We recently connected with Samantha Paige Rosen and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Samantha Paige thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I’ve taken a lot of risks in my professional life—auditioning to be the lead singer of a wedding band when I was 15 (didn’t get it—no driver’s license); moving to Los Angeles after college to work in television without a job, apartment, or friend within 3,000 miles; later walking away from a TV writing career to go to graduate school—but the biggest risk was starting my own business.

In a way, it was more of a necessity than a choice. I’d had a couple of back-to-back full-time writing jobs that took a toll on my mental, emotional, and even physical health. I felt like I wasn’t in charge of my own life and I desperately needed that to change.

In order to make the shift from full-time employee to small business owner, a few things had to happen. First, I needed to develop more of a financial safety net. At 29, I moved back in with my parents, which allowed me some time and space to get my business up and running, and to recover from the toll my previous jobs had taken on my health.

Second, I wanted to have a hybrid business. I never liked writing for eight-plus hours a day, which left me feeling starved for human interaction and too drained to work on my own creative projects. It also seemed challenging to get enough clients to have a completely writing-based freelance business. So I turned my attention to something I enjoyed doing while in graduate school: tutoring students in writing.

The creative/social/financial combination of the tutoring and the writing is a significant reason why this business is still going strong (and is largely referral-based!) after five years. I love being in charge of my days, mixing content writing for clients as diverse as environmental nonprofits, educational institutions, banks, and medical device companies, plus making time to pitch and write pieces under my own byline. I was even able to conceive of and start working on my first book, A Home for Tomorrow—an anthology of personal essays and Q&As exploring shared homes and shared values (inspired by that move back in with my parents as an adult)! It will be published by Beacon Press in summer 2026. I’m 100% sure I wouldn’t have had the mental or creative energy to pursue this book if I’d been working for someone else full-time.

And then I have my students. They’re so great. I tutor students from 3rd grade through college on academic and creative writing, college and graduate school admissions essays, and more. I also coach adults on writing creatively, writing to support their businesses, and writing to advance their careers. I enjoy holding my students to a high standard with respect to their writing craft, but I also pride myself on making authentic connections and having a good time. Since I work virtually, my students are from across the country (and sometimes around the world).

Self-employment can be a lot—I work more hours than I did as an employee and there’s tons of unpaid admin. I’m still learning to juggle all of the different hats I wear, especially as the book demands more of my time. But so far, the freedom I feel and the range of projects I’m able to take on are so worth it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve always been a writer in one form or another. I handwrote stories in a composition book (like Harriet the Spy!) during elementary school recess. I served as managing editor of my high school newspaper. After college, I wrote TV pilots in my studio apartment on the weekends while assisting writers on TV shows during the weekdays.

My love of words and the clarity and connection they can bring led me to earn my Master of Fine Arts in writing from Sarah Lawrence College, and of course to do words all day long now, as a content writer, tutor, coach, and creative writer. My approach to all of these areas is founded upon authenticity, collaboration, and excellence. I bring imagination, enthusiasm, and professionalism to each assignment and interaction, and I believe that learning from those around me can only make me better at what I do. In 2024, I was awarded “Best Tutor” from an organization in my area, outside of Philadelphia, called Main Line Parent.

It’s important to me to be able to practice what I preach to students by continually improving my own skills as a writer. I’ve been writing professionally for over a decade and there’s not a weekday that I don’t put words on the page, either for clients or for myself. My creative writing centers around community, queerness, chronic illness, mental health, arts and culture, and social justice. Working through these topics in writing allows me to connect more deeply with myself and forge connections with others.

You can find my work in publications including Slate, Washington Post, Interview Magazine, and BOMB. I’m particularly proud of my latest personal essay for Them magazine on coming out later in life, which is linked on my website. And my upcoming book about communal living and building communities incorporates many of the themes I mentioned above. You can follow me on social media (mainly Instagram) for updates leading up to publication in summer 2026!

While it’s not part of my business, I also love making pottery and I do occasionally sell my work! Pottery is somehow incredibly freeing and endlessly frustrating, and it’s taught me that sometimes art turns out better when you surrender your plans (ugh). You can see my pots on my website if that’s of interest!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’m someone who is frequently in my own head, which can be… a lot. Part of what drives my creative journey is articulating those challenging thoughts and feelings in order to help myself and others feel less alone. There can be community in creativity and truth-telling, and that’s the kind of artistic life I seek. I like to work silently alongside others. I like getting and giving feedback. I like to be honest in my writing about what’s troubling me because I know I can’t be the only one, even if it feels like I am.

When I felt ashamed because I didn’t know anyone else who lived with their parents in their 30s, for example, I wrote an essay about it. I was tired of stewing in my shame; I wanted to share my story, even if it felt embarrassing, and hear from other people who perhaps lived nontraditionally in some form. I felt so much better when I started finding others who lived communally because of finances, illness, loneliness, cultural background, or simply because it brought them joy. That’s when I got the idea for an anthology of personal essays on different forms of communal living. And now I’m collaborating on this project with many new friends and creative partners, all because I started sharing one of my most difficult truths.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think the biggest barriers for artists are lack of time and brain space. I can only speak for myself, but it’s not very often that I’m struck with a genius idea for an essay or book or new approach to my business. Most of the good ideas I’ve had happen when my brain isn’t crowded with deadlines and demands.

Capitalism really kills creativity. Now that we can be reached at any moment through email and text, the demands on our time—and the push to monetize every second—are just constant. I wonder what kinds of things would we all create if society didn’t revolve around productivity. If we had a chance to breathe. I’d really like to find out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.samanthapaigerosen.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthapaigerosen/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthapaigerosen/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/samanthaprosen
• Other: Just for fun, here’s the link to my most recent published essay: https://www.them.us/story/late-blooming-lesbian-personal-essay-am-i-ok

Image Credits

The two photos in the striped shirt were taken by Laura Piccoli.