Freelancing with Purpose: How to become a “Starter Consultant” and use your skills for good
Turn your freelance skills into a force for good. Work with purpose-driven businesses and make an impact that matters.
You don’t have to quit everything to make a difference.
For many freelancers, leaving the corporate world or traditional employment brings freedom, more autonomy, creativity, and variety. But after a while, a familiar question can arise: Is this it?
You’re good at what you do, but maybe the work itself feels hollow. You want the projects you pour your time and talent into to actually mean something.
That’s where your potential as an impact consultant comes in - this is a freelancer who chooses to share their skills (often in marketing, operations or finance areas of the business) with purpose-driven companies, social enterprises and impact startups that are building a better world. In the world of Social Starters, we call that a ‘Starter Consultant’.
The rise of purpose-led freelancing
There’s a growing ecosystem of changemaking organisations - from B Corps and social enterprises to regenerative startups and charities - that need expertise in marketing, strategy, operations, design, HR and finance. They’re full of passion, but often short on capacity.
This is where freelancers can make a huge difference. By offering fractional support or short-term projects, you can help these purpose-led businesses grow sustainably and build a career that energises you, that’s more on your own terms, and doing something in an arena that you love.
Working with impact ventures gives you variety and flexibility, but with a sense of shared mission. Every brief, every campaign, every spreadsheet suddenly carries weight. because it’s helping to solve something that matters. It’s a different vibe to feeling like a cog in a machine (with no clear sight on final outputs).
Which kind of “Social Starter” are you?
In my work with hundreds of changemakers through Social Starters, I’ve noticed that people tend to fall into one of five career transition roles - these are five ways of bringing purpose to their professional lives as part of a transition from (usually) private sector professional roles into doing work in the fields of social and environmental impact, or purpose-driven work within corporate. Think of them as directions of travel for those exploring social impact work. You can find out more about these in Social Starters: Make Changing The World Your Business.. One of them is a ‘Starter Consultant’ which is a freelancing role that sees the professional leverage their skills and experience to support other social starters who are making changing the world their business. It can start with volunteering and lead to paid work, and sometimes paid employment.
Six Useful Freelancer Archetypes
Each of us has a natural way of contributing to positive change. Discovering your archetype helps you understand how your skills and energy can be used for good.
Which type resonates most with you? That might just be your starting point.
Becoming a Starter Consultant
You don’t need to reinvent yourself to freelance with purpose: you just need to redirect what you already know.
- Identify causes you care about. Whether it’s climate, social justice or wellbeing, passion fuels persistence.
- Audit your skills. What problems can you solve for impact ventures?
- Start small. Offer a pro bono “purpose placement” or discounted project to build experience and confidence.
- Build your community. The social impact world thrives on collaboration - join networks like Escape the City, Impact Hub or explore Social Starters’ programmes to connect with others walking the same path.
- Stay commercial: with conscience. There’s no shame in being well-paid for meaningful work. Profit and purpose can coexist beautifully when we use our earnings to do more good.
Your next chapter
Freelancing can be a powerful bridge between what you’re good at and what the world needs. You don’t have to start a charity, quit your job or give up benefits. You just need to start where you are, and work with people who make you feel proud of what you create together.
As I tell every participant on my programmes: You already have what it takes to be part of the change - you just need to start.
Find out which Social Starter type you are with the free quiz (coming soon), or explore The Inner Quest, a 6-week journey to design your next purposeful chapter.