you know, I have tried to put some structure in place. So I Mondays, I I mean this is probably not rocket science, but I sit down and think about like what is it I want to achieve by the end of the week because nobody else is telling me that. So I have to do it myself. Um and I'd say sort of at the beginning of each month, I've been like, well, what would I quite like to see have happened? Like, or some by the end of this month. So I try to kind of give myself some kind of vision and goals. Like I say, I've not created a year strategy or a three-year business plan or anything like that yet, but I am trying to like month by month, like what is it I'd like to have done. For the first couple of months, it was really just having conversations with lots of people. So anyone who asked to chat, I'd chat. Um and starting, you know, one of the first things I did my first week, I was like, right, this week I'm gonna sit down and I'm gonna work at what my offers are. Like they've all been in my head, but I'm gonna like properly sit down. But before I even had the chance to do that, I had two charities contacted me saying, Can you we need you, can we can we have a chat? So, in a way, what I was doing, what I've done is create the offer based on what people need, which is actually way better than doing it in isolation. So it's a mixture, my my sort of days are a mixture between working on a project which I'm working on at the moment with um fireside fundraising on corporate fundraising. So today, for example, I've done a I spent an hour this morning writing doing a bit of report writing on the insight. Then we did a workshop with some corporate fundraisers about what we hired to get their views on it before to put into the report. Then I've got this, so like a kind of more profile-y, like chatting about stuff thing, uh, and then this afternoon it'll be more back into project and stuff. So it's a bit of a mixture. I try and have a mixture between doing work, thinking about custom supporter experience, and and become you know, keep continually deepening my knowledge and expertise in that space because that's why I'm that's why I wanted to do this, was to give myself space and time to do that. Um, obviously being in touch with potential clients and people who might want to work with me, working on proposals, that kind of stuff. But it's quite varied. Um the main structure I put in is I have given myself rules that I never held when I was at working 9 to 5. I never have my breakfast at my desk. Um, the structures I have during the day are usually dictated by when does the dog have her crazy times. So I try not to have meetings about 11 and I try not to have meetings about four, because that's that's when she goes loopy. Um and at Fridays I try and keep clear, and sometimes that's so I don't work on Fridays, sometimes that's for overspill. So for all the things, you know, advent and stuff that I haven't got to through the week.

Jane:

Yeah.

Lesley:

So that's yeah, that's kind of how it works. Um at the moment, I'm like I say, I'm just kind of going with the flow, and at some point in the future, once I get a better sense of the cadence of how work comes and how long it takes, and then I might be able to say, like, right, on this day I don't, I only do this, and on that day I only do that. But um, at the moment I'm just seeing what happens, and then at some point, probably realising that I have like eight things all happening on the same day that I probably shouldn't have. Um so yeah.

Jane:

I mean, I from someone who's done it for many years, I don't think you ever get to the point where you're like cracked it, you know, like I've got it ready. I I'm still experimenting with things, and I think also you go through different phases in your life, you know, where like certain things are more important than other things. And um, for me, having that Friday off was always very felt very important, like I always wanted that day free. But um, like you, I tend to see it now as that overspill day, um, which kind of free frees up, gives me more space in the rest of the week, if you know what I mean.

Lesley:

But um it takes the pressure off, doesn't it? Because if you're all of a sudden like, oh, I need to get it done, you know, like there's a reason you you create this flexibility for yourself, and we're grown-ups, and I can decide, you know, if on that Friday, like it's my choice to to to use that day to work or not. Um, and it just giving myself a bit of freedom to explore what works and not have hard and fast rules at the moment is quite nice.

Jane:

Exactly. You know, and I'm talking to Richard Berks earlier on um on the podcast, and just say so, you know, if you if you want to work on a Saturday or a Sunday, you can do that too. You know, like there are no rules, it's like um free up some time in your week and um or yeah, so that's like you say, we're all grown-ups, and um that's really, really the joy. Um, so when you're working from home, uh, which I'm assuming you do majority of the time, are you listening to music? Are you listening to podcasts? What do you do you have listening things you listen to?

Lesley:

Um I I'm one of those people that when the Spotify unwrapped thing comes out at the end of the year, I'm raging because I listen, because it only ever has the same songs. Now you can remove uh certain playlists from that now, thank God. But I listen to exactly the same playlist every single day when I need to concentrate, which is music for concentration on Spotify. I'm so imaginative. Um, and I listen to that when I really need to focus. Um not all the time, but that's it, that's the only thing I listen to. I was thinking about this the other day, for a long time, I've not been able to read or listen to anything work-related outside of work because I just by the time I've finished work, I I'm like done. I'm cooked, I do not want to talk think about work, listen to podcasts about work, read about work. Yeah, and now I find myself listening to like charity podcasts on the way to the beach with the dog in the morning or or reading books about work that have been sitting on my desk, and I'm I'm really enjoying the fact that now I'm I've got that space now in my brain, partly because of what I was saying earlier about that ability to be the only not have to bounce from a thousand things. I really mentally kind of really I really struggled with that when I had a very multifaceted role. Now I have one thing that I think about all the time, it gives me space to think about some other things, and and I'm really enjoying that. So I listened to the Charity People podcast the other day with um Wayne and Vic talking about small charities, which is great. And like I've been going to webinars about things that I would be like, yeah, I'll go, and then never go to and never listen back to, obviously, because nobody ever does that. So yeah, I'm really enjoying this, having the space and freedom to do that a bit more mentally.

Jane:

Yeah, I love that. And eating, what do you snack on when you're working? I actually don't really, I'm not a snacker. You're not a snacker.

Lesley:

No, I'll get up and go downstairs and have something to eat. Like, but no, I'm not a snacker, although I was doing uh I think it was a recording, it was a live LinkedIn live with Lisa Clavering about the project we're doing. And I decided just before the call to have a handful of pumpkin seeds, which is the worst, genuinely the worst thing you could do. So the entire thing, you if you if you watch that, I'm basically picking pumpkin seeds out of my teeth as I'm talking. So I try not to eat that much when I'm working. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um I'm trying to we're trying to cut down on caffeine. So we are uh trying, I drink coffee, but we're trying to do decaf at the moment, which is a big shift in my life.

Jane:

Yes, yes, you're having headaches with draw tensions.

Lesley:

Yeah, the first couple of weeks was brutal, but I think I'm getting there now. So I'll have one coffee, proper coffee, and then that's it.

Jane:

Yeah, I don't really drink coffee at all. Well, I do, but it's very decaffeinated. Um, it's actually sounds gross. It's like mushroom is blended with mushrooms. Don't ask me. Um absolutely disgusting. That's disgusting. My husband has to leave the room when I'm making it. Um, but it's very low caffeine, and I had a real coffee the other day because I thought I'd go and treat myself. Um, and I was absolutely high as a kite. I was like bouncing off the walls. I was like, this is crazy that I used to have one of these or two, like every single day. Um, yeah, man.

Lesley:

Yeah, yeah. It was it was in that sort of classic freelance life first trip I took down to London, and I was like, where do I go and sit? Yeah, like in between meetings. So I just kept going to coffee shops and drinking coffee, and then basically had a like a coffee-induced panic attack and was like, I think this is wondering why my heart's beating so fast. Yeah, it's like, oh, I'm really anxious. Let's have a coffee and make you even more anxious. That's a really good idea. So yeah.

Jane:

Um, tell me about any challenges that you faced. Obviously, you've only been freelance for three months, but um, anything that's kind of cropped up that's been a bit difficult.

Lesley:

Um I think I think one of the things is that transition between being like nine to five, back to back, always more work than you can cram in. It actually takes quite a long time for your nervous system to recover from that, I realise, and also for your you to feel like you should be busy all the time. Um even though I know my brain works better when I'm when I have space and I can, you know, the number of voice notes I send myself on WhatsApp when I'm out walking the dog, because that's when I have my thoughts, you know. Um and it's hard to break that habit of feeling guilty for not being as busy as as busy, not necessarily maybe productive, but as busy as you were before. That that has been a bit of a surprise actually. Um and I think the other thing is really just getting used to how long it can take for conversations to become work. Um and not panicking um when when it feels like maybe things aren't going anywhere. Um I'm lucky, I suppose, because I'm quite new, is I still remember what it's like being on the other side. So I under I get it, you know. I'm like, oh, I understand, I can imagine all the conversations that's going on in that organisation right now, and how many people they've had to talk to, and probably they've got something else that comes up, you know, so I can kind of understand why it's so busy, and I think that that's always you know interesting, and just making sure that financially you've got enough put away to allow for how long it can take from for work to actually turn into work, and I think maybe I underestimated that a little bit, um, but thankfully not catastrophically, and I'm obviously I'm lucky in certain ways in that I don't have kids and so financially I don't have as much burden on me, but I can imagine for others, if somebody had been in my position, it might have been a bit scary.

Jane:

Yeah, I think that's such a great point to kind of underline because um it can be easy, I think, when you're new as well, to think the reason you're not hearing back about work uh is because of you, you know, and that and it can be quite easy to then just think, well, none of it's what it's not working, you know. I can't, no one's gonna hire me, and it all becomes quite a kind of negative spiral. But I think that's such an important point to remember. Like, charities are so busy. Um, and yeah, the decision can take a while, you know.

Lesley:

Yeah, um, yeah. I think the other thing I I I'm grateful for the fact that we I did the course with you, it was the um money stuff, yes, bravery around fees and stuff. I think I had a bit of a wobble, and then I was like, nope. And I was really strong. Uh, you know, the first time you press the button with the actual dairy on it, or you like the fee that you've worked out on the dairy that you said you were gonna charge, and you've really like actively physically fighting myself from like deleting it and putting in a different number. Yeah. Um, so I'm glad that I kind of have that I've found that quite challenging, um, but have really fought myself not to do that. Um and yeah. And if I'd good at like you and then quite a lot of other people I know have gone freelance recently or have been doing it for a very long time, who are like you really need to be, it's not in anyone's interest for you to to do that.

Jane:

No, really not. But it's so good to have that awareness around it.

Lesley:

And I I think I probably wouldn't have had that as strongly had we not spent that time in those sessions with you talking about um our money mindsets and why why we do that.

Jane:

Yeah, are you are you publishing your prices? Are you are you no?

Lesley:

No, I haven't done that. Um I haven't done that. I guess again, it's part of that. Let's just go with the flow. And then I think when I sit down and like I haven't sat down and like, what are my business values and what is my what is it people could like what is it you what's your are you gonna hire people? I d I honestly just don't know. I uh what I do what I do know is the work, I do know support experience, I do know how I can help, I do know like that stuff, I know that. And so I'm focusing on doing that really well and letting everything else sort of flow around it, sticking to my personal values, obviously, um, and then and then the rest of that sort of stuff, uh I'll sit down and okay. I don't want to rush into anything or make any, yeah. I just want to learn a bit first.

Jane:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, we're um it's been quite a debate, uh topic of debate since doing this talk last week as well, um, that I mentioned to you about money and I um whether or not, you know, why there is a bit of a kind of veil of sort of, you know, it's a bit hidden, isn't it? Uh often talking about it and and why are freelancers consultants are not more transparent, would that just not help everybody, you know? Um, but there's real pros and cons to it. I think it's not um it's not a black and white uh and it uh people have to feel comfortable in their own, you know, in their own decisions.

Lesley:

Um yeah, I can see that because it's a bit of a double-edged sword because like you get that classic when you ask an organisation like what budget do you have for this work? And they go, We don't know. And you're like, I have like I'll just I can and then I can also see where that comes from because if they're not always sure exactly what day rates people are charging, they probably are have no way of estimating how much the work's gonna cost either. Um, so yeah, it's it's it's a really interesting one. It's a really interesting one.

Jane:

Yeah, but you know, you can do one thing for a while and then change back. You know, I I've experimented with both and sort of see how things, yeah, how things land and whether I get more inquiries if I do or don't. Um, yeah, no, that's great. So you mentioned um uh a little bit about some of the people in the sector that you know and are in your kind of network. I was just sort of curious as to like other communities, other places, people that you've spoken to that you found really useful uh since being self-employed.

Lesley:

Yeah, I think I'm really lucky. Um I don't know why, whether it's just a sort of tenure in the in the in the sector where you know you hit a certain level and you go freelance. But a lot of the people I've known for quite a long time and I built are really I'm really lucky to sort of not build, like stumble on and be part of, and then grow that sort of community that met through Twitter before it was evil, um, and NFP tweet up and things like that. Like there were always freelancers already in that space, and then a lot of the people I met at that time have gone freelance since, or people I work with in charities. So I haven't, although I have just joined Richard's um freelance do far, I'm gonna be there next week, which is exciting. Um I've just tapped into the connect the my network of peers and pals that I know through the sector who over the last sort of year to two to three years really have have taken leap. So I've got you know friends that have set up businesses or gone through lens in the last six months. So they're like six months ahead of me, which is brilliant. Because they're like in January we were panicking, and then by February we had too much work. I'll remember that. Yeah, um the sign's just gone really echoey. Is it gone now? No, no, it's fine. I think it's gone now. That was really odd. Um uh yeah, so I've got just a lot of people that I know who have gone through this, and I and I'm always happy just to ask for having a chat, and a lot of um I mean so many folk like reaching out to me and saying, if ever you want to have a chat, like give me a shout. It would be really great to chat. And I'm so grateful for that. Um folk who've been at this for you know freelancing for 20 years and you know that have some amazing experience um and folk who've just started, who've also you know the experience is really fresh for them. So I'm really grateful for that because I think that uh has been like I think core to me, even doing and actually at IFC I sat and spoke to a few people there and I was like, I think I'm gonna do this. What do you think? Um and I got some incredible advice. Um people like Paul de Gregorio and Andy King and Nikki Bell and um Rob Woods and stuff, like just people who've done it and were like just gave me so much good advice and just really encouraged me as well, which was really kind. So I'm I'm incredibly grateful. Yeah. Um hopefully one day when I'm an expert, well, lol's, um, I can uh you know pay it forward.

Jane:

Yeah, absolutely. Um so speaking of which, what advice would you give to someone who is kind of still in nine to five but considering taking that leap? Uh, what would your advice be?

Lesley:

Well, I'll share the advice that PDG gave me, Paul De Gregorio gave me. He said, um, pick a thing that you're passionate about and that's your thing. Don't try not to be a generalist. Unless being a generalist is your thing, but it wasn't my thing. He's like, do support experience, Lesley. I was like, oh, maybe I should also like I have done a fundraising strategy and I had, you know, like maybe I should like broaden it out in case there's not enough work. He's like, no, you are supporting experience, do support experience, stop it. Um, he also advised me, and that not everyone will maybe maybe would say this, but it's worked for me. Like, give yourself a name, have a business name, um, have a business name, and somebody else said that worked for them because it depersonalises it. So if Compass gets rejected, even though it's not as bad as yeah, um, and I was a bit like, oh, I'm quite well known in the sector, like, is that a good idea? But actually, but having a business is really a business name, at least. I've not set myself up as an actual business yet, is is has really worked, and get a good logo, get a good and a good logo and something that visibly is you and helps you stand out. So he told me those three things, I did those three things because I listened to Paul. Um, and I also get a good accountant, yes. And I got an accountant even before I'd earned any money. Um, it's she's somebody that I pay monthly, a small like 50 quid a month, I think it is, um, for 12 months, and that includes doing my pack tax return at the end. So it covers doing your tax return, which I think some folk would pay that in a lump sum. But it means by the time I get to doing the tax return every month we reconcile everything. Yes, amazing. All receipts, everything, she does it all. And I'm like, yes, because I'm terrible at that. So that's and it's not as expensive as you think to get an accountant. That's 50 quid a month. If I get bigger and busier, it might go up a bit, but worth every penny. And her or the way she put it, she's like, pay me to do what I'm good at so you can do what you're good at.

Jane:

Yeah, I love that.

Lesley:

And I was like, Yes, please. Um, so that that that and the other thing is um have some savings.

Jane:

Yeah, okay, yeah.

Lesley:

I mean, I know that's probably a give in, but you know, um, have some savings.

Jane:

Yeah, no, I mean, not necessarily.

Lesley:

Um, yeah, it's a good even if you did get a contract the first day, you're not probably not gonna invoice for a month and you're gonna you know, you know, do you know what I mean? It it all takes a lot longer than you think it's gonna take to get money in the bank.

Jane:

And going into it knowing that is super helpful for sure. Yeah, I love that. The the accountant one, like I think it's so often that is the thing that will make people most nervous about going freelance. It'll be something really practical like that, like you know, still about tax or and that will stop you from moving forward. So actually just paying someone, like you say, it's a nominal amount of money.

Lesley:

And I was so surprised at how cheap it was. I honestly thought it would be and she was like, Don't get a business bank account unless you're you've set yourself up as a limited business. She made sure that all that I was getting all the cheapest things for it, like Xero and all that stuff, you're like making sure that I had everything set up right and worth every penny and and and really not very expensive, 50 quid a month.

Jane:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, they're worth their weight in gold for sure. Yeah. Um, so tell me how can people find out more about you? You, Lesley, how can that all connect with you? How can they? Yeah, no more.

Lesley:

I um I used to just say Twitter before it was evil, and I've now deleted my account, which makes me so sad. So Skapinder of Twitter is no more. Um so you can find me at www.teamcompass.co.uk. That's my website. Um and I'm on LinkedIn as Lesley Pinder. You can find me there. Uh, and you can email me at Lesley at teamcompass.co.uk. If you think you want to do something about supporter experience, and maybe you're not even sure what that is yet, more than happy to have a chat.

Jane:

Amazing. I love it. Um thank you so much. I've really enjoyed our chat today. That was nice, that was painless, thank you so much. Oh, I'm good. Glad to hear it. And we'll put links to everything that Lesley mentioned um underneath as well, so people can read those in the show notes. Thanks, again. Thanks. See you next time. That's a wrap on another episode of The Other Side. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a colleague who might be thinking about their own freelance journey. And if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. Remember, freelancing doesn't have to be a lonely journey. Whether it's joining communities like the Charity Freelancer Chat or signing up to the Charity Freelancing course or simply reaching out to former colleagues, connection is key to thriving as a freelancer. You can find all the links and resources we mentioned today in the show notes. And if you want to connect with me, you can find me on LinkedIn, where you can also sign up to the Charity Freelancing course wait list. Until next time, keep exploring what's possible on the other side.