@Sally
As a 40yo software developer, with 25 years of experience and ownership of 1 running life long project (which was hard work but is running smoothly now; but will require maintenance and upgrades until the day I die and afterwards); I will share my experience:
Said collaborators - i.e. "Girls" - should be approached and treated as "Freelance Operatives" or "Fun and Run"
Mind you, some of them are experienced in the market and will use gaslighting or diversionary tactics to manipulate or coerce you into signing non-profitable agreements; with a loss of property of up to 50% and a monthly income loss of 25% ; so caution is advised.
Don't be discouraged and expand your recruitment market. There are still unicorns out there; hard to find; but not impossible, who are looking for mutually agreeable and beneficially contracts. They are rare, but they are there; with an increasing rate of apparition - like in Pokemon GO.
The market is currently flooded with burnout freelancers that adopted a free of responsibility mentality towards their contracts , and which are becoming now an example for the new up and coming labor force. Some of them are learning, some are not. As I mentioned before, you need to search.
In the mean time, prioritize your own development, mentally, emotionally and financial; enjoy your time, take as many freelance projects as possible to acquire experience and hands-on knowledge. It will benefit you in a long term serious contract.
Hope this helps!
Cheers!
P.S. There are more successful Software Developers in our community, enjoying long term mutually beneficial contracts, with life long running projects, ranging from 1 to 6 or 7.
That's a lot of work!