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

Alright, Cheryl thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?

The Copy Brew started back in 2018 after graduating from university as a solopreneur, with me running entire (back then) boutique copywriting studio alone. It was only until mid 2023 that I decided to hire my first team member as I wanted to Pivot our business to a micro agency style model.

Most of my team members I hired through Bali WhatsApp group chats as thats where I had the most friendships and industry connections, and there were many digital nomads. I put up a post saying that I was interested in looking for freelance copywriters. For me personally, I did not go through the normal interview process I am very much someone that is very intuitive and as I chatted with them through text and scheduled a call I could send the energy and their style of communication and that was how I conducted my “interviews” and how I knew whether these team members were the right fit for me and based on their style of communication.

I have never believed in interviews and hiring through the rigorous process that corporate companies go through because I believe that in starting my own business it shouldn’t feel like you’re working for a company, and I aimed to very much break the social norms of what corporate hiring should be like.

We wanted clients who came to us to feel welcomed, and that they were valued, including our team members. This is why my “interview” was getting to know someone through the way they communicated by text, as everything we say and do as an agency is about communications, and if we can’t nail that right from the get-go, then how would I trust another team member to do the same? That was how I went about hiring people

One of the most intimidating things about hiring or outsourcing your work to other people is knowing that you are transitioning into the role of a leader when you are so used to running your own business when you Outsource and hire people it is about being accountable to working with them and also checking in making sure that everything is okay and stepping into the role of a leader which was something I wasn’t used to and I had self-doubts about whether I was doing the right thing or not, especially because I haven’t worked in a corporate role of background but I just had to trust the process and some of my colleagues were and encouraging me that I was doing the right thing

Cheryl, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

The Copy Brew started as a freelance copywriting job straight out of University in 2018 as I didn’t like working for other people and being told what to do in a company and I knew I was very hit strong in terms of wanting to stop my own business no matter how difficult it was and I decided to take the plunge and back then had no idea about what copywriting was.

I dived head-on into discovering the world of communications and knowing that this could be done as a solo business owner. fast forward 4 years later The Copy Brew is a Communications and strategy Consulting agency our role is to refine brand voices through strategy driven words helping modern brands to communicate with standards and not shortcuts. Our mission has always been to refine brand voices, strategy driven words to stand the test of time.

With AI these days, people often think that the work of copywriters is easily replaced. But words when written well shouldn’t be easily replaced by AI. Our approach to copywriting is refined and elevated, soft yet poised.

We provide brand strategy consulting services whether your business is looking to pivot, and need our professional input based on your marketing strategies, social media content, email marketing, launch funnels and sales strategies. We also specialise in website copy and sales funnel copy.

Our team is made up of a diverse group of individuals who come from US & UK who understand the value of providing not just copywriting services but the true intention of what it means to build a brand upon marketing strategies executed well which is why we went down the path of pivoting The Copy Brew into an agency.

Alongside our copywriting services, we also collaborate with branding and web designers who are an integral part of any project. Most of our clients are usually referred to us by industry friends and designers amid their web design process. Without them, you wouldn’t see the gorgeous websites on our portfolio. The time we spend establishing these relationships with them are an integral part for us.

Writing gripping stories is a science as well as an art. It requires a keen sense of language as well as the capacity to craft sentences that enthrall and motivate your audience.

With experience writing for more than 70 market-leading brands, we understand the power of words and know how to use them wisely to differentiate ourselves in a crowded field. The appropriate words give your message life and help you engage your audience in meaningful and in-depth interactions.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

In mid 2023, I was almost on the very verge of wanting to sell The Copy Brew because there was a point where I had taken a year off my business due to my own life and that was zero clients coming through the door and to be honest it’s still it’s a struggle these days which is why I’ve taken a step back to pursue copywriting as a freelance career rather than full-time.

As I will be transitioning into another career path and I nearly wanted to sell my business off but I decided that it is still a part of me that I love doing and I still love to very much keep the website up and going to those who are still interested in learning more about our business and expertise.

It was a very difficult decision for me not to sell my business off because I had built this since 2018 and had invested so much time and money into some of the rebranding processes that we have gone through and I decided what a waste it would be to have to sell this business off despite the times that I have felt like giving up with The Copy Brew.

It is some of the industry partners that have motivated me to keep pushing and reaching out to our target audience to make ourselves seen I would not say we are successful we are very much still growing and sometimes we have our struggles but that is how we learn as business owners I think it is so important to come back to why you started your business in the first place and the value that is still brought to the readers.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

December 2023 was the time that I decided to Pivot my business I decided that I did not want to shut down my copywriting agency but would still pursue copywriting services part-time while currently I am starting a master’s degree in counseling and I knew since 7 years ago that mental health was a career that I had wanted to pursue but I also didn’t want to give up my career in writing.

I then decided that I would put a short pause on the copywriting agency. Whilst taking a short break, we continued to receive client inquiries came through I would inbox and I was still able to do the thing that I love the most which was copywriting and still be able to pursue my master’s degree which for something I never thought was possible.

Counseling and mental health has always been a dream of mine due to my own personal experiences in therapy, and so has writing. I decided that what better way would it be to not give up the both careers but have them both simultaneously blend to complement one another in my career as a counselor in training.

Contact Info:

• Website: thecopybrew.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thecopybrew
• Facebook: facebook.com/thecopybrew
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-copy-brew/?viewAsMember=true