Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diane Pauley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Diane, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
If I’m being honest, I think I get my resiliency from my mom. She passed away when I was young, and ever since that moment, I’ve been building myself back up. She may not have been there with me through life’s ups and downs, but I know that her spirit has endured within me. Life happens to all of us, the good and the bad moments, and we get to choose how we take them in and let them define us. Entrepreneurship can be the greatest introspective journey because it teaches you about who you are and what you’re made of. I’ve been a business owner since 2013, although my entrepreneurial journey has been anything but linear over the last decade. I pivoted, paused, went back to a job, and eventually relaunched, but I never stopped. And I think a key characteristic of resilience is that you get to tap into an internal drive to keep going no matter what may be outside of your control. I choose to keep moving forward, especially when it’s hard, because other people need to know that they can, too. My mom’s story was cut short before it had time to be told, and so I want to make sure I do everything in my power to do the work I’m meant to do in this world and finish the story I’m meant to tell.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
The version of my business I run today is called Gimme Sweet Words. Gimme Sweet Words was actually an offering I put together back in 2015, where I would offer one-on-one chats to business owners looking for an expert eye to review their copy. Who knew five years later, this offering would turn into a full-fledged functioning business? Not me. As I mentioned, my entrepreneurial journey was anything but linear, and before I started Gimme Sweet Words in 2020, I was doing marketing in-house for various nonprofits. But that’s the thing about journeys—you never know where they’re going to lead you next, and I just knew I had more to create. These days, I work with mission-driven brands and business owners who are doing incredibly important work in this world and need support communicating the heart of what they do so they can connect with the people who are meant to hear their message. We do this in a few ways—we hone in on their unique brand voice and positioning in their industry, we craft compelling and conversational website copy and content that connects, and we establish their thought leadership so they can make their impact known. In other words, I help them get out of their head so they can get to the heart of the matter, and also get their ideas down on paper. And from there, we can craft a way to strategically communicate and tell their story. The thing I love most about this work? The people I get to work alongside—clients, collaborators, and creatives. Because we’re not meant to do this work alone but in community.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. I’ll never forget what a fellow entrepreneur told me at a conference years ago. He said that no matter what it may seem or look like, we’re all figuring it out. And that meant so much to me to hear as I was just starting out and thought everyone was light years ahead of me. To hear someone I looked up to tell me that we were in the same entrepreneurial boat, figuring it out together, made all the difference. 2. Something I learned early on in my own journey was to see my vulnerability as a strength and not a weakness. I think what helped me to connect and grow my community over the years has been my ability to go there and share the unfiltered parts of this journey that we’re often too afraid to talk about.
3. I think this last piece is both something I learned and something I try to impart on others as much as I can. It’s that who you are matters, and you have a story that someone somewhere needs to hear so they can know that they’re not alone. So do the work you need to do to find your voice and use it.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I love this question because I feel like we can find inspiration anywhere and everywhere. One of my favorite authors is Cheryl Strayed. She writes about the nuances of life in such a visceral and vulnerable way that you can’t help but be drawn in by her words. I view entrepreneurship as a personal development journey because you’re constantly learning about who you are along the way and Cheryl’s book, “Tiny Beautiful Things,” is a beautiful reminder of what it truly means to be human. I feel like there are too many nuggets of wisdom to choose from, but if I had to pick one, I’d say it was this part—”One Christmas at the very beginning of your twenties when your mother gives you a warm coat that she saved for months to buy, don’t look at her skeptically after she tells you she thought the coat was perfect for you. Don’t hold it up and say it’s longer than you like and too puffy and possibly even too warm. Your mother will be dead by spring. That coat will be the last gift she gave you. You will regret the small thing you didn’t say for the rest of your life. Say, thank you.” As a writer, I know that words have power and they hold meaning. Cheryl’s writing reminds me of that and about the intricacies of life. Tiny beautiful things matter, small intimate moments matter, and the sweet words we choose to use matter. It’s an honor to help others find the words to say what needs to be said.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gimmesweetwords.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diane.pauley
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-pauley-2050b575
Image Credits
Beth Photography
