Meet Joanna Flynn

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joanna Flynn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joanna below.

Hi Joanna, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

My development of confidence and self-esteem has not been linear. In fact, far from it. There are days when I feel confident and days when I don’t want to leave the house (although let’s be real, we always feel better once we leave the house).

So confidence isn’t a feeling. It’s easier to be confident when I feel good about myself, but it’s not strictly necessary. For me, confidence is a decision. I must actively choose to be confident, even – and especially – when I do not feel it.

Confidence is an exercise. At its core, confidence is belief in yourself. Belief that you can do something. Accomplish a task. Not crumble under the pressure.

And the only way you find out if you can do something is by trying it.

I’ve built my confidence over the years by trying things. Sometimes, I was totally confident in my ability to do something. Other times, I was pretty positive I would fail. And I did, a lot.

But every time I failed, I learned something new about myself and my capabilities.

Now, when I try something new and I fail, I don’t walk away saying “I can’t do this.” I almost always say, “I can’t do this YET.” That small word has given me permission to fail. It has given me the room to mess up, fumble the bag, and try again. And again. And again.

Just because I couldn’t do it the first time doesn’t mean I won’t be able to do it this time. I refuse to let a single circumstance determine my ability.

This mindset has helped me in small ways – like not giving up on sports I almost immediately suck at (I’m looking at you, volleyball). And it has helped me in big ways – like not giving up on my business just because I didn’t immediately know how to structure a sales funnel.

Ironically, the thing that has made me the most confident is giving myself permission to fail.

I don’t always need to get it right – and especially not on the first try! I don’t need to be good at everything. How could I be? I must learn. And learning is hard, and it’s humbling, and it’s the most important thing we can learn to do.

So i give myself permission to not know. To figure it out. To be wrong, and to try again.

I’m not afraid of failing (most of the time). There are moments when failing is the scariest thing in the world, and I’m afraid I will never recover. But I always do. Recovery looks different each time, but I am always okay.

And because I’ve failed so many times, and I’ve always survived, I trust that I’ll survive again. It might not be pretty, but growth rarely is. It’s messy, and confusing, and uncomfortable. And it is ALWAYS worth it.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

My name is Joanna, and I’m the founder of J. Flynn Copywriting. But everybody calls me Jo (yes, just like Little Women!). I am a copywriter for wedding vendors. I specialize in helping wedding pros find their brand voice and creating search engine optimized website copy and blogs. I love helping my clients rank higher on search results ( and get found by their ideal clients!) through market research and keyword strategies. Then, I love helping them build their community through blogging, email campaigns, newsletters, and more.

But before all that, I am a woman passionate about intentional living, laughing frequently and uncontrollably, and truly “sucking the marrow out of life” as Thoreau instructs.

​I’ve been writing forever, helping friends, family members, and then strangers that became family, find their voice and style on paper. I earned my B.A. in Communication Studies & Creative Writing, polishing these skills even further and learning the psychology of human communication. Now, I use these skills to help wedding vendors connect with their dream clients. My goal is to make sure you feel seen, known, and appreciated. Because I mean it when I say you’re amazing!

I started J. Flynn Copywriting in 2023, after writing and editing a few pieces for a wedding photographer friend. I loved channeling her personality into her writing and despised the idea of going back to writing literature guides. A friend taught me the basics of starting a copywriting business and I haven’t looked back.

I dove headfirst into the wedding industry in January of 2024, unknowingly a week before my boyfriend proposed! Now, my life is full of all things weddings. Planning my own wedding gives me an inside view of the wedding industry and helps me create informed, empathetic copy for my clients.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Communication.

This is a wildly broad term for the most important skill I think any business owner (and honestly, any human) can develop. As a writer, communicating ideas is exactly what I do. The ability to find the right words to appeal to the right audience is the core of my job. However, I’ve also relied on communication to grow my network and community. Most of my business has come from in-person or online networking. Simply starting conversations with strangers and finding ways to connect with them in a genuine way. There are a lot of people trying to sell a lot of things. When you communicate to connect, you will be amazed by the friends you make along the way.

Resilience.

Failure is a part of life. But it is an even bigger part of business. You’re going to mess up. You’re going to make mistakes that directly impact your business. You’re going to get rejected. And it will suck. But if you let that stop you, you will never find the people who say “YES!” to your crazy ideas and celebrate your unique approach to business. Be soft enough to learn from your mistakes and strong enough to not let them drag you down.

Humility.

Humility goes hand in hand with resistance. When you try something new, you won’t know everything. No matter how much research you do or how prepared you are – there will be surprises. There will be outliers. And there will be hard lessons to learn. Approaching business with humility allows you to learn more easily. Understanding that there ARE people who know better than you. You won’t be the best in your field – at least not immediately. Let yourself learn without beating yourself up about what you “should already know.” (I’m still learning this one. I might be learning this one for the rest of my life).

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

I am actively learning to value flow over force.

There are many times when I sit down to write and cannot sit still. My mind cannot focus on one project – or on anything. In the past, I would feel miserable and force myself to get my work done. It would take me twice as long and be some of the worst work I’ve done. Then, it would take me twice as long to edit, and I’d be left with a general dissatisfaction.

Now, when I sit down with this fidgety feeling, I get up. I take a walk. I dance or workout or do something to move my body. And when I have worked out the feeling, I sit down to create a new strategy.

Here are some practical tips that have helped me face overwhelm:
– Make a list. The sooner the deadline, the higher priority that project is.
– The Pomodoro method. Focus on one task for 25 minutes, and then give your brain a break. Having a time limit helps me not get overwhelmed with the vastness of the project.
– Change your physical location. Shake up your environment, it can help shake up your brain.
– Remember that it’s okay. Whatever happens will be okay. If you have to deliver a project late, let your client know as soon as you can. It might suck, but you will be okay. Nothing is ever as big of a deal as we think it is.

Sometimes, you just need to revisit your workload on another day. Do the easy stuff. Do what you can. And then go create something. Have fun. Drink some tea.

You’ll know when you’re ready to tackle a task because it won’t feel like an elephant is sitting on your chest.

And if that feeling never goes away, just start. It might not be your best work, but it’s hard to be scared of something as you watch it get smaller. Action alleviates anxiety, even if that first action is the most anxiety-filled one you’ve ever taken. It will get easier.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jflynncopywriting.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.flynn.copywriting/

Image Credits

Carina Danielle Photography