teacher or best selling author
Rewind 5 years.
I'm 17. Sitting in a stuffy office. About to find out the 'career of my dreams.' The job advisor tippity-taps on her keyboard. "Right. You say you love English? And words?" I nod. Love is an understatement. More like obsessed. I've been writing stuff for as long as I can remember (the first memory being on my grandad's sandwiches with an invisible 007 pen - yeah. Bit of a health hazard but it set the spark alight).
"Right." She pauses, tips her glasses down her nose ever so slightly and turns to face me. "We've got a few options." I'm ready. SO ready. "You could become an English teacher. Or write a best-selling novel."
And just like that 🤌 my future popped into a bleak dismal puddle of popped balloons. I wasn't expecting her to say that. Teacher? WTF! I wanted to write. Not mark essays or tell Year 10's how to wear their skirt. Best-selling author sounded a whole lot better but it was an extreme. And I didn't have any immediate storylines.
I was either gonna be broke ASF until I stumbled across a visionary book idea or I was gonna become a teacher who shouted at everyone and sat alone in the lunch room.
This was not going to be my future - nope.
So I thought uni was the best option. It'd give me time to figure it out. Decide on a career. And in the meantime I'd study English and just continue writing in whatever way I could.
_edited_edited.png)
if you haven't figured it out by now, i freakin' love turquoise
.jpeg)
uni lasted like 3 months
Now don't get me wrong - I was excited about uni. It's not like I was planning to drop out after 3 months and wrack up a bit of debt just for fun.
But something amazing happened.
I found out about copywriting. If there's such thing as a career soul-mate, I'd found it. I could write, be creative, and get paid for it. I was totally in. Only problem was, I wanted to hop on the copywriter train ASAP. I didn't wanna wait until I'd finished uni. Plus I was getting sick of analysing the 'hidden meaning' behind a blue door. Or writing about Shakespeare. And don't get me started on the student diet.
So I took a leap of faith and quit a few months after starting my course. Moved back home and gave myself 1 month to land my first gig. I built a portfolio from scratch, I worked my 🍑off, and after that first month I officially got the title of 'junior copywriter.'
It's been 5 years and since then I've explored about every niche possible, won a writing award and levelled up my freelance copywriting career to bigger heights than I ever thought possible.
✨ Now my mission is to give young copywriters the tips + advice I wish I'd known at the start. And to create a space that allows them to flourish and connect with other young writers. This led me to create a free weekly newsletter (Word Tonic) and a young copywriter's community (Word Tonic Community).
me with my fancy schmancy award - oh la la
.png)
What members say
"I joined the community because I wanted to share my journey with other young copywriters, like as soon as I saw all the members start popping up I had such fomo! It’s so hard to find young copywriters, even any copywriters in real life so being able to chat with others daily is amazing! It made me feel like it’s a more tangible career option/ it’s actually a real thing!"
~Indiana Williams ~
As an aspiring copywriter and someone who struggles a lot with reaching out to people, this was a community that made me feel like writing was actually something profitable... and not some boring hobby as people make it out to be. It gave me a sense of security and direction."
~ Diogo Ernesto ~
~ Rochella Providence ~
"I don't know a lot of other (copy)writers, and certainly not a lot of ones my age. I thought this would be a great place to meet other people (my age!!) writing for a living, share what I can and learn from a lot of different writers and perspectives.
Writing professionally at our age can get lonely at times and I really believed a place that shows others/ourselves that it's not only possible but that other people are doing it and are willing to give support would be a really important investment professionally and personally."
~ Leon-Paul Lynn ~
"I love the sense of community, having friendly and reliable people available to help out one another, and am I'm able to get advice and tips - as well as make friends, I know that sounds strange but I think making friends with people that do the same thing and are likeminded is a huge catalyst towards the success of your work."
~ Ella Hamilton Savory ~