TheCraft & CommerceSeries.
A four-workshop series for independent professionals who want to run a smarter, more sustainable freelance practice. Built by a freelancer who learned everything the hard way — and wants to save you the trouble.
The Series
Four workshops.
One clear thread.
Each session builds on the last, but every workshop stands alone. Start anywhere. Workshop 1 is the most popular entry point because it's immediately practical.
Prompt With Purpose
AI basics and prompting for success — built for how freelancers actually work.
Scope, Systems & Sanity
Running a freelance practice without burning out.
Know Your Numbers
Financial clarity for freelancers who didn't go to business school.
Build with Intention
Hands-on. Team-based. One very important lesson about what happens when you add 'just one more thing.'
Prompt With Purpose
AI basics and prompting for success — built for how freelancers actually work.
Cut through the noise. This session gives you a clear mental model of how AI tools work, where they fall short, and how to write prompts that actually get useful results. No technical background required — just curiosity and a willingness to try.
Format
Evening session
Duration
2 hours
Group size
8–24 participants
Workshop
01 of 04
What AI Actually Is — And What It Isn't
Cut through the noise. Establish a practical mental model.
20 minThe Five-Part Brief Framework
How to structure a prompt so the AI has something real to work with.
30 minHands-On Prompting Practice
Try it with your own work. Draft three prompts for your practice.
30 minAI Privacy & PIPEDA Basics
What you need to know about client data and AI tools.
20 minBuilding Your Prompt Library
Leave with a starter set of prompts you can use tomorrow.
20 min
About the Facilitator
Nancy McKinney
Nancy McKinney is a brand strategist and designer with over 25 years of experience working with independent professionals, small businesses, associations, and realtors. She is the founder of Flink Design.
Recently, with no programming background, she used AI tools to build Freelance Folio — a full-featured invoicing and accounting app for Canadian freelancers — in under two weeks. She didn't settle for what the AI produced. She directed it.
That distinction matters. The hard part of working with AI isn't the technology — it's knowing what you want, why it matters, and how to communicate it clearly enough that the tool can actually help. That requires judgment. It requires taste. It requires a practice that's genuinely yours.
These workshops are built from that experience. Not theory. Not a textbook. A working professional who learned what actually works — and what doesn't — by doing it.
Questions
Frequently asked.
Register Interest
Ready to get started?
Sessions are scheduled based on interest. Register below and you'll be the first to know when a session is confirmed in your area — or to discuss a private booking for your team or organization.