Abbie Chatfield has fired up over a ridiculous work demand that has left her rightfully fuming.
Ms Chatfield, who has over 400,000 Instagram followers, has hosted F-Boy Island, and been a judge on The Masked Singer, is still left fielding offers that come with zero pay.
Ms Chatfield said that she’s often been told she should do unpaid work because it is a great “opportunity” for her.
“I’ve been asked so many times to do free work because these networks or these big companies are like ‘this is a great opportunity or great positioning’,” she said.
That isn’t always the case; often, her social media has a bigger audience than traditional networks.
She said if you’re a freelancer or creative you need to have really strong boundaries around work.
“The number of people that will take advantage of you, particularly the major networks, radio networks, television networks, or major brands”, she warned.
The 29-year-old explained that companies want to use her because their main marketing strategy is to leverage her audience.
If she’s getting paid, she’s got no problem with that, but if she isn’t, that is where she’s had to draw the line.
“I’ve been asked to do so much work for no money at all,” she said.
Ms Chatfield said she gets frustrated because everyone else on these projects is getting paid.
She was recently asked to do a project that would take eight days to complete and was informed that there was no budget to pay her.
The producer will get paid, as will the cameraman, the creative director, the personal assistant, or whoever, but she’s still expected to work for free.
“Every single person on that set will be getting paid except for me because I’m doing it for the honor of it. Why aren’t you all doing it for the honor of it?” she asked.
“Why am I going to do free work for you?”
Ms Chatfield said she’s seen so many celebrities and creatives work for free because they’re promised they’ll get better-paid opportunities in the future that never pan out.
“I’ve seen people time and time again rinsed out by this industry and get worked to the bone,” she claimed.
In response to this ‘work for free’ culture, she’s had to set really “strong boundaries,” otherwise she’d be taken advantage of.
She’s learned that you should never work for free unless you feel you’ll learn from the experience.
“Don’t let people tell you that you need a network because that isn’t the case anymore they need you. Honestly just focus on being more creative,” she advised.
She’s also noticed that when she’s been asked to do free work and pushed back on it, somehow, the money is magically found.
“I’ve said no to doing free work, and then they’ve really needed and wanted me, and after having no budget, they suddenly find a budget and can pay me,” she said.
Her advice was lapped up online with young people sharing similar gripes about not being paid for work they’ve done
“The Last time I was asked to be on a panel, I did it free. I found out the others were paid $3000 each, which they were offered,” one shared.
“I launched my photo booth business two months ago and I’m shocked at how so many people expect me to work for free or offer for free,” someone else wrote.
“I once agreed to sit on a panel for free, and the woman next to me charged $7000, it turned out. Good on her, a lesson for me,” another shared.
“Artists are always expected to give the time and skill of their craft for free,” another argued.
There were also just plenty of people in the comment section absolutely blown away that Chatfield’s often asked to work for free.
Someone said they were “shook”, another declared it “crazy”, and another dubbed it “unbelievable” that it was still happening to Chatfield.