📖Turn the Page📖

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Hey [FIRST NAME GOES HERE],

Last week I shared about my nightly 2-glasses-of-wine habit—and how it kept me stuck in a life I knew wasn’t right for me anymore.

Please understand, I am NOT trying to say that everyone can (or necessarily needs to) quit drinking this easily.

I’m not even saying I never indulge in a glass of wine anymore.

But that pattern? That often?

What it was doing was taking away JUST ENOUGH discomfort so that I could continue show up day after day and do it all again.

Exhausting, right?

Maybe even sounds just a little familiar?

Here’s the truth: breaking that pattern didn’t magically set me free. (But you knew that already, right?)

What really moved the needle was deciding to replace it with something that actually fueled me.

For me, at first, it was literally just SILENCE.

Spending time with my eyes closed, listening for that little voice.

(Spoiler: it was MY VOICE.)

And really caring about what that voice had to say.

What it was I ACTUALLY WANTED when I wasn’t chasing away the discomfort of WHAT WAS.

Then, it was writing.

Journaling at first.

Then my story.

Where I started. Where I was in that moment.

Then —one day—I heart that little voice begin to whisper: what if this could be my work?

Here is the part to tune in to:

Because I wasn’t numbing that voice, because I was both wide awake to what wasn’t working AND to those little nudges of but just what if…?

Where I used to dismiss those nudges, that voice, as delusions of grandeur… as maybe for someone else’s life who hasn’t pigeoned herself into a life sentence of teaching…

All of a sudden, my eyes and ears were open, and I could begin to see it as a real possibility.

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That shift—from numbing out → to creating — was the beginning of being able to see everything I’m doing now.

And here’s the reminder I wish someone had given me back then:

👉 It’s not about being stuck or even what you’re quitting. It’s about what you’re starting.

So if you feel stuck in a cycle that doesn’t serve you anymore — ask yourself: what tiny creative spark could I swap in instead?

Because one small swap can reroute your whole story.

—Meredith ✨

P.S. Hit reply and tell me: what’s one cycle you’d like to release yourself from? Even better: what’s one little spark you’d choose instead?

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📖Turn the Page📖

Happy Friday, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]!

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I want to talk about some of the ways we keep ourselves stuck.

Because they can be habits that are hiding in plain sight.

I’ll warn you, today’s share is a bit vulnerable.

It’s a thing I don’t talk about much.

But if I’m going to be transparent about my journey From Classroom to Copywriter, I can’t stay silent about this part.

Teaching TBH, was not something I set out to do orginally.

I kind of “fell into it” by default. I didn’t really know what else I wanted to do.

And, well, summers off? Sounded good to me. (LOL—IYKYK).

I taught from 2006-2023. That’s 17 years— in case the-math-on-a-Friday of it all ain’t happening.

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From the first month of my very first teaching job, I knew it felt off.

The energy required to be “on” all day, to manage a whole host of behaviors, and to stay on top of so much in order to ensure that each student was getting their (sometimes vast number of) needs met was something I had to dig deep for from the jump.

I think I always assumed I was an “extrovert.” Until I fully understood the meaning of those words:

An extrovert (as I understand it) feels energized and refueled by their interactions with people. They find energy in a group.

An introvert, often feels exhausted by a lot of interaction and refuels or draws energy from time alone, in quiet.

While I now understand that most people sit somewhere along this spectrum, it turns out that I sit much closer to the introvert side than the extrovert side.

I would finish my work day feeling SO INCREDIBLY DEPLETED there wasn’t much I could do.

Work out? Definitely not.

I literally didn’t even want to talk to other humans.

My first year teaching, I was easily convinced to head to the bar after a long day at school.

I would have a few glasses of wine.

End most nights crying.

I knew I wasn’t OK, and, I did nothing about it.

Everyone around me was doing the same thing (OK maybe not the crying).

Eventually, pretty quickly, I realized I couldn’t go to the bar like that. But I also couldn’t do much else either.

My running/workout habit? Non existent that first year.

Most weeknights, all I wanted do was sit like a vegetable on my couch.

And what was my almost constant companion?

A glass of wine. Or 2.

Half a bottle of wine most nights of the week.

This felt like a completely normal thing for me to do. I would tell myself, at least I’m not at happy hour anymore like the rest of my colleagues 3 nights a week.

I functioned “just fine.” I stayed busy. I shoved aside my knowing that this wasn’t what I was meant to be doing anymore.

I had another glass of wine to quiet the noise.

When I had my daughter in 2019, I couldn’t keep up that lifestyle. Not entirely anyway.

But in 2020, a year into her life (exactly a year actually), the pandemic hit.

And then everyone was drinking too much, eating too much, using all sorts of perceived “comforts” to compensate for the loss of normalcy in any way we could.

But when we rounded summer of 2021, things started to crack a bit.

I decided to stop drinking that summer/fall. And when I wasn’t drowning out the voice inside of me anymore, it got very LOUD.

Suddenly I could see and feel all the ways my life had stayed on a track that wasn’t mine to ride anymore.

By October of that year, my soul was screaming at me. I was enraged by so much I had spent years trying to ignore or rationalize.

It didn’t seem rational anymore.

And promised myself I would begin building something different.

The thing is, I didn’t see myself as someone that had a “drinking problem.”

But I absolutely was using it as a way to ignore what I knew to be true.

It was keeping me stuck in ways I couldn’t see or hear until I cut it out.

And when I did?

What started out as a firey rage, quickly turned into a productive burn.

And my belief in myself and what I was capable of filled the empty space that was left behind.

Please know I’m not saying you have to give up your nightly glass of something.

But I am saying that if you know you’re unhappy, if you’ve even heard a whisper of something from deep inside that says:

…there is more for you on the other side of this…

It might be worth exploring if it’s true.

I’d love to know if this resonates with anyone.

Hit reply and tell me where you are on this journey… I read everything single email and would love to chat.

Sometimes just saying something out loud (or writing it on the page) is the tiny first step that can launch something much, much bigger.

Have a restful weekend, friends! I’m here if you need someone to remind you of what you’re capable of.

MC

From Classroom to Copywriter

Here’s the thing, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]:

Sometimes milestones sneak up on you.

You don’t notice them coming because you’re so deep in the day-to-day grind — deadlines, kid drop-offs, laundry piles, zoom meetings.

And then BAM 💥 you look up and realize… you’ve actually circled back to one of the things that once felt completely out of reach.

I had one of those milestone moments this week when I was a guest on The Copywriter’s Club podcast with Rob Marsh.

This was one of the voices in my ears as a teacher who wanted OUT.

Like, “if I can just figure out what these people are doing, maybe there’s a way for me too.”

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And now? I was on it.

Here’s what we talked about…

• Why empathy is the most underrated marketing skill (spoiler: teachers have it in spades).
• How teachers thrive in B2B copywriting because we’re used to breaking down complex ideas into simple, actionable lessons.
• The overlap between classroom storytelling and client storytelling (seriously, the Venn diagram is almost a circle).
• Why lesson planning is basically launch planning with a different name.
• And how stepping into “expert” roles in marketing felt a lot like teaching my very first class — terrifying, but transformative.

It was surreal.

It was affirming.

It was one of those moments that made me think:

Oh, all those nights I spent googling ‘how to get clients’ after negotiating my daughter into bed and staring down the pile of unpaid work I still had to do weren’t wasted. They brought me here.

And if you’re in the middle of that transition right now — whether it’s from the classroom, or from one career into another — I just want to remind you: those podcasts you’re listening to, those notes you’re scribbling, those late-night dreams you don’t tell anyone about yet?

They matter, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]. They stack up. They’re your breadcrumb trail.

This week, I got to walk all the way back to where mine started and wave at my younger self.

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And honestly? It was pretty damn cool.

Interested in listening to the pod? You can check it out here, or below:

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TCC Podcast #465: From Teach… Sep 16 · The Copywriter Club Podc… 54:23   ​

Interested in the topics?

Stay tuned. I’m going to break them down here over the next few weeks to offer more insight into why you already have what you need to make From Classroom to Copywriter.

Meredith

P.S. If you’re a teacher (current or former) who’s curious about copywriting, I’d love to know: what’s the ONE skill you feel most confident bringing from the classroom to this work? Hit reply and tell me — I bet it’s more valuable than you think.

Hey there [FIRST NAME GOES HERE],

It’s no secret that I talk a lot here about how hard change can be.

Sometimes changing something is as simple as a “quick fix.”

But much more of the time, you need input from several different people (+ several years to process it all 😒) to make lasting change.

For me, figuring out how the F%^$ to manage my own time in a way that MOST BENEFITS not only the business but also THE LIFE I’m trying to build has been REALLY, REALLY CHALLENGING.

I’ve listed to all the podcasts, read all the blogs, I’ve even paid people money to help me understand things I feel like I probably already knew about myself.

But so it goes, I’m beginning to notice.

It’s possible that if you are a person with unlimited time, unlimited resources and unlimited BRAIN SPACE (hello parenthood) you might be able to get there on your own.

For me? I needed A LOT of help.

One of the coaches I work with did a VERY TIMELY masterclass last week on how to manage dual sides of your business without exhausting yourself.

(Does she live in my head? Maybe. Is she good at what she does? DEFINITELY.)

**Sidebar—I will never not be coached in some way on this CRAZY business ownership journey. It’s an investment—a pricey one—but having someone that’s ahead of you on this path and see the things you are still blind to? IT’S FREAKING PRICELESS. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the coaches I’ve worked with along the way! **

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So how have I worked with this information over the past 7 days?

I did what any busy business owner—juggling client work, business growth and (oh yeah)—the rest of life— in charge of their own time might do: I recruited AI to help.

And it’s been 🔥.

The trick here isn’t just type, “make me a schedule that works.” Or some boring iteration of a prompt that isn’t at all personalized to YOU.

The thing is (and maybe the most important thing) is that what works for one person doesn’t work for someone else. And I have been trying to pomodoro my way to freedom for 3 years at this point.

Is time blocking PART of my strategy? You bet. Is it the whole thing? Nope.

So entering every last logistical thing I need to do in a day or a week is important. I took some time, got them all out of my brain on to paper and added them to my AI prompt.

This is mind blowing for me because otherwise, I would have to try to Tetris everything into my schedule on my own —which is why it hasn’t happened before now.

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And because I have leaned into some specific ways to better understand myself, I would be silly not to then apply those to my everyday life.

For me, those things are (skip this part if you hate anything Woo-related. But also, I wish you wouldn’t. It’s so refreshing to look at yourself from all angles):

1. Astrology. In particular my 3-4 BIG signs. Sun, Moon, Rising and Venus (or Mars if you’re male identifying and if you’re into Shamanic Astrology). This offers you what fuels you (Sun sign), what you need for rest and nurturing (Moon sign), what mysteries you’re here to learn about (Rising sign) and what path or archetype you’re stepping into or wanting to embody over the course of your life (Venus ♀ or Mars ♂). If you want know this info, simply go to https://astro-charts.com/tools/new/birth-chart/ and enter your birth info! There is so so much to learn here, but you can also keep it simple.
2. ​Human Design: This combines elements from various ancient and modern disciplines to help individuals understand their unique personality, decision-making process, and life purpose. If you go to the link above and enter birth info, it will give you everything you need to know to put into this equation. All of this is free!
3. My Gene Keys: described as a ‘synthesis of practical wisdom to help guide you to a deeper understanding of yourself and your true potential.’ Also free to check out using your birth info!

With these 3 different ways of understanding myself, plus the nitty gritty of what I want and need to get done things like:

• strength training or walking/rucking through out the week (and then time to shower and eat breakfast etc.)
• prospecting and business admin activities
• focused time for client work
• protected “CEO” time for creative “future and growth” planning

I literally put everything I could think of into a list, and then added all of the things I just mentioned above. It offered me not only a schedule with all the details, but little ways I could weave simple rest, ritual and “white space” for more expansive creativity.

Here’s what it looks like:

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I’ll admit, I haven’t FULLY implemented it yet. But what has happened is that I am very aware of how I’m using my time daily and where I’m sabotaging or procrastinating specific tasks. And that’s the first step to change.

I’d love to hear what you think!

Have you ever used AI for something like this?

Do you have questions? Hit reply! I’d love to know what you like or are curious about, OR alternatively, what you’d never do!

Happy Friday!

Meredith

P.S. This week I was a guest on one of THE podcasts that got me started in this copywriting world! It was a total honor to talk shop with a guy who has been in the biz for a long time + get to share why teachers are such an incredible fit strategic copy and content writing.

It will be out next week and I can’t wait to share it with you!

P.P.S. Next use case will be our house work flow

📖Turn the Page📖
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Hey [FIRST NAME GOES HERE],

Raise your hand if you fancy yourself a good manager of your time?

Yeah. I thought I was too.

Until the person I had to be accountable to was…

ME.

And guess what?

All of a sudden I was as easily distracted as kitten with a yarn ball.

Procrastinating was my middle name.

Had to respond to that (absolutely not urgent) email? Yup.

Scroll just 15 minutes more on LinkedIn? You know it.

Oh the closet needs cleaning out? I’m your girl.

Until I finally realized…

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Please understand that while the awareness of this came pretty quickly, and the DESIRE to change it was there, I COULD NOT MAKE IT HAPPEN UNTIL LITERALLY NOW.

Sometimes (OK most of the time) it’s NOT that we DON’T KNOW we need change.

It’s not even that we don’t WANT change.

It’s that changing something is really f&%$ing hard.

It just is.

Here’s the thing, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]: Humans are basically a giant pattern.

Once you’re doing something for a long time, you have to take intentional steps Over and Over and Over again to create a new neural pathway.

It feels hard, because it IS really hard.

(I’m going to say that again. It FEELS HARD, because IT IS HARD.)

And that’s OK.

But I’m on my way y’all.

To better time management that is.

Next week I’m going to walk you through the steps I’ve taken to get my damn schedule under control.

Not so I can “OPTIMIZE” every minutes (although yeah, I need to get more done)

But so that I can FEEL BETTER in my days and schedule in some of that deep rest my nervous system so desperately needs in this jacked up, overstimulating, modern world we live in.

Interested? Hit reply and let me know.

This is the stuff that gets me hype!

(I know, also a problem. LOL)

Happy Friday!

xo,

Meredith