I hopped on a call with this prospect and everything went well.
She hired me. We aligned on scope. We talked through expectations.
On paper, it was a yes.
But a few weeks into the work, something started to feel off.
She kept asking for work in progress files.
She entertained pitches from other freelancers.
She asked them to look at my output and give their thoughts.
If it was good. If it was bad. If something was missing.
It felt like I was walking on thin ice.
And the tricky part was this.
I was doing organic marketing. The kind of work that takes time. The kind that doesn’t always show results right away. The kind that really needs trust in the process.
But trust was exactly what wasn’t there.
At first, I tried to brush it off.
Maybe she was just being careful. Maybe she had been burned before.
But deep down, I felt it.
I felt watched.
There was this constant anxiety in the background.
That quiet fear of being replaced.
That pressure to prove myself over and over again.
So I did what a lot of freelancers do.
I went beyond my deliverables.
Not just because I didn’t want to lose the client, but because I wanted to prove something to myself. That I could do the job. That I deserved the seat I was given.
I tried harder. I stayed longer. I gave more.
But here’s something I didn’t fully realise at the time.
When clients ask other service providers to audit your work, those audits usually focus on what’s missing. What wasn’t done. What could be better. They rarely talk about what has already been built or improved.
And when you’re already operating from anxiety, that kind of feedback hits differently.
At some point, I had to pause and ask myself a hard question.
What if the problem isn’t the work?
What if it’s the relationship?
That’s when it really clicked for me.
I realised that during discovery calls, I’m usually assessing the business.
Is there a problem I can solve? Is there value I can add?
If the answer is yes, I move forward. If not, I politely decline.
But I don’t always assess the client.
Whether their expectations, communication style, and level of trust are something I can work with long term.
And that part matters more than we think.
Because a business can be the right fit, but the client might not be.
You can have the skills. The experience. The strategy.
But if there’s no trust, you’ll always feel like you’re trying to earn something you should already have.
And that kind of setup slowly wears you down.
Looking back, there are a few things I wish I understood earlier.
First, discovery calls should go both ways.
Not just assessing if you can help the business, but also if the client is someone you can genuinely work with long term.
Second, when something starts to feel off, listen.
That constant anxiety. That feeling of being undervalued. That sense that you’re always one step away from being replaced. Those are signals.
Third, talk about it.
Not in a confrontational way. Just honest. Clear. Grounded. Share what you’re noticing and how it’s affecting the work.
And if after that nothing changes, it’s okay to walk away.
Not emotionally.
Not impulsively.
Walk away with clarity. With dignity. With the right strategy.
Because staying in a place where you’re not trusted will cost you more than just income. It will slowly cost your confidence.
If you’re reading this and quietly nodding, you’re not alone.
A lot of Filipino freelancers carry this silent pressure to prove ourselves. To over deliver. To endure. We’re used to adjusting and questioning ourselves first.
But trust is not something you should have to beg for once you’re already hired.
You deserve clients who see you as a partner, not someone constantly on trial.
Sometimes the bravest thing you can do in your freelance career is to choose yourself, even when the work looks good on paper.
And that lesson stayed with me.
