Carina Barrau on Freelancing, Creativity, and Bits Of Catharsis

In this episode, we sit down with the vibrant and savvy Portugal-based Carina Barrau, the creative force behind Bits Of Catharsis. Carina has carved out a niche in helping creative businesses say goodbye to mundane content, and hello to powerful, engaging writing.

Carina's ethos revolves around maintaining her youthful spirit and wit while still achieving professional excellence – a testament to her belief that you can infuse your true self into your work without compromising quality or professionalism. 

In this chat we explore Carina’s reasons for choosing the path of freelancing over traditional writing roles right out of high school. We'll delve into some of Carina's challenges in her career and how she's overcome them with resilience and grace. Tune in now!

About Carina

Carina Barrau is a freelance writer working in the freelancing and digital marketing space, helping creative businesses ditch boring content so they can reach their audience through the power of words. She is super passionate about showing other people that you can be professional while keeping your witty and youthful self.

Connect with Carina

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/bitsofcatharsis/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carina-barrau-2625361a0/

Website:

https://www.bitsofcatharsis.com/

Full show notes here.

Transcript

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  00:08

Welcome everyone to another episode of the Talk Freelance to Me Podcast. I'm your host Ashley. Thank you so much for joining us again. I have a fantastic new freelancer to introduce to you. This on the show today is Carina Barrau from Portugal, and I'm so excited to welcome her. Carina, how are you? Welcome to the podcast.

 
Carina Barrau  00:31

Thank you! I'm so good. The weather here is starting to get hot and so that’s always nice because it’s really not the best to sit at your desk and write with it being cold outside.

 Ashley Cisneros Mejia  00:56

And so where are you in Portugal? Are you by Spain? What part are you in?

Carina Barrau  01:02

Yeah, I am by Spain and I do hang out a lot at a bunch of feasts in Spain.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  01:15

Okay, cool. Thank you so much for being here today. Over here I'm in Orlando in Florida. And it's kind of rainy over here, and it's getting warm. It's getting closer to summer. I feel like here we have two seasons. It's just hot and hotter -- more hot. We don't really have a winter the way you guys do. So it's very different. Awesome. 

 So I'm going to read a little bit, Freelance Fam, I'm gonna read a little bit from Carina’s bio to you so you can get to know her more. So Carina is a freelance writer working on content related to freelancing and digital marketing. She helps creative businesses ditch boring content so that they can reach their audience through the power of words. She's super passionate about showing other people that you can be professional while keeping your witty and youthful self. Thank you again, Carina. So that was your formal bio. But why don't you take a moment to just introduce yourself to all the listeners today?

Carina Barrau  02:19

Oh yeah – you said I’m a freelance writer, but I’ve been a writer since I was little. I’ve just always loved to read. Of course I started with the things that people in school tell you to write and that was not really meaningful to me. But I just loved writing.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  02:52

That's so cool. That's something I see like a lot of the folks that I've talked to so far is definitely that love of writing has started from childhood from writing short stories and more. Was that true for you, too? 

Carina Barrau  03:06

Yes! So I think that’s what made freelance so interesting to me because a formal writing career like getting a book deal and being at the whim of publishing -- it didn’t’ sound very appealing.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  03:29

Very cool. I love it. It's funny, because whenever I tell people that I'm a writer, that's the first thing they ask, “What's your book? Can I find your book?” And I tell them that there's a whole other world called freelance writing that's totally different than what people think of. So interesting. So I understand that you entered freelance right out of high school. Can you share more about this experience and any challenges that you encountered, if any?

Carina Barrau  03:58

Oh, I just think I had a lot going on. It was half because I knew that I didn’t want to go to college, but it was also that I had so much going on in my life. About the challenges – I would say that the key is breaking bad habits and getting into good ones. This will allow you to form a good career.

You need a lot of self-discipline to handle the accounting – to handle everything. And you often don’t have that right out of high school.

 
Ashley Cisneros Mejia  05:01

Yeah, I know sure didn’t! I did not have that discipline at all. I'm still struggling with it discipline at 40 years old. So kudos to you. So we connected on Instagram for anybody who has been following. I recently started this Instagram account, this whole @TalkFreelanceToMe is relatively new. Even though I've been writing for a long time, I've just been doing it at my desk and not really talking about it to the world. But by putting content out on Instagram, I've been able to make a lot of cool new friends in the writing world. And Carina is one of these awesome writers who has been open to connecting with me on Instagram. And your name is so interesting. Your handle is @BitsOfCatharsis. That's a really interesting name. Can you tell us what's the backstory with your handle and how you branded yourself with your website?

Carina Barrau  05:52

“Catharsis” is actually the title of my favorite song from the band Motionless In White. I looked into the meaning of the name and I loved it. It made everything that I stood for. It just made sense. I started sharing bits of my experience. 

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  06:38

Well, it's super unique. That’s kind of the goal, right? To stand out on the internet when everybody is putting out content, putting bits of their life out and wanting to stand out. So I think that it works. It totally works.

Carina Barrau  06:57

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  07:08

Absolutely. Very cool. So a lot of people really think that freelance helps you create this amazing work life balance, right? Where we are just working and then we do yoga, and then we have a wine on the patio. They think this life is maybe less stress than another office job. What's your take on this? How do you approach work and rest?

Carina Barrau  07:42

I mean I think it be nice to be drinking wine and writing, but I haven’t figured that out how to get that. I’m sorry -- that’s a really good question.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  08:02

I don't know if this is true for you. It's more like a wave, like the ocean with ebbs and flows, where you're working on a project for a client. You might be working very intensely for three days, four days, however long it takes to meet that deadline. Then there might be lulls. It’s more calm … it's kind of quiet. Nobody's emailing, you know what I mean? So I feel like work- life balance, maybe balance is not the right word, right? Because balance is more like a seesaw. It's more equal. And I feel like there's some times where I am super busy. I might get two hours of sleep, three hours of sleep, just drinking coffee. And then sometimes it's more normal, where it's a normal work day. So that's the way that I see it. But it's funny to see people believe that our life as freelancers is very chill, that it's not stressful, and I think it can be stressful sometimes. What about you?

Carina Barrau  09:10

Yes, it can be very stressful sometimes because again, you need to handle basically everything. I mean at least to start if you don’t have a team. And if you spending the day drinking wine while writing at the beginning that might not be so true. And this can discourage people.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  09:44

I think so. You mentioned discipline as being something that you've learned. That it takes that to be a good freelancer -- it takes discipline. What other things? What advice do you have for beginning freelancers who are trying this, but maybe they feel like their freelance career is not going the way that they wanted? What should they do?

Carina Barrau  10:12

I would say to try to get back to the basics because there are a lot of people coming into this space basically every day. Maybe try to see what they are doing and don’t be ashamed if you need to start again because yes, things might not be going as well as you wanted them. 

But you’re already starting with some experience and maybe you just need to go back to the basics like networking, going into Facebook groups, doing cold pitching – those things that people usually identify with being too small for someone who is more ahead in their freelance career.

But I think that you shouldn’t stop doing this just because you are at a more stable time. Because it’s like you said, there are so many ebbs and flows.

 Ashley Cisneros Mejia  11:35

Such good advice, especially about networking in Facebook groups or wherever you can find other writers. Because I feel like that is where I started. When I started writing, I found a couple very successful writers who had been writing a lot longer than me. They were really kind in letting me take them out for coffee and ask them questions. By networking with them, I learned a lot. It was so much better than just me being in my little house by myself just trying to solve these problems alone. When you talk to other professionals, you can really get some ideas, like you said, might get a referral for something overflow work. I love that. That's super cool. So your content has been really, really helpful. I love your website, love that you share tips and things for other writers. It seems like you know a lot about these kinds of tips and things that can help. Is there a resource, a hack, or a tip, maybe something that you found recently that's really helping you personally?

Carina Barrau  12:49

I would say not anything specific right now but signing up for newsletters that round up calls for pitches because basically these do half the work for you.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  13:15

For sure. And I understand you actually have a newsletter, that you have a resource called The Freelancing Insider, can you tell us more about that in case people want to sign up?

Carina Barrau  13:27

The Freelancing Insider is where I share a weekly tip – half motivational and half actionable that you can actually use. Then I have a spotlight of different people in freelance.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  13:50

Very cool. I love the part that you said about actionable things. Because I find that for me when I was first starting, I would be reading and reading and reading and reading but I would never take action. I was just consuming other people's content and I wasn't really trying anything for myself or trying to put something out there. That's a key, I think, is taking action, not just reading these awesome tips that you've put out, but encouraging your readers to really take the next step and to put it into practice what you're sharing.

Carina Barrau  14:28

And I think you’ll find that a lot with things online. Most will offer nice information but don't show you exactly how to do something. And I think every freelancer will have to find their own resources that really resonate with them because something that I might not find helpful, you might love.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  15:11

Yeah. 100%. I think that you hit the nail on the head with, there's so much information on the internet. I feel like there's so many of these people talking about the laptop lifestyle, and they're showing themselves on beautiful beaches. And all of that's nice -- showing what's aspirational, showing what's possible, showing kind of like, what's the impact. How could freelance give you more control over your schedule? But I think a lot of it is flimsy; there's not a lot of value. There's not a lot of meat to it. So I love what you're putting together.

Carina Barrau  15:54

Yeah. If I follow accounts like that because it’s nice to look at their feed. But then you have to pick around and find out how to take action.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  16:09

Yes. 100% Because nothing happens if all we do is read, read, read. We have the knowledge here. But then it stays there. It doesn't come out in any way. Right?

Carina Barrau  16:24

Exactly.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia 16:26

I love it. Carina, this is so good. I'm definitely going to include a link to your website in the show notes so that people can sign up to the Freelance Insider newsletter. So tell us more. Where can people find you online if they want to connect with you more?

Carina Barrau  16:43

Basically all my handles are @BitsOfCatharsis . So you can Google it and find my website. You can also find me on Instagram

The only thing that's different is my LinkedIn where you only need to search for my name, Carina Barrau, and you’ll find me.

Ashley Cisneros Mejia  17:12

Fantastic. Well, I'll definitely include a link to your LinkedIn account as well. So, writers listen up! You heard Carina telling you how important it is to network with other writers. So ask Carina to connect maybe she'll accept your connection. We can all grow together in that way. 

Carina, thank you so much for taking some time out of your busy day to be with us to share some of your journey. We appreciate it. I'll let you go now. Thank you!

And with that, we've come to the end of another episode. Please make sure you hit “subscribe” if you haven't already done so. And give me a five-star review on Apple. This will help out a lot and getting the word out about this brand new podcast. I invite you to check out the show notes and also grab my free “Niches Get Riches” Freelance Writing Worksheet to brainstorm the best niches for your writing business. If you're not a writer, you can still use it to get business ideas. Until next time, this is Ashley at Talk Freelance To me. Don't forget -- we all get this ONE precious life. Don't constrain yourself to a box that you were never meant to fit in. It is your right to profit from your OWN creative gifts. This podcast was created by Ashley Cisneros Mejia. Our music was composed by Donna Raphael of World Instrumentals. Talk Freelance To Me is a product of Fenix Creative Studio.