Today we’d like to introduce you to Paulette Perhach

Hi Paulette, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

When I was 10, I told my best friends at the bus stop that I wanted to be a writer.

“Do you have any idea how hard that is?” asked my friend.

I did not.

We lived in Florida, but I liked to climb trees and read. I loved story. But I also loved being with people, conversations, adventures, life. I wasn’t an introvert, but I did need alone time. So I thought I’d try journalism to get that balance.

I was also always hoping writing would take me places. I fantasized about those assignments that sent you to Tahiti to try a local food and report back.

And yet I found myself at school board meetings. Journalism, at least in the way I was doing it, wasn’t right for me.

In 2008, I joined Peace Corps, an experience that blew my mind wide open. It was there I realized I wanted to be a more creative writer. There, I also realized how much I love adult education.

When I came back, in the wake of the recession, I got a corporate job, where I wrote proposals worth millions of dollars. The requests I responded to said things like “Proposals arriving after the deadline will not be considered.” If I forgot to include a form or my math was wrong or I didn’t get it in the mail by the right day, I would be held responsible for the loss.

I studied how to avoid a six-figure mistake. I took online classes in how to manage my time to meet deadlines, how to juggle projects, and how to use Outlook to organize my day. In the evenings, I took writing classes and on the weekends, I wrote at a coffee shop. I used my steady paychecks to pay off $20,000 of student loans, credit card debt, and mom debt to set myself up to be a debt-free writer.

I felt as if I had two identities: corporate Paulette and writer Paulette. I was so impatient to just get to the writing part. I took my job seriously, but mostly, I saw it as a timesuck standing in the way of my writing career.

I had no idea that job was training me to be a professional writer.

When I left that job, I felt capable of living as a freelance writer and writing coach. While freelancing, I was managing my time to meet deadlines, juggling projects, and organizing my life with Outlook. I hadn’t left business; I had started a business. I realized my day job had prepared me to be a more professional writer than I would have otherwise been.

I started what would become my software, The Writer’s Mission Control Center. And I’ve now racked up more than 20 bylines in The New York Times. Through a balance of creative and business skills, I have become a writer.

My friend was right — I had no idea how hard it would be.

I’ve created a life that feels true to me, one that flows with the energy of my day and the seasons of life. And that’s been worth the fight to get here.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

Ok I just got off the floor. I’m still laughing but I think I’ve gathered myself enough to answer.

No, it has not.

The roiling waters in which I have paddled through life have come from forces both external and internal.

In the outside world, the publishing industry has completely deformed from what I knew as a kid, those travel writing assignments that would pay you $2 a word to travel to Tahiti are all but gone. The New York Times has paid freelancers the same rate since the ’90s. Many titles have closed their doors.

Internally, I’ve struggled with what I used to call The Chaos Monster, and I now know is ADHD. Like many women, I wasn’t diagnosed until well into adulthood, at 38. With this neurodevelopmental disorder, I struggle to follow through, focus on assignments, and quell impulses (like to travel to Tahiti on a credit card.)

I’ve had to pivot and plot, get back in the boat and dry myself off. In the latest example, with the introduction of AI, I had to completely redesign my coaching business to help writers focus on what AI can’t do, and double-down there. For myself, I’ve focused on building community and helping writers with personal essays. AI can’t make a friend, can’t get its heart broken and write about it.

We’ve been impressed with Powerhouse Writers, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

Writing isn’t just about craft – it’s about creating a sustainable creative life. That’s what Powerhouse Writers helps writers do through our coaching practice, The Finishing School for Writers, and software, The Writer’s Mission Control Center.

Many writing programs focus solely on craft, but I’ve learned through my own journey from writing a non-fiction book to New York Times bylines that success comes from balancing the creative and practical sides of a writer’s life. Writers need systems that support their creativity, not stifle it.

That’s why I developed The Writer’s Mission Control Center. When writers are disorganized, they waste precious creative energy on logistics and often struggle to feel like “real” writers. Our software helps them manage their submissions, track their progress, and maintain momentum – essentially, to build a professional writing practice that gets results.

What sets us apart is our holistic approach to the writer’s journey. We work on mindset, habit formation, and resilience alongside practical skills like dealing with publishers and managing submissions. I bring real-world publishing experience to the table, having navigated the industry both as a writer and a coach. I understand how writing actually gets out into the world – the practical steps between drafting and publication.

What I’m most proud of is seeing writers transform from feeling scattered and uncertain to confident and productive. They don’t just write more – they build sustainable creative lives that can weather the ups and downs of a writing career.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?

I tell people about the time our L.L. Bean-ish cousins were visiting, and we went to Adventure Island Waterpark. Dad put all of us in one of those big round tubes at the top of a huge waterslide. He went to get in then, and the attendant said, “No sir, that’s too many!” But my dad just said, “Hup, too late!”, then jumped in and shoved off. We soared off the slide’s bumps in a way that was clearly meant to be avoided by the set weight limit. My cousins went whooping back to their parents, saying, “You would not believe what Uncle Peter did!”

This is where I get my respect for authority.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pauletteperhach.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulettejperhach
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pauletteisawriter
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/pauletteperhach