We recently connected with Jenny Shannon and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jenny thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

“Tell your story with your whole heart.”- Brene Brown

I’ve always believed that we are changed because of our stories: the sharing and receiving of them. As an English teacher, it was my greatest joy to expose my students and help them deliver great stories into the world. I would be so bold as to say that finding your own voice is the single, greatest gift you can give to the world.

I’m no longer a teacher in the conventional sense, but even though I’m not in the classroom right now, what I do now isn’t much different. I listen to people who have an idea or a message they believe in, they’re just unsure how to put it into words. Together, we give language to their voice in a way they were unable to do on their own.

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 have always been a writer. It’s what motivated my time in a high school classroom and what monopolized all of my spare time at home. The world needs attentive scribes, and I have always been willing to volunteer as tribute. Halfway into my teaching career, I began freelancing as a copywriter/editor for companies both education and non-education-related. I would write website copy, articles and blog posts. I then moved on to resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn pages. When social media became a necessity for small businesses and big businesses alike, I began taking on contracts for content development, management, and strategy.

Soon, I was branching out into podcast ideation, ghostwriting, developmental editing, and other, bigger creative projects. When the pandemic hit I had a moment to restructure how I wanted to live out the rest of my life. While I loved ( and still love) my students, I realized that I had unintentionally been given a beautiful opportunity to build the business I had been growing for years. I officially left the classroom at the end of 2021, and have been a full-time freelancer ever since.

I believe my background in education is what draws my clients in. I am interested in cultivating other people’s ideas and voices; that’s what I have already been doing for years. The term, “curating your image or brand” never settled well with me. As a consumer, I don’t want an image or a brand- I want someone’s true voice. Their genuine experience. Their whole heart. It’s what I am most proud of as a freelancer- that I get to walk alongside others and help them deliver who they are to the world that needs them.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I lived my entire professional career until this point on someone else’s timeline. When to eat lunch, when to use the bathroom, when to hand in paperwork, and how much I could earn. My absolute favorite part about what I do is that while I am in essence building a career, I’m more so building a life. My life. The one that I want for myself, and for my family. Nothing feels more rewarding than that.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

It did. I began with just a few, short-term contracts on Upwork. I didn’t even know how to create a profile. I asked everyone I knew to help. Those projects built out my portfolio, in addition to several publications on different websites in order to get my name out there. My growing portfolio was the catalyst behind all of the long-term contracts I hold today. I knew that as soon as I had 3, long-term contracts I would take it as a sign that I was moving in the right direction.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennyvanderbergshannon/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennyvanderbergshannon
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-vanderberg-shannon-6a92a228/
• Other: https://eatmywords.substack.com/publish?utm_source=menu