We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Paulina Pinsky. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Paulina below.

Paulina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Being a modern writer means being not only someone who produces art, but someone who is also a social media content creator, an accountant, an entrepreneur and astute business person.

I fantasize about getting a 9-5– all the time– the benefits, the money safely plopped into my account without thought or action. A tantalizing little dream!

But when I play out that fantasy, I know I’d lose a part of myself– I’m not built for the standard corporate model. I enjoy making my own hours, constantly innovating how my business is run, and helping people write and execute their projects on an individual level.

I started my business, Paulina Pinsky LLC August of 2020, a year after I had graduated from Columbia University with my MFA in Nonfiction Creative Writing. Up to that point, I had been adjuncting and doing some writing coaching at the request of a couple of friends, but I didn’t have of a way of systematically tracking invoices or knowing how much I owed in taxes. I was just saying Yes to whatever came my way, thankful I was being asked at all.

It became clear that writing coaching was worth building infrastructure around.

But I felt lost– the MFA didn’t help much in the realm of how to secure income post graduation. Most folks with MFA’s do writing practice, and there’s no shame in that– I envy it! The stability, the security. I am thankful for the two years I was able to devote to my craft, but it has been a great-big-game of improv post graduation when it comes to generating enough income to sustain a life.

It’s hard to say whether or not I am happier as a business owner– the universe hasn’t allowed me to be anything different. And try as I might to get a real job, I can’t even secure an interview (which is insane with two Ivy League degrees? I can’t get a copy writing job because I’ve never had a copy writing job, etc.). It gets exhausting, having to use my creativity to generate income, leaving me tapped out for my creative discipline.

But I always figure it out.

I am of the belief that if something doesn’t exist, create it. And from August 2020 onward, I have had upwards of 100 students, whether it has been for one-on-one writing coaching or they have taken my online courses, like The Artist’s Way or Writing the Body. As my business grows, so do I. And it is a privilege to have made it this far on my own.

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 am a writer, educator, and writing coach. I have figured out what it means to be a writer along the way, but what I offer is an opportunity to find your authentic voice and use it.

Step into your power, we all have a story to tell.

I do not believe that a degree makes a writer, but I am someone who took the academic path towards becoming a writer. But of course, there were some detours: After I graduated from Barnard College in 2015, I headed to Second City in Chicago to study improvisational and improv comedy at their conservatory. All the work I do has a sense of humor, whether it’s my writing or my teaching style because I think humor is a super power. Laughter puts us at ease, and heck, life is funny. But shortly after, I moved back to NYC to pursue my MFA in Nonfiction Creative Writing.

After graduation, I co-authored the teen guide to consent, “IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE AWKWARD”, which granted me the experience of publishing. That book feels special, in that it really takes the time to allow the reader to think deeply about their own identity. Additionally, the central tenant of the book and the foundation of consent, TCB: Trust, Compassion, and Boundaries. If you can trust yourself, have compassion for yourself, and know your own boundaries, then you can trust someone else, offer them compassion, and respect their boundaries. By exploring all types of relationships, and the concept of consent outside of the bedroom, we worked to clarify the questions that feel difficult to traverse in romantic contexts.

But aside from writing and publishing books myself, I offer writing coaching and online courses on my website www.paulinapinsky.com

I have helped upwards of 100 clients with their writing, whether it was on their memoir, screenplay, or short story. Additionally, I have facilitated online creative communities that offer support and security to folks looking to invest in their creativity or make life changing moves.

Right now, I offer month-long or three-month-long writing mentorships. This offers the opportunity for writers to work with me weekly for the duration of the mentorship on the project of their choosing, whether it’s content for their newsletter or their memoir. I have had students win memoir competitions and I have students get published in magazines. Whatever your goal, we will work towards to it together.

I also offer college application essay coaching– my first job out of college was helping Chinese students gain admission to American universities, and have helped countless students since 2015 get into their dream schools. I offer a 5-pack of meetings or hourly, based on the financial need of each student.

What makes me unique is my teaching style: I meet you where you are, and I take you where you want to go. I think we are all writers waiting to be granted permission to write, and I am here to offer you that permission. I am playful, witty, empathetic, and smart. And we really build a relationship grounded in trust and compassion as we traverse your creative boundaries.

I am the ideal writing mentor because I have a wide-berth of experience– and I am also active in my own creative discipline as well. I am sharing with you all that I have learned, so that we can both move forward in our writing discipline.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I outsourced and rebranded.

I had a bit of a social media presence, but I agonized over this question because I am not a content creator, nor do I want to be. I feel allergic to direct promotion, and I can’t stand seeing posts that I perceive as “in-authentic”.

It was when I started working with Elisabeth Waller (@itselisabethwaller) that I was able to think about my social media presence as a business tool. She is a self-taught designer, and her artistic eye as a photographer bleeds into her expertise. In addition to rebranding my website and having discussions about how to grow my business, it was Elisabeth who helped me create an aesthetic to my business that I stick to. She gave me a color scheme, a font profile, and images to pull from that has helped my present appear more uniform and professional.

When it comes to posting, I adhere to the philosophy of “Quality over Quantity”. It was when I felt I had to post every day to keep up with the churn of the social media machine that I felt anxiety and the quality of my posts deteriorated. But now, I use Plann to schedule my posts– as much as possible, I try to stay off the platform itself. And when I feel inspired to post spontaneously, I do.

Trying to keep social media fun and playful, while using it to promote my services is a challenge. I am not a content creator– I am an artist. And I do believe there is a difference. But I am not afraid to borrow strategies from content creators to promote myself because that is the very nature of the beast.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Word of mouth!

Genuinely, my best source of referrals are my students. This, of course, is anxiety provoking and makes the pool smaller– but genuinely, I am less interested in being the richest person in the world than working with a brilliant of students.

I take my relationship with my clients seriously, building friendships in addition to working relationships with them.

I have had the good fortune to guest on podcasts like LeeAnn Kreischer’s “Wife of the Party”, which has brought me brilliant students. But more than anything, my best source of clients are my current or previous clients.

And of course, just encountering people out in the world– the business cards that Elisabeth Waller designed for me have helped a lot. I have met students on airplanes and at weddings.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.paulinapinsky.com
• Instagram: @paulina_pinsky
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulinapinskywriter/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulina-pinsky-210/
• Twitter: @paulina_pinsky_

Image Credits
Julie Orlick (https://www.instagram.com/julie____o/)