Today we’d like to introduce you to Paulette Perhach.
Hi Paulette, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started by telling my best friends at the bus stop when I was 10 that I wanted to be a writer.
“Do you have any idea how hard that is?” said my best friend.
I did not.
I did the tiny journal to middle and high school yearbook to journalism degree path. Then I interned at Health and Coastal Living, worked at a newspaper in St. Augustine, FL for three years, then did Peace Corps. While in South America, I realized I wanted to be a more creative writer than I had been..
When I returned, it was post-recession, and everything, including journalism, had been scrambled. I needed a j-o-b, so I had the classic ye olde tech job, writing proposals. I was taking writing classes and submitting, and a story of mine blew up in 2016, called A Story of a Fuck Off Fund. I quit my job to become a freelance writer and writing coach, and I’ve been doing that ever since, based on the principles I describe in my book, Welcome to the Writer’s Life.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. But I am a more resilient person for it.
At 38, I was diagnosed with ADHD, which explained a LOT. So many of my struggles were mental, and I’m working on a novel that’s about what that’s like, to struggle with something no one else can see and so few people understand.
I’ve always struggled with disorganization, which led me to create my software, The Writer’s Mission Control Center.
In a creative life, I’ve realized, you almost always feel like half a failure, because you are still going to keep failing a lot. You get rejections and your ideas don’t pan out and money runs low.
But I realized a long time ago that all you have to do is get up one more time than you fall, and that has guided me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Oh, how I long to specialize. My ADHD just won’t have it.
For essays I think I’m best known for rendering emotion on the page. My second viral article was just about a breakup, something it’s usually hard to get your friends to listen about.
In feature stories, I love to tug on the sleeve of the world and show them someone living life in a more creative or intentional way than most of us.
In my business, Powerhouse Writers, I’m known for blending creativity, tech, and community to help people adopt the identity of writer and finish their work.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
On a bad day in Peace Corps, I decided to buy a horse. I had to Google, “How to ride horse.” Two weeks later I was galloping.
That experience opened my eyes to just how many possibilities we live among. We’ve gotten so used to it, but we have superpowers eons of homo sapiens would have killed for.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pauletteperhach.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulettejperhach/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pauletteisawriter/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauletteperhach/
- Twitter: https://x.com/pauletteperhach
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Writerpauletteperhach
