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📖Turn the Page📖

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I don’t know if you read to the end and this one was too good to risk it:

Which belief once protected you, but now confines you? (credit: James Clear’s weekly newsletter) )

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Hey there, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE],

Last week I wanted to go for a run. My daughter wanted to go with me.

I was hesitant to agree (this is being generous. I like to run alone 😬), because, well, she complains a lot during these types of activities.

But she had some solid 6 year old persistence.

(I’ve heard she got this from me…but who can tell?)

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So…

I agreed to let her ride her bike with me.

We headed out on the path near our house, a section of which is particularly flat so she wouldn’t have trouble riding.

Our adventure started out a bit sticky—in biking riding as in real life, she likes to be right next to me at all times.

I explained that when someone is riding a bike and someone is walking or running, if we are next to each other, there is a better chance we will run into each other.

She decided to believe me on this one and took off.

As she rode up ahead, I marveled at the way she all of a sudden seemed older, braver and more competent.

She came out of the womb a dare devil… but only selectively.

She was walking at 10.5 months and running immediately after.

As soon as she could manage, she was leaping off of any high surface she could climb onto.

But water?

She was terrified.

It took some very intentional and intensive lessons (most of which she cried before) before everything clicked for her and her fear dissipated.

Social situations?

She sticks by my side until she has observed what’s happening and can understand where she fits in (this is my interpretation anyway, LOL).

She’s cautious in as many ways that she’s brave.

Her bravery looks different than other kids’ does.

And this is something I will tell her over and over again until I get that eye roll and groan, “MOM! I know. I get it, OK?”

It took me half my life to get this: that my bravery can look different from someone else’s.

That saying, “this doesn’t work for me anymore,”

… and then actually doing something about it it, is also incredibly brave.

THAT THERE IS ACTUALLY NO UNIVERSAL DEFINITION OF BRAVERY.

This lack of understanding will keep you in place if you let it.

Don’t let it.

xo,

Meredith

ps. Do you have an “outside the box” version of bravery? If yes, when did you understand that it was different than what we are taught as kids?

pps. Hit reply and share this with me!

The 4 x1

• Update about Content Biz: I’ve been at the Big Sky Literacy Summit all week with a client. It’s been an incredible amount of learning and getting to see literacy celebrities I’ve followed and cited in so much of my work over the past few years. I mean come on, I MET LOUISA MOATS! (I’m still recovering from this one, IYKYK)
• Update about Coaching Biz: We kick off really soon! I’m putting together the best possible 10 weeks for these amazing women who are ready to dip their toes into content and copywriting for education companies. I seriously can’t wait to get started.
• Tiny Brave Things: Y’all. I spent 4 days in a row spending all of my waking hours talking and learning. Whoa my social skills are lacking. And I’m exhausted (LOL). A clear sign I need to be doing more to be putting myself out there in person on a more regular basis.
• 1 to Grow on: Which belief once protected you, but now confines you? (credit: James Clear’s weekly newsletter) hit reply and tell me or do some writing or reflecting about this one!

Hey hey, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]!

July was a blur.

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Like seriously. Where the F did July go?

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I set out this summer to do less and with more intention and I’ll be honest… it didn’t really go the way I wanted it to. (You may have noticed my absence in your inbox these past 2 weeks… sometimes you need a break!)

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I realized by the beginning of July that I didn’t plan well enough in the months leading up to summer to be able to slow down my work.

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Instead I ended up with major content projects back to back, (on top of launching my own course!) and by the time I started the second one, I was pretty annoyed with myself.

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This all had me:

-waking up first thing to work

-having to say ‘no’ to hanging with my 6 year old way more than I wanted to

-not having the time I needed to fill my own cup.

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I’ll be honest here, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], because I have to be:

I wobble between knowing I am extremely grateful to be thriving and growing as a business and knowing that I need to work on the way I organize and plan for my year when it comes to work…

so I can reap the benefits of being my own boss.

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It’s definitely a work in progress. And I am lucky to have found some accountibilibuddies™ to help me do this work.

So… August is here.

For any teachers, this means you are getting ready to start a new school year, even if you know you’d rather not be.

I did this SO MANY YEARS in a row, so I truly know it’s a swirl of feelings.

But there are so many ways you can start to set yourself up from the start of the year to be in a different position come August next year:

1. Use your classroom as a lab this year: collect data on what you do for your students and how much they grow, Having this info as talking points is a great way to show your skills more concretely.
2. Do the thing you want to do a little every week or every day. If you know you want to be a copywriter or content writer, start writing a little day. Make it a habit.
3. Start following people who are doing what you might want to do. (LinkedIn is great for this!) Notice what they talk about, you can even connect with them, and ask them what they like about their work!

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And if you think you will need some guidance later in this year, hang here—I will be offering tidbits on a weekly basis and will likely launch another cohort of From Classroom to Copywriter at some point during Q4!

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Teachers: What is one thing you can do as you walk into this year if you KNOW beyond the shadow of a doubt this needs to be your last year?

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Hit reply and get some accountability! I’d love to know what you’re planning and I have lots of ideas if you need some!

The 4 x1

• Update about Content Biz: I am heading to Big Sky Literacy Conference in Montana next week with a client and I’m so excited! If you will be there or are interested in knowing more, send me a message!

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• Update about Coaching Biz: I’m in prep mode to get started with my debut course in about 10 days. Here is a place I really get to flex my teacher muscles—totally on my own terms.

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• Tiny Brave Thing: Shout out to the women inside From Classroom to Copywriter… they are taking the first steps to changing their daily lives and as someone who has done this, I know the bravery it requires!

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• One to Grow On: From James Clear:

It is common to think about what you would like to accomplish. It is less common to think about what must be discarded to make space for your new endeavors. The time must come from somewhere. What do you need to give up to make space for what you would like to achieve?

Quick announcement:

If you are a teacher who’s decided you’re ready for your next chapter, be sure to get on my waitlist for my course and community:

**From Classroom Copywriter (Learn How to Book Your First Paid Writing Client—Even if You’re Still Teaching!) for all the details and first dibs on limited spots. Doors open in July!

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Happy Friday, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]!

This one will be short and sweet because…

if I’m being honest—

between client and work and launching my own thing this month…I AM SWAMPED.

Here’s the thing I have been sitting with:

it’s OK to let go of the way you wanted something to be—or thought something would be—in order to make room for the way it’s going to unfold.

Let’s be clear: this is NOT my forté.

I love to plan and envisions things, down to the details of the way the it will feel in that moment…

and then if it falls through, or takes a left turn, I often find myself frustrated and beating myself up for not being able to predict something or to better prepare myself.

Here’s my example.

Over the past 5 months or so, I really imagined slowing down this summer—A LOT more than I have the past few years of freelancing.

The truth is that since starting this business in earnest in summer of 2022, I haven’t taken any “vacations.”

You know where you completely unplug, leave your computer closed, don’t check your email etc.

I haven’t felt like I could.

“But if I can work, (and I can), I should!” I have said to myself.

There aren’t any “paid vacation days” when you are freelancing.

What I have failed to recognize up until this year, is that it’s actually ME that’s in charge of giving myself paid vacations.

This equal parts great news and devastating news, because it’s means (on both accounts) I am responsible for making sure it happens.

That means I have to figure out how much time I want to be “work free” and then work backwards to ensure I have enough going on leading up to that to make it possible + that I have enough time to wrap up important projects and let people know I won’t be available…

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There it is.

Telling people “I won’t be available.”

What happens next?

Well probably nothing.

People mark it on their calendar that I’m not available and don’t contact me.

Or they do and don’t get a response until I open my computer to respond again. As I told them I would.

My business doesn’t fall apart, the sky doesn’t fall down and I don’t go broke over the how ever many days I want to unplug.

Like most things about running your own business (godammit), it’s a mindset shift.

One you must INTENTIONALLY MAKE in order for it to work FOR you.

So while I’m not super thrilled to be working a lot this summer (AND, TO BE CLEAR, also very thrilled because it’s my business and I want it to thrive)

I am using it as very important information that will be paramount to how I set up the months of April and May next year to make sure I am able to have a little less on my plate come Mid-June and July.

Everything is data right?

That’s what I’m telling myself while I watch another summer week tick away, knowing that these are the years my kid actually wants to hang out with me.

Next summer, I hope to be saying, “Yes, let’s do THAT!” way more than I am able to this summer.

How do you organize your summer months? Or whenever it is you decide to unplug?

I’m collecting all the strategies and I’d love to hear yours.

Hit reply and school me in your planning tips and tricks!

Summer love and lightning bugs,

Meredith

The 4 x1

• Update about Content Biz: I’m BUSY BUSY BUSY. I just got to invterview an incredible author, actor and literacy advocate for an eBook I’m ghostwriting. It was incredibly inspirational and one of the reasons I LOVE this work.
• Update about Coaching Biz: Doors Open Next Week for my Debut Live Course and Community, Classroom to Copywriter. I’m only offering this to my waitlist, so if you’re interesting and you’re not already on it, here’s the link to claim your waitlist spot!​
• Tiny Brave Things: My daughter is swimming butterfly this weekend in her swimmeet. And she’s really nervous. I keep reminding her: I didn’t even learn butterfly until I was 12 maybe so she is doing incredibly brave things!
• One to Grow On: “Focus on the seeds, not the trees. What seeds are you planting today?” This one was taken from James Clear’s newsletter: 3-2-1 and feels really resonant with what I’m moving through in terms of using today’s realizations to help shape tomorrow’s reality. We can’t get it all right every time. But we can always be planting seeds to help foster the growth we want to eventually see in our lives.

It’s true, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE],

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I used to think the only thing I could do with my teaching experience was… teach.
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But it turns out there are so many ways you could take your plethora of skills and use them elsewhere!

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The truth is, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], with your years of teaching experience and multiple degrees you’re ALREADY an expert:

🪜 An expert at taking big, complex, “birdseye view” ideas and breaking them down into digestible, incremental steps so (little) people can learn

👈 An expert at working backwards to understand what the end goal is in order to back track to make sure every skill needed is addressed and every gap is filled

🥹 An expert at managing people: the ups and downs of your student’s emotions, the expectations of parents and colleagues, the demands of everything everyone else outside your classroom needs…

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(Here’s the thing might not know…)

Education companies are already paying people like you (hint: teachers!) for their expertise and experience:

👉 to write content marketing materials infused with a teacher’s nuanced experience and understanding of what they would have wanted and needed from teaching tools

👉 to write emails and social media copy that appeals to the audience they used to be part of

👉 to interview teachers and administrators in order to write customer success stories highlighting the real growth happening with real kids in real schools.

I know this is true because I’ve done all of these things…

and much, much more.
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And if you already know you are ready to use your expertise outside the classroom, I want to show you how you can do it, too.

Doors open next week for the Founding Members of my Debut Course and Community:

From Classroom to Copywriter.

Spots are limited, and the doors will only be open for 7 days before I turn my attention to the fab women inside who are ready to change their lives by getting the exact steps they need to take to get their first paid education copywriting job!

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SO… You in?

Let’s go!

Love and Tiny Seeds of Change,

Meredith

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Hey [FIRST NAME GOES HERE],

Quick announcement:

If you are a teacher who’s decided you’re ready for your next chapter, be sure to get on my waitlist for my course and community:

**From Classroom Copywriter (Learn How to Book Your First Paid Writing Client—Even if You’re Still Teaching!) for all the details and first dibs on limited spots. Doors open for the limited number of founding member spots on Wednesday 7/9 !

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It’s the 4th of July.

I will be the first to say that this day has always felt…

sticky for me.

And I not because I ate too many popsicles or had one too many drinks spilled on me (though certainly both of those things have happened in my life).

This year it feels downright disturbing.

Because while this country was supposedly built on the idea of “freedom,”

it’s always felt exceptionally clear that it only meant freedom for… some people.

The people it’s not meant for has changed (a little bit) with the times.

But the themes of who freedom leaves out remain the same:

People of color

Women

Those “not from here” (this never made sense to me because if unless you are person of indiginous descent, none of us are “from” here.

Those that look different from whoever is making “the rules.”

These days, all of these things feel true. And more than anything, it feels like: freedom can be yours…

if you can pay for it.

And damn… is it expensive.

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Freedom comes in many forms these days. And some (ok a lot of them) are ideas that were built by a few, for a few.

And sometimes I think that—rather than reflect on that—what actually happens is a lot of celebrating what it is supposed to be and not what it actually is.

Because it’s much easier to drink all day, eat too much, set off loud fireworks that are terrible for the environment, and call it “Freedom.”

How is this celebrating freedom ?

Whose freedom?

What if instead you spent 5 minutes thinking about what it actually means to be free in today’s world?

Free from what someone else has told you your life should be like?

Free from how “the American Dream” has guided your path?

As someone who straddles the Gen X/Millennial line (I think someone cleverly called it Xennenial?) as much as I set out to walk my own path when I was younger (yes my rising Sagittarius, adventurer, forever seeker self quit my first ever job after college to instead be a lifeguard at a Club Med in Mexico…)

the beat of that “traditional” drum still caught up me.

When I broke up with my boyfriend at 26 at the same time my brothers were getting married, I was positive I was “doing it wrong.”

After all, if you don’t get married and have a family are you really even an adult?

I didn’t have many examples of doing things differently in my life.

And I’m positive that if I had, I wouldn’t have spent so much time trying to course correct what felt more natural for me.

It took me a long time to feel freedom from what I thought my life SHOULD be like.

-Wife

-Mom

-Traditional job where I could “climb the ladder,” earn more and more each year, have a pension, and retire at 65.

Here’s the thing:

For so many of us now, every rung on that ladder is broken.

In the end, I realized I would have to rebuild what freedom looked and felt like for me in order to feel like it was mine.

Yes I got married—but my marriage has always been a place for growth, and reflection. A mirror for both of us rather than a place you go stop trying new things.

Yes I have a child—and I have learned so much about myself and what the portal I believe motherhood can be if we start telling the truth and supporting each other through all the hardest things rather than judging each other.

Yes, I started out in a “traditional job.” I even stayed way longer than I ever should have, than I knew was good for me.

And then when I could feel that a shift was going to happen whether I wanted it to or not?

I leaned into it. I guided where I thought it could go.

I believed in a freer version of my life even when I was really unsure about each step I was taking.

Today, I will be celebrating in some ways, yes.

But I’ll be taking a lot of time to think about how I am going to continue to be a person that lifts up others, that finds a way for more people to be free.

Because truly, freedom for a chosen few isn’t freedom.

How do you celebrate the 4th—Or reflect on it?

Hit reply… I’d love to hear about anything this sparks for you.

The 4 x1

Update on Content Biz: I’m starting a new eBook with a literacy company I contract with! I’ve ghostwritten a few of these over the past 3 years and truly they are one of my favorite projects.

Update on Coaching Biz: Doors Open on 7/9 for my debut course and community built specifically for female teachers who know they want to leave the classroom to try content or copywriting and need the exact steps to get them there. I will only be opening doors to my waitlist this time around: are you on it??

Tiny Brave Things: Today I am celebrating all the brave people that are continuing to speak up even though their careers and even lives are in danger. This is not a tiny thing and if we all continue to say, “this is not normal, we aren’t going to accept any of it” it will be THE THING that keeps our democracy in tact in the end.

One to Grow On: If you aren’t listening already, go check out Krista Tippet’s podcast series call “The Hope Portal” : a reflection/course experience curated by Krista and drawing upon her conversations with several visionary humans: Adrienne maree brown, Naomi Shihab Nye, Ocean Vuong, Joy Harjo, Joanna Macy, and Ross Gay. They offer ways of seeing and living to lay our hands and our hearts, our imaginations and life force on the generative possibilities of life in this time.