We recently connected with Joshua Mackey and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Joshua thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I’m privileged to make a living working full-time as a writer/editor, but it definitely wasn’t an easy, nor a clear, path to it. I initially wanted to work in business, specifically human resources (HR). I moved to New York City for graduate school to study HR with my now husband, who was also doing graduate studies in the city. After graduation, I took on two HR roles, but found (at the time) a cap on how I could utilize my skills. I then moved into higher education, working in student affairs and diversity, equity, and inclusion. While my work was very fulfilling, I was craving a creative outlet at the same time. I got that through writing about things that I saw in the world from a Black queer lens. After my first piece was picked up at Blavity, a Black-owned media and tech company, the rest was history.

For a few years, I was a full-time higher ed professional and a part-time writer filing pieces and picking up web copy clients simultaneously. In 2021, I took a chance on myself to try out something different, work for myself. I became a full-time freelancer, at the encouragement of my husband, writing about Black and queer representation in film, TV, and pop culture, as well working as a copywriter and social media manager for various organizations. It was such a freeing and exciting time as I had never done something professionally that was just for me and I was finally doing that. After a year of this, I was then approached by my current editor in charge about an assistant editor role that opened up at my current publication, INTO. I applied, interviewed, and I’ve been working as an assistant editor at INTO for two years now.

Looking back on the experience, I definitely would’ve done more administratively to prepare for my transition into full-time freelance work (i.e work on budgeting, invoicing, etc.). My husband (a finance and operations wiz) helped me out tremendously in this area, but I also would’ve heeded his advice a lot more. Hindsight is always 20/20.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a nerd, a walking pop culture encyclopedia, and a lover of storytelling. Being a writer made sense in that all of the information that most would deem useless, I could turn into a story. While working in higher education, I was steady building up a journalism and copywriting portfolio. My journalistic beat is at the intersection of Black, queer, and nerdy. My writing focuses on analyzing and critiquing Black and queer representation in film, TV, and pop culture, with a lean towards horror, science fiction, and superhero content. However, my copywriting was designed to ensure that my clients’ work effectively promoted their mission and vision through words, while ensuring that the content written was inclusive of multiple audiences.

One piece after another amassed into a portfolio that not only spoke to the work that I was interested in, but also caught the eye of potential clients. I found all of my copywriting clients through word of mouth or via social media, so being able to share my work with others was super important. While I no longer do copywriting, I continue to write, edit, and ideate about content through my Black, queer, and nerdy lens in my role as an assistant editor at INTO – a publication dedicated to LGBTQ+ Gen Zers and Millennials. We all hold a variety of identities, and I think what sets me apart form others is that I’m able to pair my identities with my passions to create something that’s uniquely me, but shared universally with other Black queer nerds.

I’m incredibly proud of getting to this point, as I’ve lived many professional lives. In this one, I started with zero experience and found my way through the support of my community, resourcefulness, and determination. I’m also proud that the work I create is geared towards ensuring that people who feel unseen can feel represented by the work that I do, but also inspired to write about their experiences too.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think my main goal is really to show that you can create the representation you want to see. My work was geared towards creating Black queer community and highlighting things that would inspire and make others within my community feel seen. It, in turn, also educates others from outside of these communities about our experiences. But ultimately, I just wanted other Black queer people, whether they’re the subjects in my pieces or readers of my articles, to feel seen.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect is the conversation that starts from my pieces. Writers can shift opinion, inspire others, and change culture in under 1000 words. I keep that in mind with each piece I put out. Remembering that allows for me to ensure that my work is fair, but also advocates for my communities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/j_mack09
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j_mack09/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuamackey15/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JustJoshing_7