Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andrea Hoffmann. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Andrea, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

I’ve had a long and winding career, doing everything from creating children’s toys to running marketing for a large law firm.

When I first went out on my own, my company was Hoffmann Communications. I did that for years, with a consistent roster of clients, and found a balance between having a child and a copywriting/consulting agency.

Then, one of my clients wanted to go into business with me. We created an agency called 8Fold (named after the Buddhist 8 Fold Path of Enlightenment).

Shortly after we got that off the ground, I got pregnant with my second daughter. It was a hard pregnancy and an early delivery and she was colicky. Something had to give. So, I sold my interest in it and went full-blown mommy mode.

I held onto some clients, but eventually took a full-time corporate job with better boundaries around my time and a more consistent salary.

Five years later, our whole department was re-org’d and asked to relocate. I severed and launched ACT2 Distribution— not entirely sure what I’d do besides corporate writing, but with an inkling that I wanted to expand beyond that.

Since then, I’ve written two children’s books and started two Substack publications in addition to my client work. I have a bunch of other work coming along eventually, and I am letting that unfold in its time.

To finally answer your actual question, A, C, and T are my initials (pre-marriage), and it seemed appropriate to accept and embrace this time as my second act, now that my kids are older and I can be more committed to my creative pursuits.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a creative’s creative.
I get almost stupidly excited about the joining of forces between words and images to tell a story for a brand. My energy in a creative team brainstorming session is always high, and I’m a rapid-fire idea generator.

All my clients will tell you I always over-deliver with many options. I ask a lot of questions and I play devil’s advocate, challenging the status quo of their direction (not in a belligerent way, but to ensure that the assumptions hold).

Since I’ve held many roles throughout my career, and I’m insatiably curious, clients find my perspective and approach to be useful in their strategic planning. I’m excellent at getting to the heart of a story and figuring out why someone should care. Then, I write to that.

Unlike some copywriters, I leave my ego at the door. Just because someone prefers one version over another doesn’t always make the option bad or wrong. I don’t take it personally.

I write everything— collateral materials, ads, presentations, websites, social posts, articles, scripts, the list goes on. I love to humanize companies and make them connect to their audience.

On a personal writing level, I pen all sorts of personal essays that find the absurdity in everyday life. My style is tight, witty, and usually self-deprecating. I try not to take it all too seriously because we’re just little humans on a spinning rock, doing our level best without an instruction manual. How can we not laugh at ourselves?

I’m most proud of my agility. I can tone-shift like a copywriting chameleon. That’s how I’ve been able to write for everything from an AI startup to a gold mine to an annuity company. At the end of the day, all writing is for human consumption. I’m fluent in Human.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

100% of my clients are referrals and repeat business from happy customers.

Ironically, as a marketer, I’ve never had to market myself.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As I mentioned above, the unexpected challenges of motherhood required a real reevaluation of my priorities and a really hard choice of selling my interest in our agency.

I often say it’s a shame we can’t compartmentalize family and career into independent timeframes. It’s hard as a woman when your peak childbearing years coincide with your peak career-building years and you feel like you can’t do either at 100%. Plus, you’re just.so.exhausted.

For that reason, my 50s are my favorite time so far: I’m coming back to that pre-kid creativity and I can actually give my work 90% of my attention.

The other 10% is split between my husband and my dog.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-hoffmann-037874?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Other: https://whatarethechances.substack.com/

Image Credits

These are all original photographs by me. (I’m also a photographer)