And now for something completely different

I did something amazing and sort of miraculous while I worked in journalism: I didn’t get laid off once from three different jobs at three wildly different publications over the span of six years. And then I proceeded to change industries and jobs and get laid off twice in 11 months. After the second layoff, I felt pretty bad about like….everything. I considered my options and tried not to narrativize this spate of bad luck too much. For my next act, I could go back in-house somewhere again and have my fate rest in the hands of yet another manager who would eventually see me as a budgetary line item that needed to be cut…or I could try something different, something to give myself more agency.

I didn’t have too much time to think about it, though, because right after my layoff I got a cold email from someone named Eliza Carter. 

“We don't know each other, but I've been following your work for a while,” she wrote. I remembered Eliza because in 2021 we exchanged some Instagram DMs about our thoughts on Lauren Oyler’s then-new novel, but the reason for Eliza writing to me after my layoff had nothing to do with contemporary fiction. Did I want to start an editorial consultancy? she asked. Because she wanted to start a consultancy.

I did. I think I even alluded to it in my layoff newsletter. Also, I love when people shoot their shot through a totally random message. It’s how I met Chase, after all.

A couple days later we got together at a coffee shop in our neighborhood that I frequent. We hit it off immediately, and afterwards I was like: Huh. Okay. We could start a business together. Why don’t we start a business together? I already had clients. We’re both smart and good at what we do. Let’s try it.

From that point, at the end of July, until now, we’ve been quietly building a business together. Today we’re announcing what we’ve been working on: a boutique editorial consulting firm called 18 Olives. Eliza, an early employee at Morning Brew and later the Daily Upside, is an excellent newsletter strategist and digital ad copywriter for financial service orgs. I do content strategy & execution and media relations for startups, bigger tech companies and VC firms. Put our adjacent skill sets together and you have a damn near full-service editorial consulting agency.

Two very candid, professional businesswomen.

What does this mean for my current clients? 

Very little, I think. For my newsletter-oriented clients, I’d love to bring Eliza into the fold. But otherwise, it’s just a matter of filling out a new W-9 form with our business name on it. 

Content strategy….ok….what is that………

My work looks different for different clients. This summer, I helped an early-stage startup develop a content policy and internal moderation protocols. My main client is an early-stage startup for whom I plan and execute social media strategy, write thought leadership and am designing a survey of industry professionals that I’ll later turn into a report. I write articles for the news arm of a major ridesharing service. I’m helping an early-stage company get their content strategy off the ground by strategizing and writing thought leadership articles from the perspective of their CEO. I’m working with one VC firm on writing thought leadership articles, and for another VC firm I interview their portfolio company founders on video to create content marketing assets for the firm. In the past I’ve written website copy, digital and print ad copy, newsletters, social media copy, ghostwritten articles, thought leadership and branded content, annual reports, speeches, and TikTok scripts. 

I also offer media training and mock interviews for founders and press relations for startups. With zero formal public relations training and only the strength of my network and experience as a tech reporter, I’ve successfully gotten startups media placements in major industry publications and newsletters you read every day. 

Why launch now? Or at all? 

1. We’re so proud of what we’re building.

2. We’re really great at what we do.

3. I would be extremely dumb not to harness the outpouring of client work that kind people sent my way when I was laid off and do something with it.

4. I can have a 9-5 job again in the future if I want to. But right now I’m young, I don’t have that many outstanding expenses or health concerns, I have no dependents, and I owe it to myself to try this while it makes sense for me to do it.

5. Publicity! We want all the inbound client work we can get our hands on. If you want to work together…drop us a line.

Why 18 Olives?

My birthday is August 18th and Eliza’s is September 18th. We contemplated calling ourselves 18 Stories but that’s preeeeetty close to the name of Conde Nast’s (Current? Former? Am I dating myself by remembering this?) branded content department. Olives are small and punchy and evocative and easy to illustrate and a food we both like. Also, 18 olives is a perfectly sized snack.

Am I going to work on this forever?

I don’t know! I like doing it a whole lot, and we have a lot of momentum right now, so I’d like to keep running with it for as long as we can. I love structuring my time in ways that make sense to me and didn’t necessarily make sense when I worked in an office. In the past I’ve been so scared of freelancing full-time, but I’m leaning into self-employment and being a small business owner (lol??? but for real!) because I know I’m good at what I do, Eliza is so good at what she does, and we’re on the precipice of something really special with 18 Olives. I’m so grateful for Eliza’s generosity and her willingness to take a total leap of faith with me. It’s been great so far. I can’t wait to see what we build together.

Are you someone or do you know someone who would benefit from our services? Share our website or this newsletter with them! We’re eager to expand our client roster.