We first met the women of Freelancing Females at one of their coworking meet ups. Right off the bat, everyone was welcoming and warm. One stylist was talking about her project setting up an Airbnb Experience for her services and we all chimed in on what we've heard about this new Airbnb chapter and started suggesting ways to market herself on social. A blogger wanted to start shooting their own content, and immediately fellow photographers were giving them basic tips to set up.

That same personality carries onto their Facebook group as members ask for legal advice for negotiating contracts, new freelancers asks for 1099 assistance during tax season, and others just want to share their websites for feedback. Founder Tia Meyers surprisingly founded the group within the last year, and since then, everyone's taken up the events and discussions with full force.

We spoke with Tia to find more about how Freelancing Females came to be. Check it out below.

What was the inspiration behind creating a community for female entrepreneurs and freelancers? How did it all start?

Freelancing can be a very daunting world for someone taking the leap, especially when you run into a non-payment issue— which I had been going through at the time Freelancing Females was born. Through my search into non-payment issues I found that there wasn’t a safe place for freelancers, especially women, to ask the tough questions needed.

Freelancing Females was born out of the idea to empower women through personal business. What started as a group of fellow freelance friends quickly gained momentum. Within 10 months of starting the group, we are now at over 6000 women from all around the world.

Where is it based?

Personally, being based in New York, a large majority of women are from here but we span across the globe with top cities in Los Angeles, San Fran, Austin, Chicago and London. We are slowly making our way to other cities to host meet ups and have a growing list of requests from all around the world to start hosting.

Through the community women are able to ask questions, post jobs and connect with other Freelancers in real life.

How would you describe your community culture? How does someone join?

The community is a very supportive group of women willing to help other females. Every day, I’m surprised, not only the number of comments on the posts, but the quality of them as well. These women are really trying to help each other. The camaraderie is kind of inspiring.

The best place to find us is through the Facebook Group (facebook.com/groups/freelancingfems) but you can also follow along with us over on Instagram @freelancingfemales and our website freelancingfemales.com.

What are some ongoing goals you have for your community?

There are more goals than time in the day! We are working on many exciting projects to support freelancers. The first and foremost goal is to always have a community that someone is constantly gaining knowledge and support through. We will keep growing, but I make sure that doesn’t undermine anything we are working towards.

Tell us more about your community's events and what do you hope women get out of making those in-person connections?

Our events range from meet ups to workshops, and we hope to bring online events soon. Meeting fellow freelancers through in-person connection is a huge part of your success in the freelancing world. As a freelancer, you never stop hustling and looking for new clients. A designer will be working for someone in need of a copywriter and vice versa. We’re all looking out for each other in this field and when you find that strong collective of women, your business exponentially succeeds.

What are some podcasts, reads, or women inspiring you and your community?

Each woman in the group inspires me in a different way. We have women with jobs ranging from freelance design, to social media, to a freelance farmer, and haikuist.

Our latest discussion touched upon favorite business reads and some of the recommendations that came from it are:

Some of my favorite podcasts are:

What's next for your community?

Something new is popping up for us every day. I’m excited to say we will be coming out with a new type of event early summer. Feedback is the largest part of our decision process on where to go next with the community and we love hearing from you! Feel free to drop us a note or just say hi at hello@freelancingfemales.com

Community Highlight: Freelancing Females