Gabe Valdivia - How to Thrive as an Independent Designer
Dive Club 🤿29 Elo 2025

Gabe Valdivia - How to Thrive as an Independent Designer

I think we're entering a world where the market for fractional design is about to explode…

So this week's episode is with one of my favorite people in the industry, Gabe Valdivia.

We're going to explore his independent journey → how he made the jump, how he's evolved the practice in year two, and all of the lessons he's learned along the way.

Some highlights:

  • Gabe’s three-phase client model
  • How to sell a client on fractional design
  • Gabe’s rules of thumb for pricing himself
  • How Gabe’s new apprenticeship program works
  • How Gabe vibe-coded his personal Freelance OS
  • How he has redefined success from year 1 to year 2
  • Gabe’s journey to figure out how to position himself as an independent
  • a lot more

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