Freelance Voiceover artist gives mother lasting gift

By Staff Reporter Last updated Jan 27, 2022

Shenteria working remotely while on holiday on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii

Working as a freelance voiceover artist and video producer has provided Shenteria Childs with many career and lifestyle opportunities. Freelancing has provided her, like so many other independent workers, the financial freedom to travel to different parts of the world while providing services to her big-name clients. But in 2020, the true meaning of financial freedom crystalised for Shenteria, realising her “proudest moment”.

When disaster strikes

After the rented home where Shenteria’s mother, aunt, and cousins were living caught fire, they had to move into a motel. It was then that Shenteria realised that her mother’s $400 monthly retirement income was not going to cover the costs, nor was her pre-existing living situation, so she stepped in to provide a solution.

Shenteria decided that her mother needed more than a roof over her head, she needed financial security. That’s when Shenteria and her fiancée, Edward, decided to give Shenteria’s mother, Florda, a lasting gift: a home. For Shenteria this meant handing over half of her net assets, with Edward putting in the other half to fund the house purchase.

Thanks to her success with clients on platforms, such as Fiverr, Shenteria was able to accumulate freelance earnings over a six-year period to make such a generous financial gift, which according to her is by far her “proudest moment”.

Shenteria’s mother, Florda, outside the home Shenteria and her fiance Edward gifted her

Secret to freelancer success

Since becoming a freelancer, Shenteria has been strict when it comes to spending and saving. She sets an amount to save monthly and puts that money aside in an online savings account that doesn’t allow direct access for withdrawals. She is also frugal by looking for new ways to lower her daily and monthly expenses. Rather than spend those savings, she puts them away for a future date to invest so that she can yield recurring income, in the form of dividends.

Content creators, such as Shenteria, can even invest their savings back into their own business to create recurring income opportunities. For example, producing a product once, yet being able to sell it over and over again, such as paid-for educational videos, content, courses, etc.

Shenteria believes that anyone can make extra money working online as a freelancer. However, they need to follow certain steps which will make them financially successful. She suggests, focusing on something that you already have an interest, skill or love doing, then monetising it as a service or product that you can sell via outlets, such as freelance platforms or online course sites. She suggests it is crucial to deliver high-quality work with those first projects. In other words, take pride in your work and it will pay you back in great reviews and repeat clients.

The voice-over artist also believes in generating multiple income streams. In her new book titled, ‘Side Hustle to Full-Time Income,’ Shenteria will be sharing secrets to successfully navigating freelance platforms. She is also offering more people the opportunity to learn new ways to increase their income and build their finances.

She is also sharing her freelancer wisdom and smart money habits by starting a non-profit titled Empower a Million Black Women (EMBW.org), an organisation focused on providing homes for older black mothers (aged 65 and older) that have found themselves in pension poverty or sudden financial difficulty. There is an entrepreneurial slant to the organisation’s mission, which will foster better financial mindsets for those it is hoping to serve.

If you’ve ever wanted to build your client base and have true financial freedom, then take it from Shenteria who has major clients, such as AT&T and Ford on her portfolio: think big and invest in yourself.