Interview with Matthew Knight, founder of Leapers

Freelancing offers freedom, but it also comes with unique challenges that can take a real toll on mental health.

From late payments and isolation to the relentless balancing act between work and running a business, independent professionals often find themselves without the support structures available to traditional employees.

Matthew Knight, founder of Leapers, has spent the past eight years building research, resources, and community for the self-employed.

What began as an online space for sharing the realities of modern work has grown into a leading voice advocating for freelance mental health and better working practices.

In this interview we find out more about the spark behind Leapers, the evolution of its mission, and what it takes to build a sustainable, supportive freelance life.

What was the spark or moment that led you to found Leapers and how has its mission evolved since?

I’d built a group of people who were actively discussing modern work, and the most common topics which came up in conversation were around the more human experience.

Many of the group were self-employed, and spoke about their lack of support, isolation, challenges they faced – and I was actively trying to find useful resources and support for them, but I couldn’t find anything specifically for the self-employed.

What started as a community space grew into developing our own research and resources, in order to both better understand the challenges the self-employed face, and to provide practical suggestions for improving mental health.

Eight years on, our focus now is research, and we work with many communities and partners to help understand and improve how the self-employed, and in particular freelancers, are able to work well.

Leapers addresses mental health challenges specific to freelancers. What gaps did you identify that traditional support systems weren’t solving?

None of the mental health at work support systems provide anything for freelancers – they’re all employee based, and many employers will actively avoid offering any sort of infrastructure for their contractors and freelancers.

So it’s less that traditional support systems aren’t solving the problem, more that there are no support systems for non-employees.

Eight years ago, it wasn’t really much on the radar of charities and unions either.

Today, it’s a much better story, most support groups and communities have mental health for freelancers on their radar – but the biggest challenge is still the lack of support and respect offered by hirers.

A lot of freelancers say they lack support for mental health at work. How have your research and annual reports shaped the resources and community you’ve built?

Our research each year identifies common (and less common) influences on mental health, and we aim to communicate this widely with policy makers, communities, the freelancing ecosystem and the freelancers themselves to help build awareness of what things cause negative impact, along with what behaviours can improve things.

All of our work is rooted in the evidence we gather, along with research we find from academia, and insights from working with fellow communities.

Time and time again, we see the biggest issues being things like lack of work, lack of confidence, feelings of isolation, and then issues like taxation, late payments and pricing.

You describe Leapers as a “virtual water‑cooler” for freelancers breaking isolation. Can you walk us through a community moment or story that exemplifies that ethos?

I think the most significant moments are where members of our communities make their own connections that go well beyond just connecting online.

When Leapers was a community, many of its members met up outside of the digital space, collaborated on projects, even formed fast friendships. It can be hard to meet new people as an adult, so having shared experiences can be a great way to connect with new people, and build your own support networks.

It’s not the right approach to rely upon digital communities to be your support network, but rather as a stepping stone to help you find individuals who start to become part of your support network.

What was the core insight that led you to create Freelancing.Support?

There’s a huge learning curve when you first start freelancing – and whilst there are lots of myths and assumptions of what freelancing is like, there are also lots of hidden surprises that many people don’t discover until it slaps them in the face.

Freelancing Support is designed to highlight all of the steps on the journey, and signpost to useful and good quality resources on the topic – sort of like a homepage for freelancing.

You’re working on launching ‘Flightplan’, to guide people in their first year of freelancing. What are the most common misconceptions or fears new freelancers have, and how can they over come them?

Most people tend to know about the common issues like irregularity of income and late payments, but I think what surprises most people is that fellow freelancers are really supportive, even though you might have considered them competition. It’s why we believe so strongly in community.

It also surprises people the balance between doing work and doing ‘business’ (like admin, finding work, chasing invoices, accounting, tax, contracts, marketing, etc).

Tax is also a common challenge, it can feel incredibly complex and people often leave it to the last minute so things are rushed.

But if there’s one thing I’d encourage all freelancers to be aware of – it’s contracts, and making sure you have them in place before starting work. Too many disputes and late payment issues could be resolved by having a contract in place.

You actively work with organizations to implement “Freelance Friendly” practices. What are the biggest friction points you see in how clients treat freelancers?

Poor communication, lack of contracts, and late payments.

It’s not malicious, it often comes down to lack of process on the hirer side, and no-one being internally accountable for how organisations work with freelancers.

A lot of time, money and headaches could be saved with a little bit of process design.

You describe moments of doubt and discomfort running your own path. How do you manage self-doubt, burnout, and emotional resilience in your personal freelance journey?

I don’t.

I’m far from having all the answers or having it cracked. I struggle with self-doubt, burnout and lack of motivation constantly, and it can often feel like an uphill battle.

If nothing else, I’m try to share my own experiences, so that others can see my mistakes, but also that someone as experienced and focused on mental health, still struggles, and there’s no shame in being human.

If you could offer one piece of advice about building a sustainable freelance life, what would it be?

Put your own health at the top of your priority list.

If you’re not taking care of your wellbeing, something is going to snap, and you’ll be unable to work, which means you’re unable to make an income – which is a scary prospect for the self-employed, who don’t get sick pay.

Make sure you’re investing in your own mental health as part of your business plan.

As the future of self-employment unfolds, which trend or change are you most excited (or most concerned) about?

I’d like to see more rights provided to the self-employed – I’d like to see contracts as a legal mandatory requirement, and simplification and alignment of the tax and rights system, so that the self-employed cannot be abused as workers without rights, yet taxed as employees.

I’m also keeping a close eye on the impact that AI has on employment at large – I expect we’ll see more people being pushed in to self-employment, not by choice, but by circumstance.