Julie Cortés has been called a powerhouse, dynamo, and self-made solopreneur. She prefers rockstar.

She’s forged a dream career path and created opportunities once never thought possible. Over the last 25+ years, she’s gone from freelance copywriter to founder, course creator to adjunct professor, and business coach to international speaker.

Her accolades include being named Top 15 Coaches in Kansas City by Influencer Digest, Innovator of the Year by the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, Top 100 Small Business Influencer Champion by Small Business Trends, Women’s Business Advocate of the Year by the Kansas Department of Commerce, Small Business Superstar by the KC Chamber of Commerce, and winning the very first national Community Freelancer Award by The Freelance Conference. She’s been interviewed and featured on / in a variety of media, most notably CNN, Freelancers Union, Clients from Hell, Nation 1099, KCTV5, KCUR, KKFI, KMBZ, KC Star, KC Business Journal, Thinking Bigger, and Startland KC.

For more than 25 years, Julie’s served as a copywriting and proofreading resource partner for ad agencies, design studios, large corporations, and small businesses. She’s worked with the likes of Payless ShoeSource, H&R Block, and Hallmark, and has written for most mediums in a variety of industries. She loves high-level concepts, creative solutions, and branding projects, and has been awarded with Ad Club ADDYs, BMA Fountains, DMA Ambits, AIGA A-Awards, and FX ICE Awards.

She is the founder of The Freelance Exchange (FX) of Kansas City—a not-for-profit professional trade organization that serves advertising / marketing freelancers. Since 2003, the organization has offered continuing education, social activities, networking, mentorship, and promotional opportunities. It’s also served the business community with a free and easy-to-use resource to find the talent they need. The club is now gearing up to open in other cities.

Julie developed a much-needed, college-level Freelancing 101 course for the world-renown Kansas City Art Institute, where she taught commercial and fine artists as an adjunct professor. The course curriculum was based on everything a beginning self-employed creative needs to know. A first of its kind, this class regularly ‘sold out’ and had a waitlist every semester.

Due to popular demand from her professional peers, Julie took those same lessons from the classroom to launch a coaching arm to her business. Today, she helps freelancers, solopreneurs and creatives with their self-employment journeys, whether they’re looking to make the jump to full-time freelance, just starting out, or wanting to level up. To date, she’s helped scores of individuals locally, nationally, and internationally.

What started as speaking to local colleges soon spring-boarded into a national and international speaking tour. Julie has spoken at the HOW Creative Freelance Summit, the Women | Future Conference, Global Entrepreneurship Week, The Freelance Conference, Freelance Business Week, Freelance Buffalo & Beyond, Isolated Talks, SCORE Mentors, AIGA, Ad Club, Social Media Club, KC Art Institute, the University of Kansas, and more. Her go-to topics include creative self-employment, branding and self-promotion, and mindset / badassery.

Julie is loving life, living out her passion for helping creative freelancers succeed. When she’s not working or volunteering for FX, you can find her Jazzercising, playing volleyball, listening to live music, or snuggling with her dog.

More info: http://www.juliecortes.com

More fun: @freelancerockstar