Ms Allen worked as a freelance presentation designer for Cisco Systems
If you struggle with PowerPoint, then this story might motivate you to take PowerPoint more seriously. Courtney Allen, 33, studied graphic design at Boise State University and decided to focus on presentation design. She told CNBC Make It, that she "made it kind of my mission to figure out how to carve a path as a presentation designer."
After graduating in 2012, Ms Allen worked as a freelance presentation designer for Cisco Systems. She made a client portfolio on Upwork in 2015 and landed projects for major companies including Adobe.
By 2017, she started her own presentation design company, 16X9. Her company focuses on executive presentations, investor decks etc.
Believe it or not, Ms Allen's solo projects have brought in more than $2 million on Upwork, reported CNBC Make It.
According to a report by BBC, 30 million PowerPoint are made every day.
She told the media outlet, "If you're looking for a unique niche to start offering services in, full- or part-time, "focus on unsexy problems."
She added, "In graphic design, there's a lot of flashier things like advertising and branding, but it was this day-to-day task that executives across the board were looking to outsource."
She told the media outlet that it's important for people to know their worth and get paid what they deserve. Sharing one incident, Ms Allen said that one client asked to work outside of normal business hours. They reached out around 6 pm or so and wanted a project due by the end of the night.
Ms Allen wasn't sure she wanted to give up her evening to work. Her husband suggested she consider how much her night was really worth and pitch them a rate based on that.
"I believe I told them $200 an hour," And the client agreed. They even came back to her later with other assignments.