‘I quit my job and doubled my pay in six months’

AFTER quitting his job three years ago, Ram Castillo had doubled his income within six months. That was just the beginning.

THREE years ago, then 26-year-old Ram Castillo had a coveted position as a senior graphic designer at a top Sydney agency.

But he wanted more, and took a course of action most of us consign to the realm of fantasy: he kissed his reliable weekly pay cheque goodbye, and went freelance.

Not only can he pick and choose which project he works on — and where he works, like the tropical island of Boracay, where he spent most of January — but Castillo’s income quickly accelerated.

In fact, he doubled his wage in the first six months of freelancing, and kept up the pace to earn $140,000 in the first year — twice his previous salary, working the same number of hours.

“I hit six months in and I’d made the $70,000,” Castillo told news.com.au.

“The rate freelancers are hired at is much, much higher than full time ... And so then I thought ‘If I keep this up, I could double it.’ So I did, I just kept working.”

Since then, he’s found ways to push his hourly rate even higher, and scaling back design work to free up time for side projects that are proving to be lucrative in themselves.

Castillo’s book How to Get a Job as a Designer, Guaranteed is rated five stars on Amazon, and he has given talks at schools and universities around the world.

Woven into the informative text is Castillo’s personal story of overcoming a “scarcity mindset” to go after his dreams, rising from the mailroom at Singleton Ogilvy & Mather — where he started out on a $28,000 salary in 2005 — to a career as senior designer.

He’s worked on the world’s top brands, from Google, Coca Cola and McDonald’s to Audi and P&O Cruises.

The freelance lifestyle means has enabled Castillo to work from home, or a tropical island.

After migrating with his parents from the Philippines when he was eight months old, Castillo initially seemed destined for a more ordinary career path while growing up in West Ryde.

“I had folks that really thought success was working full time,” he said.

“So, when you grow up with that, you just want to please them. But then I was reading books that said the opposite, that said ‘no, success is actually having more time’.

Laying the groundwork for a lifestyle that delivered that freedom started early on in Castillo’s career.

“It’s all well and good if you’re the most talented and skilled but if you don’t have the contacts, it really isn’t going to work in your favour to transition,” he said.

“So I was planting those seeds in those eight years I was full time — I’d done the rounds, made connections that were eventually going to open up other doors for me.”

The key to networking, he said, was “solidifying the contacts and keeping in touch”, not just collecting business cards at events.

But having a broad base of experience was also essential, as companies that hire freelancers need to know that you can deliver.

“The environment and how they treat you is really different to when you’re full time,” Castillo said.

“They expect you to be super quick. You basically have to be always on, and for some people that can be highly stressful, because you are literally hitting the ground running — 9am, you’re set up with a computer, you might be working from home but they might say ‘come in and do this’.

“Regardless, they expect you to deliver because there’s promises made to compliance and there’s a timeline on your capacity to deliver that.”

These days, Castillo cherry picks his design jobs and has started charging an even higher fee for consulting services, offering guidance on ‘design thinking’ and creative strategy to corporate clients that often have their own internal design teams.

“It’s matured to the point where it’s not just me sitting in front of a computer — and I’ve embraced that,” he said.

He said freelancers should always be clear about their minimum fee, as “budgets do vary and so it’s up to the freelancer to make sure they’re not getting ripped off”.

“So you might knock back the lower paying jobs, but you’re positioning yourself for a higher paying job,” he said.

At 29, Castillo is building an online empire as a teacher and thought leader in the design industry.

It’s an approach that has allowed Castillo to focus on building his online presence as a trusted expert in his field, with a blog, podcasts, online courses and coaching at his website GiantThinkers.com.

The podcast, which has drawn some 40,000 subscribers, features interviews with industry leaders from companies like Visa, Nike and Deloitte — and the sponsorship offers have started pouring in.

Last year, Castillo took his book tour across the United States and stopped in San Francisco to deliver two classes for CreativeLive, the world’s largest live streaming education website.

This week, he’s flying to Margaret River to give a talk at the Emergence Creative Festival before returning home to write his next book, this time on how to get a mentor as a designer — a topic he covered in a talk at Sydney’s Apple store.

In the era of the personal brand, it’s a savvy approach to boosting profile, reach and bankability.

But Castillo insists that money is not his main motivator.

“Why I transitioned in the first place was to add more fulfilment, which for me is giving back — not just in the currency of money, but giving back in advice and inspiring others.”

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Originally published as ‘I quit my job and doubled my pay in six months’