How graphic designer Morgan Overholt turned $20 freelance to $2m business

“How’s the job hunt going?” asked my father over the phone. It was early May 2017 and I was sitting in front of my laptop, working on some social media graphics for a client in a hotel room in Las Vegas. 

I hadn’t originally planned to be on this trip. My husband had been invited to attend a broadcasting convention in town. Suddenly finding myself with extra time on my hands, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to tag along and make a bit of a “workcation” out of it.

My dad’s question hit me like a bucket of cold water to the face as I proudly worked up the unearned confidence to proudly answer: “This is the job! I’m going to be a freelancer now!” 

That’s the first time I remember saying those words out loud. 

Rage quitting my job

Only days prior, I decided to rage quit what most people, on the outside, would have considered to be a cushy corporate salaried job. And by “rage quit” I mean I finished my shift, walked into my supervisor’s office, and told her I just couldn’t take it anymore. 

I left on the spot and never returned. No two-week notice. No real plan. Nada.

Naturally, I needed money. And I needed it fast.

I had never previously viewed freelance graphic design as anything that even closely resembled a viable career path. It was just something I fell into after decades of being “that graphic design” friend. People always came to me asking for favors, offering payment for small gigs here and there. 

Sure, freelance design work had always been an easy way of earning a bit of extra cash when I needed it. It was the closest thing one might imagine to having their money tree – saying “yes” to gigs only when in the mood. Never actively seeking the work. Never needing the work, but being glad I had the option.

But now, with the corporate world in my rearview mirror, I found myself wondering what would happen if I leaned in. Could that supplemental income become replacement income? I was about to find out.

From freelance to agency

Looking back on those early days I remember the instinctual way I put on a brave face for both myself and my friends and family. I behaved as if I wasn’t, internally, in full panic mode.

I was my own living “Emporer With No Clothes” fable. I was fully aware of my exposure and vulnerability but confidently maintained to anyone who inquired that everything was totally “fine,” More than fine even – couldn’t be better!

I immediately reached out to all of my old design contacts and made my intentions known. I let everyone know I was available for work and I signed up for a multitude of online freelance marketplaces.

As the “new kid on the block,” I temporarily lowered my rate to a mere $20 an hour – a rate of pay I hadn’t seen in over a decade – and prayed that the jobs would start to trickle in.

And slowly, as if I had built my own digital “Field of Dreams” … they came. 

At first, it was just a trickle.

But soon, that trickle became a stream – a stream that would soon become a raging river.

Becoming my own investor

Years ago, I would have told you that was the happy ending to my story. I got everything I wanted. 

I quit a job I had grown to hate. I left the corporate world behind and launched a successful design agency.

But to quote The Little Mermaid (my all-time favorite Disney movie that I’ve probably watched more than 1,000 times as a child) – “I want more”.

I wanted to free myself of the invisible chain that kept me tethered to my laptop every day. I yearned for the freedom to build something for myself – instead of just building for clients.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to raising capital to start a new business. 

Some, seek investors or take on debt. Others, invest in themselves.

As someone whose always been somewhat allergic to this idea of building something with someone else’s money and feeling “beholden”, I was naturally drawn to the latter.

And so, I took my agency earnings and reinvested them.

A media company is born

Today, alongside the original graphic design agency, I own and operate a series of content sites that cover everything from local tourism to small business advice – including my latest venture – Freelancer Files – a digital community for freelancers and industry news.

Today, these companies, alongside my graphic design agency have grossed over $2M – a number that makes me quite proud – especially when I think back to how it all started with that $20 hourly rate on the Upwork profile of a virtual unknown in the industry.

I pen this editorial to show you the power of following your dreams no matter what those dreams may be. 

It blows my mind on a daily basis that I was able to take something that I did as a hobby – graphic design – and turn it into a mini-empire that not only employs me but has also employed several members of my friends and family and even gotten us through things like global pandemics. 

And the exciting part – I’m just getting started. I cannot wait to see where this journey takes me. From designing social media banners to designing my dream life – the possibilities are truly endless.