A week in the life of: The CEO of a learning business community and Learning Network board member

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Kim Ellis shares about L&D Free Spirits that serves freelancers and small businesses in L&D

Hi everyone, my name is Kim, and I have been in the amazing L&D world for nearly 20 years. For the past seven of those, I have been self-employed as the Chief Learning Architect of Go Ginger Learning Solutions.

When the first Covid lockdowns happened in 2020, I suggested hosting coffee mornings for members of The Learning Network (LN). I then started editing their newsletter and was elected onto the board the following November. The LN is a great community of L&D professionals – it’s like having an extended team to support you and bounce ideas off.

In January this year, I founded L&D Free Spirits, a membership community for freelance and self-employed professionals, as well as small businesses within the L&D space. We launched on 1 September and focus on the business skills you need to thrive.

I invested a chunk of my redundancy money on a proper desk and created my workspace. Having a dedicated place to work helps me focus.

Because I’ve got an awful lot going on, people often ask me how I manage everything, so what better opportunity than to take you through the looking glass… By the way, we’re starting on a Thursday because I’ve been to the World of Learning Exhibition this week.

Thursday

I always wake up before 7am, I don’t bother with my alarm any more unless I need to actually leave the house. Sometimes I’ll wake up super-early but I don’t want to wake my husband by getting out of bed, so I’ll get on my phone and start to clear out emails, double check the meetings I have, check the socials and Slack groups – if you’ve seen me ‘liking’ or commenting at all hours, you now know why.

Once we’re up and about, I get a cup of tea, and my husband makes me toast while I watch Good Morning Britain until 8am, often still doing things on my phone. I then get ready and head into my office. When I first became self-employed in 2017, I invested a chunk of my redundancy money in a proper desk and created my workspace. Having a dedicated place to work helps me focus.

The desk and computer setup in a home office of Kim Ellis (c) Kim Ellis

I don’t write to-do lists; I’ve never got on with them. I keep everything in my head – I know what I need to do and when. That doesn’t mean I don’t forget things; I was asked the other day if I’d reviewed something, but it got lost in the World of Learning (WoL) prep… I’ll get to it today. While at WoL, I did make some notes on my phone for things I want to follow up with people.

I’ve done a wrap-up LinkedIn post about WoL and tagged loads of great people. I’ve been a bit lax with my social media this week because WoL was so busy, but now everything is ‘liked’ and commented on. L&D Free Spirits has gained over 10 followers this week, so I’m starting the day with a positive glow. 

My first proper task today is to review the outlines for two courses for L&D Free Spirits, which will hopefully go live in the new year for their first cohorts, plus review a blog post. While doing that, I keep an eye on notifications on LinkedIn as the WoL posts are coming through thick and fast.

Reviews done and feedback sent, it’s time for my first webinar – I’m not hosting this one, so it’s nice to just sit back and take notes. It’s all about breaking free from the feast-or-famine cycle as a freelancer.

Next up is prep for the L&D Free Spirits webinar with Neil Tarbet, who’s giving us all the info we need to know about getting a mortgage as a self-employed professional. I’ll be running the chat and tech side of things.

The webinar done, I then download the recording so I can work on captions to publish on the website. I think it’s important to get recordings live as soon as possible, so I always make sure I’ve got time set aside to do it – usually a couple of hours.

Captions in Camtasia (c) Kim Ellis

While the webinar was going on, I saw there was a document I needed to review for the Learning Network Accessibility Mastery Day, so as soon as I’m done with the webinar, I hop over to that and give my feedback.

It’s 3.30pm, and I’ve no more meetings, so I move out of my office and to the living room. This is usually where I do my writing: blog posts, social media content, resources, and guides. If I don’t need my big screen for design work, the change of scenery can give me a mojo boost.

The laptop gets put down when it’s time for tea (I’m from Yorkshire, so for me, ‘dinner’ is lunchtime, and ‘tea’ is the evening meal). The evenings are my downtime; today, that means getting some knitting done while listening to the Training Journal podcast – it’s an interesting one, diving into gender and AI among other things.

After that, I watch my TV shows while keeping an eye on Slack, LinkedIn, and emails – pretty much until I go to bed.

Friday

After my early morning routine, the first job is getting the captions done from yesterday’s webinar, then uploading it to YouTube and the Free Spirits website. As non-members paid a fee for this one, they also receive a link to the recording; members can access it directly from the site.

While the captions are processing, I’ll add an LN member to Slack as the request came through early this morning. I also joined Andy Lancaster live on CLO100, where he talked about community building. Although I joined late, there were some great takeaways:

  • Having a solid community charter.
  • Creating psychological safety for members.
  • Having a monthly rotating community manager.

Now the captions are done, I’ll watch the recording and tweak them where necessary. Captions used to be a nightmare, and it was easier for me to transcribe meetings manually. Since upgrading to Camtasia 2024, they are much better, but I still do a run-through and make amendments, as they’re never perfect, no matter which tool I use.

Next up is a catch up with Sam Dyde from re:find. I’ve known Sam for years and he landed me a rather fabulous three-week contract a couple of years ago. We chat about the current freelance market and how AI is making it harder for us to find work. It’s definitely a struggle out there, especially for people in the digital learning space. There seems to be more competition for roles from recruiters, so freelancers are needing to rely on their professional networks more and more.

At 12 noon, I start Free Spirits Fiesta, a 90-minute Zoom meeting where freelancers or small businesses can get together to wrap up the week, bounce ideas, celebrate successes, and have a natter… with lunch optional.

I’ve got into the habit of blocking out my Friday afternoons, which means no meetings, so I move downstairs to continue working on the captions. Another LN Slack request has come in, so I get them invited and send a welcome message.

I’ve got 10 minutes of video left to caption, so I’ll leave that until tomorrow and sign off for the evening.

Saturday

Wake up as normal and check my phone—you can tell by now this is my default setting. It might not be healthy getting on a device that early, but it works for me. The news goes on (weekends is BBC Breakfast) while I await my tea and toast on the sofa.

Depending on what’s happening at the weekend, I sometimes do ‘proper’ work and sometimes not. Today, I’m continuing to build out my resource for finding your niche. I promised a couple of people they could be my guinea pigs once it’s done and before I make it look all fancy.

I dip in and out of the captions and niching piece, picking up my knitting, doing housework or just pottering. Once the captions are done, I get the video uploaded to YouTube and the website, then share the link with the attendees and speaker.

Even though I’m busy doing things, when I’m working from the living room I feel more relaxed and it’s less like work. That’s not to say I’m not relaxed normally; I’m a pretty chilled person, but there’s something about working from my comfy chair or sofa rather than my office chair.

Evenings follow the same pattern, but I’m having a movie marathon with my husband, so the phone gets put down… during the adverts, I check my notifications. Maybe I am a little obsessive?

Sunday

Every Sunday my dad comes over. He brings the paper and we do the crossword together. I’m usually knitting too – I get two and a half headbands done today.

My ‘work’ tasks today are to get a blog post uploaded to the website, and as I’m in Canva anyway I create some images for the socials to save me time tomorrow. While I’m there, I’ll also create some speaker images for LN Connect, the Learning Network’s annual conference. Throughout the day, I’m continuing to tinker with the niching piece – not constantly, just when I have a good thought, I jump onto the laptop.

I promise I’m not a workaholic; I just don’t really have an off switch any more. When I was employed it was different – though I did still check my emails when on holiday.

Dad leaves around 7pm, so I’m then watching my TV shows and do a final sweep of the socials before bed.

Monday

My gosh, we have a meeting-free day! I’ve got into the habit of blocking days out so that I can get my head down with design work, but today it’s just happened naturally.

Every Monday, I put a little bit of motivation into the Free Spirits Slack channel; this week it’s all about following up with connections now that everyone is back from WoL and mostly caught up.

My big task for today is to get my books up to date and over to my accountant. It’s a task I always say I’ll keep on top of, but end up falling off the wagon

With that done, I’m writing some LinkedIn posts so I can get ahead of them; I like to be at least a week ahead for Free Spirits, especially for the events. This is sometimes my weekend job; I generally spend a couple of hours a week doing it. Plus, Hayley Maisey has sent me a couple of emails, so I get the banners whipped up in Canva and then scheduled in Mailchimp.

That’s the marketing spreadsheet up to date. Next up: check the webinar/meeting numbers in Zoom for this week. We’ve got the legal edition of Challenge Hour on Wednesday, so I’m looking forward to hosting that.

My big task for today is to get my books up to date and over to my accountant. It’s a task I always say I’ll keep on top of, but end up falling off the wagon. Which means I have to spend hours and hours making sure everything matches, downloading statements, digging through piles of receipts. But that’s life when you run a business.

It does mean my head is a little frazzled, so as soon as it’s sent over to the accountant, I close my laptop. I would like to say I don’t work any more, but I’d be lying. I don’t do anything else on the laptop, but I do keep an eye on the socials, ‘like’ and comment on things as I get notified. And I do a clear-up of my emails before bed.

Tuesday

Today is a day of the month look forward to… it’s L&D Co-Work day in Leeds, though it does mean an early start. I hop on the 8.04am train over to Leeds, which takes about half an hour, so the laptop is out and I’m tinkering away with the niching resource. I don’t have a hard deadline for this, but I do want to get it over to the testers by the end of the week.

I get to the Santander Work Café around 8.45am and sit in a bus stop while I wait for them to be open. I like to be the first through the door, not just to make sure the table has the reserved cards on but just to be first. I think it’s hereditary because my mum is the same, always wants to be first in line.

There are quite a few newbies to Co-Work this month, so the table is buzzing with new conversations and inspiration

Not long after I get settled people start arriving. We have a full table today and even need to use some folding chairs on the end too. There are quite a few newbies to Co-Work this month, so the table is buzzing with new conversations and inspiration.

I order my lunch early because, at 12pm, I have the Learning Network monthly board meeting. These are an hour each month and give us the opportunity to get together, discuss what’s happening and make decisions. This month, it’s all about elections for board members and the Connect conference.

I never plan to do much actual work when I’m at Co-Work; it’s more about the conversation and collaboration for me. But I do get a couple of bits done and catch up with the socials on the train journey home. As soon as I get on the train, however, I’m kicking myself. Yet again I was schmoozing so much I forgot to grab a group photo. Dang it.

I get home around 5pm, then sort out a quick tea – fish fingers and beans. There’s something to be said for having a ‘kids’ tea when you’re an adult. Tea done, and I actually don’t look at my phone much this evening – I’m pooped! As always, though, I clear my emails and do a final check of the socials before bed.

Wednesday

This is another day I look forward to each month – hosting the Learning Network’s Tea and Talk. It has a special place in my heart as this is how I was introduced to everything that goes into being a Director. Before this one gets going, I have a catch up with another Board Director to show them around Mailchimp. It’s a good opportunity to get a quick demo done as I’ve got the Zoom going anyway.

Tea and Talk done, I catch up on emails and socials before I have a lunchtime strategy meeting with Hayley Maisey, the Free Spirits Marketing Wizard. We’re looking at what’s working, what isn’t and how we can shift things leading into 2025. One of the things is I know I need to do more of is talking head videos, but actually finding a minute to get them recorded, edited, captioned and everything else my brain wants to do to them is another thing.

Thinking of that, I might actually do a few at the weekend, then het them scheduled on the planner. I’ll just need to make sure I get changed for each one or you’ll all be able to tell they were shot on the same day… oops, just gave away a secret there, didn’t I!

Meeting done, now it’s time to get my questions together for Challenge Hour – this is the special legal edition featuring our Corporate Partner, K&K Legal consulting. Some of you reading this may be thinking this is going to be super-boring, but actually it’s a fascinating conversation.

Once the webinar is finished and the recording downloaded from Zoom, I create the thumbnails for the video, get it all uploaded into Camtasia and then set it auto captioning. This will save me some time in the morning.

Laptop shut, so now I move downstairs, check the socials and emails, and just my normal evening routine.

That’s a wrap

I haven’t written a daily account of what I do before, so this has been a cathartic experience. I understand now why people think I do a lot, and I do, but I spread it throughout the day. I don’t have an off switch and while some people may say that’s unhealthy, it works for me. If I’m at the top of the tree with something or have no mojo, I don’t feel bad for not ‘working’. Sometimes I even take the day off completely, but I do still check my socials and email.

This week I haven’t had any client work as I’ve been scaling that back a bit to focus on L&D Free Spirits. If I did have a client piece to design or deliver, I would have fit everything else around it, and probably put in some late evenings or work more over the weekend.

The way I work, works for me. When I need to switch off, I switch off. When I need to put in extra hours, I do. The way I work may not work for you, and the way you work might not work for me, and that’s OK. We all have our own quirks and ways of getting what needs to be done, done.

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Kim Ellis is Chief Learning Architect at Go Ginger Learning Solutions, CEO at L&D Free Spirits, a Board Director at The Learning Network and a host of L&D Co-Work

Kim Ellis

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