The Successful Fashion Designer

From Zero Reviews to $4K Clients: How Danielle Steman Broke Into Freelance Fashion With Just 8 PitchesEver wondered how to stand out on Upwork without a single rating, review, or testimonial? Danielle Steman did just that—and banked $4,000 from her first two freelance clients.In this episode, you’ll meet Danielle, a former engineer from The Netherlands who left behind a stable tech career to carve out a bold new path in fashion. Specializing in made-to-measure and latex pattern making, she built a niche business from scratch—landing high-paying clients with just eight targeted pitches and zero experience on her profile.You’ll hear how her technical background gave her an edge, how she uses mobile scanning and CAD to wow clients, and why saying no to non-niche work helped her grow faster. She also shares the mindset shifts that helped her go all-in, and the exact steps she took to start attracting international clients (hint: it’s simpler than you think!).If you're new to freelancing or have been at it a while