Episode Overview
From Zero Reviews to $4K Clients: How Danielle Steman Broke Into Freelance Fashion With Just 8 Pitches!
Ever 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, click play now to learn how confidence, clarity, and a super-specific niche can unlock your freelance fashion career.
Episode Highlights
Landing First Clients on Upwork
- Danielle explains how she landed her first two freelance clients for $4,000 by sending only eight pitches, despite having a brand new Upwork profile with no reviews or ratings. She highlights her selective approach to job postings, ensuring alignment with her niche.
Crafting Effective Upwork Pitches
- Danielle details her strategy for pitching to potential clients, emphasizing personalized responses that address client needs rather than generic offers. She discusses how being bold about her niche expertise helped make her stand out.
Nailing the Upwork Profile
- Discussion turns to how Danielle updated her Upwork profile, including creating a strong introduction, adding relevant portfolio samples, and crafting a clear, niche-focused headline to appeal to her ideal clients.
Explaining the Made-to-Measure Niche
- Danielle describes her specialization in made-to-measure and latex pattern work, explaining her process using mobile scanning and CAD to provide custom patterns for brands, and illustrating how this sets her apart in the market.
Getting Clients Remotely and Internationally
- Danielle shares how her work is done entirely remotely, collaborating with clients in different countries via online meetings and digital deliverables, and how the pandemic has made remote freelance work more accessible.
Transition from Engineering to Fashion
- Danielle discusses her background in engineering, her journey into fashion as a side hobby, retraining as a tailor, and then moving into specialized pattern making, combining her technical expertise with her passion for design.
Growing a Niche Business Organically
- The conversation covers how Danielle focused on a specific niche (latex and made-to-measure), used her website and minimal Instagram posts to attract clients, and found that being highly specialized led to quality referrals and inbound opportunities.
Dealing with Pricing and Project Workflows
- Danielle explains her flat-fee pricing strategy, how she calculates project costs using experience and an Excel sheet, and how she manages ongoing per-piece charges for repeat made-to-measure orders, aiming for future automation.
Facing the Fear of Niching Down
- Danielle reveals the initial fear of missing out when narrowing her focus, recognizing that saying no to more general work increased her visibility and appeal in her chosen specialty.
Turning Points and Personal Growth
- In response to a reflective question, Danielle shares the personal challenges and motivations behind leaving engineering, noting that recovering from depression led her to choose herself and pursue freelancing in fashion wholeheartedly.
Advice for Future Freelancers
- Danielle encourages others to take risks, describing the rewards of following a unique path, overcoming fear, and becoming recognized in a specific niche through perseverance and self-belief.
Key Questions and Responses
1. How Did You Land High-Paying Clients on Upwork with No Reviews?
- Danielle explains that her success came from being highly selective with the jobs she pitched for on Upwork, only applying to projects directly within her niche and for clients seeking her exact skill set. She responded boldly and specifically to job postings, making her expertise clear and directly addressing the client’s problem rather than offering generic services.
2. What Makes Your Upwork Profile Stand Out?
- Danielle shares that she thoroughly completed her Upwork profile with a strong, niche-specific headline, a compelling introduction, and clear portfolio examples. She tailored her profile to highlight both her technical skills and her client-focused approach, aiming to build trust even without platform reviews.
3. Can You Describe Your Made-to-Measure and Latex Pattern Niche?
- Danielle outlines her specialization in made-to-measure garments—particularly in latex—using mobile scanning and advanced CAD techniques. She offers a remote tailoring service that creates custom patterns based on individual measurements, enabling her to serve clients and brands globally in a highly specialized area.
4. How Do You Manage Client Projects Remotely?
- She discusses conducting every aspect of her work—measurements, fittings, and pattern delivery—entirely online, primarily collaborating via Zoom and digital tools. Danielle highlights how the shift to remote work, accelerated by the pandemic, has facilitated smoother collaborations across different countries.
5. What Was Your Journey from Engineering to Niche Freelance Fashion?
- Danielle details her background as an engineer and her transition to fashion after years of sewing as a hobby. She tried tailoring full-time but found it unsustainable, so she leveraged her engineering mindset to focus on digital pattern making and ultimately carved out a niche in latex and made-to-measure work.
6. How Do You Price and Structure Your Services?
- Pricing is determined on a project basis, estimated using her own Excel-based calculation system that factors in expected hours and rates. For ongoing work, such as made-to-measure patterns generated per client order, she charges a per-piece fee, and she’s exploring ways to automate repetitive tasks as her business scales.
7. Why Focus So Narrowly on One Niche, and How Does It Feel?
- Danielle admits she was initially hesitant to niche down due to fear of missing out on broader opportunities. However, she emphasizes that focusing specifically on latex and made-to-measure has brought her high-quality clients, steady project flow, and increased recognition—plus, it feels rewarding to finally see her expertise valued and in demand.
About Danielle:
Danielle Steman is a freelance patternmaker for liberated brands committed to sustainable practices and inclusivity.
She specializes in designs that fit like a glove, focusing on made-to-measure and latex garments. A fashion tech aficionado, she thrives on technical challenges and is a strong advocate for Made to Measure and Made to Order as the future of fashion. Over the past two years, she has been deeply engaged in exploring the integration of 2D, 3D, and scanning technologies to craft perfectly fitting patterns at the touch of a button.
Connect with Danielle:
Visit her website: https://daniellesteman.nl/
Email her at info@daniellesteman.nl
Follow on Instagram
Connect on LinkedIn