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

Hi Grace, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I’m lucky to have known from an incredibly young age that words were my medium. I’m also lucky that I’ve been able to make a living from that same medium—but the copywriting space? It’s loud. There’s a lot of people (and robots, as the case now is) writing a lot of words. Particularly within the context of ChatGPT’s advent, I’ve found that diverging from the mainstream way of writing has been a lifeline.

When I was a baby copywriter, I was surprised by how many clients couldn’t tell me—or had never thought about—*how* they wanted their copy to sound. Like, not the topic or the content itself… but the tone, the personality, the use of language. It seemed inherently interlinked to me; how can you, as a writer, create what the client wants if you haven’t nailed down the minutiae of the voice that’s reading the words?

That’s how I work. I niched right down to a little nook in the market I call ‘brand voice development’ or ‘brand storytelling’. I work with client to, first, get clear on a granular level about their brand’s tone of voice, use of language, and way of communicating. Then—and only then—do we write the copy (but by then, it comes easily). Working in this way is, I think, what draws my ideal client to me. They’re the ones who aren’t interested in outsourcing their website’s words to AI, who value human-oriented stories, and prioritise interesting, sometimes funny, always energising ways of relating to each other.

More than once, I’ve burned myself out of the writing space. Putting your passion to work can be like that—it can really suck the life out of you, dementor style. Writing with authenticity, humanity, and story-telling at the fore is my way of protecting against that and keeping things interesting.

Grace, 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?

I’m a writer and creative entrepreneur. I’ve owned a bunch of self-employed ventures over the years, from an extreme sports travel blog to a hands-on macramé business, but at the core of all of it has always been words. Even when I burned out and broke up with writing, even when I kidded myself into thinking I was running a business that existed outside of the writing world—it was always at the epicentre. I’ve pretty much succumbed to that reality now, and am back writing for clients full time (whilst putting myself through a psychotherapy Master’s programme and writing what I hope will come to fruition as my first book).

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

That working your passion means “you’ll never work a day in your life”. Horse trollop, as I’ve come to know. Working your passion means you have to consciously walk a tightrope of commercialism versus creativity; and while those two aren’t mutually exclusive, one can eradicate all of the force of the other and send your business crashing to the ground in no time. Lean too hard into commercialism and you run yourself ragged, lost from the very thing that brought you where you are in the first place. Dive senselessly into creativity without a compass and you can end up broke faster than a march hare in mating season. It’s a highly sensitive ecosystem.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Whether hand-knotting a large tapestry, teaching knots at a macramé workshop, writing a client’s web copy, or writing my own manuscript, I think the underlying process is the same. It’s one of self-discovery, introspection, and knowing myself and the world around me better. Isn’t that what creativity is, underneath it all? A way of getting closer to our authentic nature and bringing it earthside.

I’m now pursuing a Master’s in psychotherapy, which, to me, is part of the same flow of the river. I’m excited to see how all of these mediums might intersect in the future. I don’t have a particular interest in art therapy—but reflective therapeutic writing workshops would be right up my street. Let’s see where it all goes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://paciegrews.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/completelydisgraceful/
• Other: fibre art instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paciegrews/

Image Credits

Kate Bean