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

Hi Stephanie, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I think that the biggest thing that it takes to be successful is persistence. A willingness to keep going even in the face of challenges and setbacks. Progress can be slow, and it can be difficult to see where things are headed, but getting up everyday and putting in the work, can create a level of success that you didn’t know was possible.

When I quit my job as a teacher in 2019 to stay home with my kids, I knew that I wanted to pursue freelance writing as a way to eventually replace my income. I also wanted to be able to transition to a job that was flexible once all of my kids started school. That year, I woke up early nearly every morning and did something to move the needle forward. I didn’t always see the entire path, but I knew that I just needed to take the first step and the next step after that. With a lot of persistence and a lot of luck, I was able replace my income within four years and build a business that I’ll be able to scale as they start school.

Stephanie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a freelance writer dealing with home improvement, real estate, building materials, and personal finance. I mainly focus on blog content and write articles geared towards informing readers. I started freelance writing in 2019 when I was preparing to quit my job as a teacher and stay home with my kids. I knew that I was giving up a really good job with benefits and lots of time off, and I still wanted to be able to help us reach our financial goals even though my primary job was staying home with our kids. Writing has allowed me to work before the kids wake up and after they go to bed which allows me to contribute financially as well as be present with them for the rest of the day.

I’m incredibly proud of the business I’ve built and the determination that it’s taken to get to this point, and I’m excited to see where I end up.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I feel like my entire life has been a series of extreme pivots. From choosing a college to changing colleges to moving to new states, the biggest choices have always seemed like the easiest to make. So when I knew that I wanted to quit my job and stay home with our kids (my husband had been the stay-at-home parent until that point), it felt like it should have been an easy decision. But even though I knew that was what would be best in the long-run — my husband could go back to work, and I could build a side business — creating the kind of pivot that I was used to on my own looked different when there was a family that depended on my income.

Making that leap was the best decision that we could have made, and it has put us in a position to reach financial, family, and personal goals, but actually making the decision was incredibly tough. But in doing so, my husband was able to find a job that he really enjoys and is very good at, and I was able to build a business while taking care of my children.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I started writing as a side hustle while I was still teaching. In 2019, I got up early nearly every morning and worked on finding clients. I started writing beekeeping articles for an affiliate site and applied for anything and everything that looked interesting on Upwork. The more articles I wrote and clients I worked with, the more I started to zero in on what I wanted to write about and ended up in the real estate and home improvement space.

Within four years, I replaced my teaching income while only working part-time, mostly before the kids wake up and after they go to bed. Other than landing my first clients, the biggest early milestone was my first $1,000 month in December 2019. I had been working towards that goal for nearly a year, so finally meeting it was amazing. In my fourth year, I matched the income I made as a teacher through consistent outreach and a dedication to quality work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thepracticalpen.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-mickelson-4760b4107/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/thepracticalpen