Everyone has an origin story. The story that explains how you got started on the path you�re walking now and why you started walking in the first place.� You�ve probably churned this story out at least once or twice...
Everyone has an origin story.
The story that explains how you got started on the path you�re walking now and why you started walking in the first place.�
You�ve probably churned this story out at least once or twice already. It graces your �About Me� page, and it�s the go-to icebreaker for every podcast you�ve guested on.
So tell me, how did you get started, %FIRSTNAME%?
Maybe the pandemic pulled the rug out from under your feet, launching you into this new venture. Or perhaps your journey has more of a �meandering creek� vibe�like mine.
I hit the workforce with an IT Bachelor�s degree in hand, a �meh� sort of passion for tech, and a bank account that didn�t complain.
And then�dun-dun-dun�10 years of life happened.
This is when we cue up Don�t Stop Believin� by Journey with a video montage of me bouncing around corporate jobs, going back to school to study marketing, and scoring a job as a �Jill-of-All-Trades� Marketing Manager for a software firm.
Closer to job love, but still no fireworks. 
Enter my crossroads moment.�
My husband and I were talking about making a human child together, so starting a better job meant kissing maternity benefits goodbye. Or I could tank my ambition and get a part-time job close to home and a hypothetical baby.�
It was a big, fat, adulting-level dilemma.
That�s when I discovered copywriting. I was at a one-day conference listening to a speaker share headline formulas when she started talking about becoming a freelance copywriter.
Cue montage 2.0: High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco plays over my transition from cube-dweller to queen of my freelance domain.
I took an online copywriting course while I collected my full-time wage.� I jumped into a mentoring program, which accelerated my understanding of what it meant to be a freelancer. I planned my exit from the cube farm, setting specific milestones I would meet.�I had never been so interested in work before!�
I was still working full time when I got my first copywriting project, and I remember the sweatiness of it all. How much should I charge? How long could I keep my colleagues out of the boardroom while I took the brief? How long should it take me to write? Is what I�m writing any good?�
I had no idea.
It was exhilarating. And terrifying.
So was the second project and the third, but project by project, I built on my ability to write and my capacity to deliver work in a way that felt and looked professional.�
Fast-forward 13 years. Now, I can write a killer sales page while sleepwalking. I mentor copywriters, doling out the wisdom I�ve gathered over years of trial, error and fabulous wins.
But here�s the kicker: Before that fateful conference, I didn�t even know the word �copywriting�.
So, if you�re glancing enviously at others, hit pause. I guarantee they just have more hours at the keyboard. They learned�and so can you.
Everyone starts knowing nothing.
Forget those �zero-to-hero-in-six-seconds� narratives. Most stories are crafted one word, one project, one client at a time.�
Just like yours will be.
The post We all start knowing nothing: A copywriter�s journey appeared first on Copywrite Matters.
