“If it’s yours, you’ll get it anyway” is valid, but sometimes you need to go get what you want.

I shot my shot twice with 2 brands I thought I probably wouldn’t get halfway with and they both paid off greatly. Very unlikely they’d have come looking for me.

Also you really need to believe in yourself.
I got an offer to do some work once and they asked me how much I’d charge. I didn’t know what to say so I said “make me an offer” and it sounded good, plus I didn’t want to come across as “too expensive”. They did and I took it.

Later someone said, “ask them how high they’d have been willing to go” and when I did, turns it was TWICE as much as I settled for. God. My chest.

Also, having good people in your corner is a blessing.

There was a company I wanted to work with. Big international brand. I thought it would look good on my CV so I was willing to work on the campaign for free.

The person in charge wasn’t someone I was really friends with back then so I was super nervous but I asked anyway. He asked me how much I’d charge and I was a little surprised that he was willing to add me that easily and pay, even though technically I had brought myself.

Thanks to him pitching me to his boss, I was paid more than 4x the amount I was initially going to say.

Someone else would have let me do it for free like I said & kept the money for himself, instead he pushed for me to be paid what he felt my service was worth.

Also.

1. You can know your worth and still be realistic with your prices.

2. A brand that REALLY wants to work with you, will find a way. They’ll negotiate, they’ll up their budget, they’ll do something.