Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shelley Moench-Kelly. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Shelley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you 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?
In my last long-term corporate job, I realized that decades of work in corporate America just wasn’t working for me anymore and that I wanted to become a freelance creative. I stayed at that job for 10 years and, in the last three years, worked on ramping up my writing portfolio so that once I branched out on my own, I’d already have established contacts and work to show prospective clients.
A dear friend and co-worker from that last job had contacts at an international travel publication, and that served as my first freelance client for about a year. My husband and I then moved from Los Angeles to New England, a few hours from Manhattan, and I took on a remote job as a project manager/writer for a Manhattan-based ghostwriting agency. I continued to build my portfolio of freelance clients even while I was working full-time for this agency, and had enough clients at the end of one year that I could fully break free from working for a boss to becoming self-employed full time and being my own boss.
Over the nine years that we’ve lived on the Easy Coast and I’ve been a freelancer, I’ve never had to advertise my services to glean new clients. All of my projects come from word-of-mouth connections or referrals. I have a close group of writer friends who all have their own specialities and pass along to me projects that don’t fit their niches but fall into my wheelhouse. I have so much more freedom now and joy in my work that my only regret is that I didn’t leave corporate America sooner.
Shelley, 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 am a New York-adjacent based writer, ghostwriter, and editor from Tokyo via Los Angeles with 24 years’ experience writing more than 3,500 articles, blogs and interviews for numerous industries, including entertainment, finance, tech, beauty, fashion, education, advertising, lifestyle, parenting, food and cooking, business, and travel/hospitality. My expertise also includes concurrent experience as a ghostwriter, editor, researcher, and proofreader.
Some of my freelance clients include Google, L’Oreal Paris, Paramount Studios, Marvel Comics, Warner Bros., TheWeek.com, The Fashion Spot.com, Prevention.com, LendingUSA.com, Mamapedia.com, Radisson Blu Hotels, and Relish.com. My services include book coaching, writing, ghostwriting, editing, proofreading, and book development. Compared to other writers who generally specialize on one niche and/or category, I am flexible and have a wide breadth of knowledge that spans everything from memoir to business, self-help to entertainment, and more.
My latest co-authored book, LIFT, is a thought leadership book about the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and was a No. 1 best seller on Amazon, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. My memoir, Here’s Your Pill, Kitten! (www.HeresYourPillKitten.com) is available on Amazon.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and a Master’s degree in Finance and worked my way up the corporate ladder to the level of Chief Financial Officer at Housing and Urban Development (HUD) near Los Angeles by the time I was 32 years old.
I hated every moment in that field even though I excelled in it. I’m a creative, but was so unsure about my abilities for so many years, especially since my family was of the belief that creatives would always struggle to succeed.
In 2000, I walked away from Finance and took a year off. I later found an editing job at The McGraw-Hill companies, and worked there for several years, which then led me to a small publishing house in Los Angeles where I stayed for 10 years before branching out on my own.
I’ve had a successful writing career now for nearly 25 years, and pivoting, although it was my scariest career move to date, turned out to be the very best career decision I’ve ever made.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
I tell everyone what I do for a living and hand out my business cards to nearly everyone I meet. You never know where the next client will come from! I also network constantly with my writer friends and colleagues and keep active on a handful of choice Facebook groups and associations. Network, network, network!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.smkwriter.com
