 |
The Project Writer Work Sample: Interview/Profile |
||||||||||
|
|
Profile: Laurie Lewis by Margaret Balch-Gonzalez Interview/profile: Originally published in The Freelancer, September–October 2003 Long-term EFA member Laurie Lewis has been a successful freelancer since 1985. Her path has been idiosyncratic, like that of most freelancers. But the story of how she built her career reveals some practical lessons – and shows that it can be done. Laurie began her career at the Encyclopaedia Britannica in Chicago, answering letters from people who claimed to have found mistakes – an entertaining but dead-end job. After moving to another Britannica division, where she "learned copy editing from a real pro," she pursued a long-term interest – medical copyediting – at a medical publisher. With a solid medical background, she then left for a more challenging copy editing job with a medical journal published by a healthcare organization, where she was promoted to managing editor. "I thought I was at the peak of my career. But I hated organizational politics." She moved to Ross Laboratories in Columbus, Ohio, where she began to write as well as edit. After six years, she missed big-city life and moved to New York as a senior writer for a medical journal. But the job only lasted a month, due to a difficult boss. "Suddenly I found myself alone in a new city without any source of income. I decided to freelance... until I could find another staff job." After two months, she turned down two staff job offers: "I had fallen in love with the freelancer's life." Laurie learned the value of networking when a contact at the American Medical Association really opened doors for her. She met freelancers who shared leads, as well as staffers looking for qualified freelancers. Most of Laurie's current business is as a medical writer and editor. She prefers some variety; for instance she mixes "long articles that I work on for a month or more" with "abstracts that I knock off in less than an hour." Laurie aims for two to four active projects at a time. "I feel overwhelmed with more than six projects. On the rare occasions when I'm down to one project or have only marketing on the agenda for more than three weeks... I start to get a bit anxious. However, new work usually materializes before true anxiety sets in." The instability of staff at client organizations sometimes yields unexpected rewards. Recently, the contacts at two of Laurie's main clients left their jobs; Laurie feared losing work. But, in an illustration of the "beauty of networking and having solid long-term relationships with clients," one of the two contacts called and asked Laurie to "take over a lot of work she had been doing, and overnight my projected annual income almost doubled"; the other contact "landed a new job and called me with assignments." Some small areas of Laurie's business, such as education, contribute mainly to personal satisfaction. Many EFA members know Laurie from her successful and popular EFA courses and from her book, What to Charge: Pricing Strategies for Freelancers and Consultants. "I am a natural-born teacher. In kindergarten, I helped a Japanese classmate learn English, and I have been teaching ever since." Another minor specialty originated when a freelancer friend called after a client lost its crossword puzzle creator, knowing Laurie enjoyed solving crossword puzzles. "For two weeks, I struggled to do even a small corner of a puzzle, to no avail. Then suddenly something clicked, and a crossword puzzle creator was born." Many freelancers will be encouraged to hear that even someone as successful as Laurie hates marketing. She relies mostly on repeat clients and networking, and occasionally sends marketing materials to current, past, and potential clients, including articles she has written on topics of general interest or general announcements such as an anniversary of her business. Laurie credits the EFA for helping her career. "I don't think my business would have done so well without EFA.... Everyone shared generously, and I got many pointers and job leads that enabled me to get off to a running start. I also made long-lasting friendships. That was very important because I was new to New York and did not have a job, which is a social network for most people .... I want to help other freelancers, just as I was helped." No one knows better than Freelancer readers how unpredictable a freelance career can be. As an experienced and successful role model who generously shares her knowledge with other freelancers, Laurie helps make the path a little smoother. |
||||||||||
All material ©2003–2004 Margaret Balch-Gonzalez The Project Writer, Providence, Rhode Island |
|||||||||||