Elina jutelyte - 26 january 2026
Build trust
In 2014, I ended up working for an event agency that was acquired by another event agency.
I was told I should be happy I kept my job, because in acquisitions, many people end up on the street.
So, I should have been thankful.
That thankfulness included dealing with horrific HR and direct managers who expected miracles.
Specifically: handling 6 to 10 different clients at the same time (and with a 24/7 commitment).
And by different, I mean really different: different industries, different scopes of event projects, different personalities, with absolutely no fit to my background or skill set.
On top of that, my commute to the office was two hours one way.
I’m not exaggerating.
The path forward became very clear to me.
I didn’t want anyone deciding who I work with and when I work.
I definitely didn’t want to spend four hours a day on the road just to hear why I was late again.
And I deeply disliked the business model agencies were applying at the time:Push employees to the limit while the company cashes in.
I wanted out of that hellhole.
So I started paying attention to what clients were saying.
Some were quietly leaving the agency once they realised the quality level wasn’t there (and honestly, you can’t expect high quality from overworked people).
Some openly shared their frustration with me.
And some said: “We like working with you, just not with the agency management.”
That was gold.
Being able to build real relationships despite harsh conditions is what allowed me to move forward.
Realising there was an alternative to those agency service-level agreements pushed me to start my own business.
My experience in corporate and agency environments helped me position myself as a better, more reliable resource (even as a solo operator) and start winning clients who had suffered from inadequate agency service (not just that one).
I recently made a post about this on LinkedIn because I wanted to share one thing:
Your experience is your biggest asset.
Your experience is a market asset nobody else has.
What you know about how your niche clients operate.
What you know about how much they actually pay agencies or subcontractors.
Where they’re weak, and where they’re strong.
All of that makes up your uniqueness.
Think about it.
Corporations collect marketing intelligence rigidly, spending serious time and money just to make sure they have a relevant offer and a solid value proposition.
You already have it.
I share more about how to turn your uniqueness into solution in the Freelance Business Marketing Framework course.
Regards,
Elina
I was told I should be happy I kept my job, because in acquisitions, many people end up on the street.
So, I should have been thankful.
That thankfulness included dealing with horrific HR and direct managers who expected miracles.
Specifically: handling 6 to 10 different clients at the same time (and with a 24/7 commitment).
And by different, I mean really different: different industries, different scopes of event projects, different personalities, with absolutely no fit to my background or skill set.
On top of that, my commute to the office was two hours one way.
I’m not exaggerating.
The path forward became very clear to me.
I didn’t want anyone deciding who I work with and when I work.
I definitely didn’t want to spend four hours a day on the road just to hear why I was late again.
And I deeply disliked the business model agencies were applying at the time:Push employees to the limit while the company cashes in.
I wanted out of that hellhole.
So I started paying attention to what clients were saying.
Some were quietly leaving the agency once they realised the quality level wasn’t there (and honestly, you can’t expect high quality from overworked people).
Some openly shared their frustration with me.
And some said: “We like working with you, just not with the agency management.”
That was gold.
Being able to build real relationships despite harsh conditions is what allowed me to move forward.
Realising there was an alternative to those agency service-level agreements pushed me to start my own business.
My experience in corporate and agency environments helped me position myself as a better, more reliable resource (even as a solo operator) and start winning clients who had suffered from inadequate agency service (not just that one).
I recently made a post about this on LinkedIn because I wanted to share one thing:
Your experience is your biggest asset.
Your experience is a market asset nobody else has.
What you know about how your niche clients operate.
What you know about how much they actually pay agencies or subcontractors.
Where they’re weak, and where they’re strong.
All of that makes up your uniqueness.
Think about it.
Corporations collect marketing intelligence rigidly, spending serious time and money just to make sure they have a relevant offer and a solid value proposition.
You already have it.
I share more about how to turn your uniqueness into solution in the Freelance Business Marketing Framework course.
Regards,
Elina