The Hustle
Years in Tampa Bay
14
Hustle (job)
Freelance Writer
What do you do?
My job is two-fold.
I help companies tell their stories through content marketing. For businesses, I help to craft and create content that tells a story, engages the company’s audience, and grows the company’s audience. This can take on a variety of forms: website copy, social media leads, bios, project descriptions, newsletters, service descriptions, etc. I also help businesses with social media strategy and implementation.
The other half of my job is writing for publications. I write personal essays and journalism for publications large and small. I cover topics like family life, social justice, women’s issues, health and wellness, addiction/alcoholism, and real estate.
Why do you do it?
I do it because I love it! I love telling stories. I think stories are what connect us. I truly believe every business and every person has a story worth telling, and I feel pretty grateful to be the one to help tell those stories.
What was your Catalyst? (How did you get started?)
I was working as an editor at an area publication and had just a baby. I’d always wanted to venture out on my own, but it was never “the right time.” After I had my second child, I decided it was the right time. I wanted the flexibility of making my own schedule so that I could spend more time with my kids during the day – that’s not to say I work less or harder than I did in the corporate world. I work more than ever now, but I love it.
What’s a common misconception or unknown aspect of what you do?
My job is 85 percent marketing myself, 10 percent admin work, and 5 percent writing. Most people think I just create stories and do interviews and write all day long (which would be a dream, by the way), but that isn’t how it goes at all. I spend most of my time marketing, which is done in a variety of ways in my industry. I am constantly sending pitches for stories to editors, reaching out to marketing managers at businesses, following up on pitches and email sent. I’m constantly talking to people about what I do. The writing is a direct result of the marketing.
What’s the most challenging part of your Hustle?
The ebb and flow of the workload. Freelance writing is kind of seen as a feast or famine business, and it can be like that if I am not consistent with my marketing. Sometimes I’m super busy and have a ton of work. Other times, things are pretty quiet. It’s easy to slack off on marketing when I’m fully booked and have a ton of deadlines looming. The result, though, is a thin month, which is difficult as well.
What’s the most valuable piece of business advice/insight that’s helped you?
Success takes time and consistency. For me, it’s easy to compare my inner struggle to someone else’s outer success. When I do this, I fail to see what the other person went through to gain that success.
