The Why Behind Curate Impact

This content was originally shared on September 11, 2023.

At my core, I am at my best when I am in service to others, be that as a high school French teacher, a coordinator who welcomed over 450 new teachers to Baltimore, an Executive Assistant for over ten years, or as a department and team lead. I love connecting people to one another, to resources, and to opportunities. I deeply value being a sounding board to help solve problems and consider myself the eternal hype person to my friends, family, and broader network.

After more than a decade in education and the broader education non-profit space, I felt drawn to spread my wings, push my capabilities, and try my hand at people management and leadership. For the last six years, I have been working as a freelancer or directly supporting freelancers and deeply exploring how to maximize their overall impact and experience. 

After leaving the safety of my W2 position in 2022, with no clear plan for next steps (😬) , and after many conversations with mentors and members of my network, I decided to give freelancing a go for six months. I made a deal with my husband (and myself): If I could identify prospective clients and be on track to replace my income, I would stay the course. And I did! With the support of my network, I met my personal benchmarks. My network rallied behind me and because of them, I have seen traction in my own freelancing journey.

The last year has also highlighted the challenges that can come with being a freelancer. Depending on what function you serve, freelancing, especially virtually, can be incredibly lonely. You may also feel like you need to know it all and do it all (determining business entity, procuring insurance, researching bookkeeping software, handling all of the administrative items, just to name a few) and perhaps, the biggest hurdle of all, depending on your past experience and network, identifying client opportunities can be daunting.

With that, an idea was planted deep in my spirit. What if I could create a way to eliminate some of the challenges that come with being a freelancer? And then I sat and “noodled”( aka “prioritized literally everything else on my to do list”) for five months.

And then, in April, a large number of my former education non-profit and most recent colleagues experienced role eliminations. And the fire was reignited.

So, today, I bring you a community designed to broaden my reach in connecting you with others, connecting you with resources, and connecting you with client opportunities. My hope is that we continue to lift one another up, learn and develop, share client opportunities, and curate impact for our clients. It will take time to build the community, but I am so excited and grateful to be at the start of this journey with you!

Meet the Author: Heather Owens is the Founder of Curate Impact. In addition to aspiring to connect people with one another, with resources, and with opportunities, she provides direct operational support to social and environmental impact executives and companies. In her free time, she helps Baltimoreans organize their homes.

Connect with Heather: Reach out via email for inquiries related to direct operational support or organizing support. Follow Curate Impact on Instagram and reach out via email with any questions you may have.