Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jennifer Crain. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jennifer, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I’ve become more confident as I’ve aged. And part of that is that I take living and aging seriously. I’ve taken time to face myself through therapy and journaling. I allow my friendships, my relationship with my husband, and my role as a mom and a sister and a daughter to change me. I’m honest with myself in ways I never would have been 30 years ago — I’m more honest with myself today than I was even last week. I try to keep growing.
As a 52-year-old, if I’m uncomfortable with something, I’m more likely to say so. If I’m angry or judgmental, I don’t throw myself under the metaphorical bus anymore. Instead, I say to myself, “Huh. You’re pretty mad or acting petty. Is it warranted?” Sometimes it is and sometimes it’s not. Either way, I try to acknowledge the feelings and move on. When I was younger, I would have obsessed about being a better person, about thinking better thoughts. I keep myself from operating that way now, if I can. A purist approach to life and work and relationships just wasn’t serving me well.
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?
In 2016, I founded my copywriting business, Pearl & Ink. It’s just me over here, creating marketing stories for independent businesses.
I typically create long-form content, especially blog posts, social media posts, emails, and newsletters. But a cornerstone of my work is to help businesses clarify their messaging and to write web copy based on that work. Web pages are hard — really hard — to write yourself. So I jump in to help people say what they need to say to the right people. My goal is to make the user experience seamless by writing just the right thing in the right way and by working with other collaborators (especially designers) to help visitors find what they’re looking for in the most direct way possible.
I should mention that I write lots of other things, too, typically as one-off projects. Case studies, brochures and other print assets, annual reports, donor letters, and the like. The way I put it on my website is: “Anything you’d like your audience to read about you is in my wheelhouse.”
When I named my business, I wanted to hint at the fact that I work behind the scenes, learning about people’s work and reflecting the best parts of it back out into the world. A pearl came to mind because of the way it catches the light — not directly reflecting it back but transforming it into a subtle glow. That’s how I try to write for my clients, creating pieces of writing that capture what they do in an irresistible way.
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?
Brené Brown’s list of values had a huge impact on my business and on the way I see myself and how I operate, in business and otherwise. After I completed her exercise in Dare To Lead, I identified two interlocking values that are central to my life and my work: honesty and connection.
In my office, beneath a reminder of these two values, are these two phrases: Honesty at the expense of connection is cruelty. Connection at the expense of honesty is flattery. They remind me that if I’m true to my whole self — true to my desire to be honest and to seek deep connections with people — then I’ll have more fruitful interactions and more balanced relationships.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
My ideal client is a small firm or nonprofit that’s been in business or doing their work for five to ten years and that needs to strengthen their marketing through storytelling. They can hire me solo, as part of a group of other contractors, or as a contributor to an existing internal marketing team.
I love working with people who understand and embrace the importance of marketing and who are into stories. It also helps when they’re fun! I have one client that keeps a slingshot and little felt balls on hand so they can grab the attention of people working with headphones on. I love it when people do great work but don’t take themselves too seriously.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pearlandink.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pearl.ink.copy/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifercrainwriter/
Image Credits
Christina Yem Photography One Beautiful Life Photo
