Celebrating the Freelancer of the Year Finalists

Jun 23

Freelancer of the Year Finalists 2025

The freelance landscape has never been more dynamic, and 2025’s Freelancer of the Year award shines a light on the independent professionals who’ve pushed its boundaries. We’re proud to reveal this year’s shortlist of outstanding freelancers – trailblazers whose work already turns heads and whose next achievements promise to inspire the entire community.

Jenni Green - Green Country

About:
Jenni, founder of Green Country, is dedicated to stripping the mystery out of social media for rural and independent businesses. Working from her kitchen table, she crafts no-nonsense content plans, practical strategies, and down-to-earth training that make marketing feel doable. Freelancing gives her the flexibility to balance family life while championing land-based businesses and proving first-class digital work can come from a kitchen table rather than a city office.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Jenni built her business around rural life and family, crafting social campaigns, video content and DIY tools that turn overwhelmed farmers, dog trainers and agricultural engineers into confident online storytellers. Her bespoke planners and one-to-one power hours translate social jargon into practical steps, while her video work has been reused by suppliers. Constantly upskilling, she meets time-strapped clients where they are and equips them to run with it. She brings warmth, clarity and real impact to businesses the big agencies overlook, making her a natural for the shortlist.

Eleni Psycha - Helen of Health

About:
Eleni is a UK-based Automations & Funnel Strategist and Snapshot Manager who turns tangled tech into smooth, profitable systems for coaches and service providers worldwide. Founder of the agency Helen of Health, Eleni carved out an early niche in GoHighLevel long before it hit the mainstream VA market. Now she is launching a new agency and community to teach Virtual Assistants how to master GoHighLevel.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Eleni earned her shortlist spot because she brings a mix of tech mastery, strategy, and empathy to the messy end of online business. Self-taught and self-funded, she’s racked up CPD credentials, then turned that knowledge into bespoke automations and funnels that give coaches and service-based entrepreneurs back their time while lifting conversions. Eleni isn’t just scaling her own solo agency; she’s equipping a wider network of women to build spacious, sustainable businesses of their own.

Hayley Louise Johnson - HLJ Marketing

About:
Hayley is a freelance digital marketing specialist on a mission to strip out the overwhelm and put profit back at the centre of every campaign. After years on the agency side, she went out on her own, wanting to work smarter, travel more, and help businesses grow without all the overcomplication. Today she runs results-focused campaigns from wherever life takes her, giving business owners clear tools and strategies they understand and real growth they can see.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Hayley pairs hands-on platform savvy with no-nonsense strategy, turning ad spend into measurable growth. A decade in, she’s in Google, Meta and TikTok every day – testing creative, reading the numbers and refining audiences – so clients see results like a 22% jump in conversions or sharply lower CPAs within weeks. Her cross-channel approach links paid ads to content, SEO basics and organic social, giving businesses clear, actionable roadmaps.

Bianca Di Santo - Di Santo Designs

About:
Bianca crafts bold visual identities built to stand out, blending a playful spirit with sharp strategy so every design captures a client’s voice, vibe, and story. Bianca began her formal design journey at Humber College, achieving her education in Graphic Design, and for the past three years has freelanced as a brand and graphic designer, partnering with everyone from start-ups to established names.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Bianca doesn’t stop at eye-catching logos; she architects full brand experiences that move, interact, and come alive across Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest, turning scrolls into lasting impressions. Three years of freelance collaborations plus in-house stints have honed her knack for scalable templates and brand-wide consistency. Her approach is always rooted in storytelling, ensuring that every design decision feels intentional and meaningful.

Claire Clark - Juniper Bloom Social Media

About:
Claire is the founder of Juniper Bloom Social Media, where she helps small businesses, authors and local events get noticed online and grow devoted followings. Drawing on nearly two decades in TV documentaries and a long stint at Channel 4 News, she took the leap to freelance to run a book festival’s feeds, and has since launched new ventures, sold out community festivals, boosted authors’ book sales and guided owners through everything from Reels to local visibility.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Claire earned her shortlist place by showing how strategic, story-led social media can turn local happenings into headline successes. For example, her organic campaigns doubled attendance at Cuckfield Book Festival in three years, she took Cuckfield Music Festival from zero presence to 19.8k reach in a month, lifting ticket sales by 45%. Beyond festivals, Claire’s coaching workshops, e-books and one-to-one training round out her mission to make social media simple, joyful and effective for people who wear many hats.

Emma Bellis Ferreira - Moonface Marketing

About:
Emma is the founder of Moonface Marketing, a dynamic digital marketing and communications company she founded nearly a decade ago after a career working with global corporates, hotel groups, destination organisations and headline brands. Emma is passionate about staying sharp in the fast-moving world of digital marketing – especially the ever-evolving landscape of social media. Resilience, humour and heart infuse everything she does, and she’s driven by one goal – helping other businesses grow with marketing that’s anything but dull.

Reason for Shortlisting:

Emma swapped the corporate suit for a laptop, a phone and a Wi-Fi signal strong enough to run a powerhouse business from the school run, a camper van or the kitchen table, and built Moonface Marketing. Bringing a wealth of expertise in marketing, PR, event management, communications, and social media, she now pioneers digital strategies that cut through noise, trains hundreds of businesses in content and storytelling, and even turns workshops into mini-events that blend growth tactics with great food and genuine connection.

Lolli Molyneux - LolliWrites

About:
Lolli is a creative who runs LolliWrites, offering marketing support, copywriting, editing and proofreading to businesses and independent authors. After almost a decade in leading UK and overseas agencies, she stepped out on her own. A firm believer in lifelong learning, Lolli is self-funding a part-time PhD with the University of Leeds while managing client projects.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Lolli landed on the shortlist because she’s turned “just copy” into a full-fledged, story-led marketing service that cares as much about the client’s success as the client does. She has already shifted from writing website copy and blogs to guiding businesses from the earliest spark of strategy right through to finished campaigns, teaming up with other skilled freelancers where necessary so her clients know their marketing materials are being put together by the best in the business. Add in her drive to spotlight overlooked northern creatives through her magazine and her volunteer work with the local arts scene, and it’s clear Lolli isn’t just selling words – she’s building platforms, championing talent, and delivering results.

Jules Brim - Jules Brim

About:
Jules is a marketing consultant with more than a decade’s experience helping small business owners grow with confidence. After discovering her passion for branding and strategy while working as a PA in corporate, she launched Marketing Mixology in 2018, offering tailored consultancy and practical tools that guide firms to their marketing sweet spot. Today she also runs a membership community where solo entrepreneurs tap into advice, workshops and expert sessions that make content marketing, PR, email, and social media feel achievable.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Jules is on the shortlist because she’s a champion for small businesses, she breaks big picture strategy into practical steps owners can actually use, and she offers power hours, tailored consultancy, and interactive digital workbooks that give solo entrepreneurs the tools and confidence to run their own marketing and see measurable results. Her holistic approach pulls content, PR, social, email, and branding into one cohesive plan, leaving clients not just with higher revenue but with the self-belief to show up, stand out, and thrive.

Tamara Holland - Dot & Stripe

About:
Tamara is the founder of Dot & Stripe, a marketing consultancy for children’s activity providers. Her journey began in 2018, running her own messy play franchise – first-hand experience that showed her the highs of fully booked classes and the lows of social media overwhelm. Since launching Dot & Stripe, Tamara has worked with hundreds of franchisors and franchisees, delivering tailored strategies, content creation and branding tools that boost bookings and keep networks cohesive.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Tamara’s place on the shortlist is all about impact. She has established Dot & Stripe as the marketing expert for the children’s activity sector, doubling turnover on the back of her four-week email programme. She’s generated 100+ Facebook ads leads for a leading franchisor, lifted another client’s social engagement across 40 franchise pages, and written new website copy that’s already driving extra bookings. Tamara also shares what works, speaking at conferences and on-demand days so franchisors can tap her expertise whenever they need a strategic push.

Laura McKenzie - Cloudy Day Digital

About:
Laura is the founder of Cloudy Day Digital, where she turns marketing data into clear guidance for busy e-commerce and lead generation brands. Drawing on a career spanning film, TV production, and hospitality sales and marketing, she now partners with everyone from online retailers to law firms. A seasoned problem solver, Laura’s mission is simple: spare entrepreneurs the cost of flashy tools that don’t deliver and arm them with actionable insights they can trust – so their business keeps moving forward.

Reason for Shortlisting:
From her career in TV production, Laura kept seeing the same pattern – owners chase trends, jump at new strategies, or copy competitors, yet have no idea whether any of it moves them closer to their goals. So she went all-in on data, taught herself analytics, and created a service that connects marketing activity, data, funnels, and customer journeys with clear business goals. By making analytics human, honest, and empowering, and cutting through an often male-dominated space, Laura turns foggy metrics into confident decisions – exactly the kind of practical innovation this award is meant to celebrate.

The Digital Women Awards are proud to celebrate these extraordinary individuals.