Meet Michelle Carrington

We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Carrington recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.

It had been three months since I last posted on Instagram or emailed my subscribers.
This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but as a self-employed copywriter, Instagram is my main source of clients and my email list is the best way I have to build a relationship with potential clients. With every passing day, I felt the pressure build-up and my well of clients dry up. It had been so long that the comeback post or email had to be impactful, major, and industry-defying.

That just made it harder…

Everything I wrote was awful (in my opinion). Who am I as a writer if I cannot write? The imposter syndrome hitting harder than ever before.

So, I decided to do a little experiment.

They say “Write what you know” and at that moment, all I knew was writer’s block. So, I decided to candidly and imperfectly document the experience in my blog.

But, to make it happen I had to come to an agreement with myself and set three rules:
1. Give yourself permission to be bad at it. I wouldn’t edit, and I wouldn’t limit my ideas, no matter how “silly” they seemed.
2. Publish it. Having to share it with the world added an extra layer of commitment.
3. Set a deadline. This had to go out in three days.

I felt the need to squeeze words out of my brain more than ever before.

I started typing. At first, it was gibberish and nonsense, but after all that was out of my system, ideas started coming together. I was writing. It was then that I realized my perfectionism was holding me back. The pressure to put out something impactful and valuable.

Why can’t we just write for the sake of writing?

To give you some context, I write for businesses. It’s my job to come up with clever ways to describe a product and present a story. But, doing that so much took the joy I felt from writing for myself. I forgot how fun it was simply to put words on a page, just because.

My advice to you? Get it out and give yourself permission to be bad. Getting all the “bad” ideas out of you leaves room for those golden ideas to breathe and take form. But, it all starts with action.

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?

I’m a copywriter and messaging strategist for indie beauty brands that are looking to transform the cosmetics industry into a more inclusive, empowering, and sustainable space.

Before becoming a copywriter I worked for almost a decade as a makeup artist, playing in many areas of the industry–from TV and Film to sales and cosmetic retailing. This gave me the insight to see many of the things that are wrong with the industry like its wastefulness, and how much of it relies on shaming (mainly) women to sell them the ‘solution’.

I knew the industry could do better for people everywhere, and saw that the brands leading that change were the small indie beauty brands. They are not incentivized by the big conglomerates to produce and sell at all costs, instead, they are created by people who saw an actual need.

I’ve made it my mission to help these brand founders articulate the genius of their brand through messaging and copy that connects with their target audience and sets them apart from the competition. I believe that if we amplify these voices, we can transform not just the cosmetics industry, but how we view beauty.

After spending the last three years working with beauty brand founders, I’ve seen just how much great copy can boost a brand’s growth. I’ve also seen how expensive launching and growing a brand can be. That’s why I’m so excited to roll out a digital product designed to help new and pre-launch founders write their own website copy, beat writer’s block, and create messaging that really clicks. I’ve been working on this for a long time, and I think it’s going to be a game-changer for new brand founders. Launching Fall 2024!

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?

Curiosity is probably the most vital quality that’s brought me to where I am today. Questioning what’s happening and exploring different ways to approach the same thing drives innovation. Curiosity pushes us to learn, create, and grow. It helps us solve problems instead of looking for excuses—an essential skill for entrepreneurship. Curiosity is at the heart of creativity, and we need it to tell stories, create amazing products, and drive positive change.

The next quality I believe is essential for anyone pursuing entrepreneurship is resiliency. Hard times, where you second-guess everything about your business whether that is due to a recession, lack of clients, a bad experience, or all of the above, will come. Confidence in your ability to figure things out (this is where creativity comes in) and adapt will keep you going.

Finally– and this is a big one–empathy. This is probably what has made my work more impactful. The ability to step into my client’s shoes has helped me create packages that truly support them and deliver a client experience they love. On another level, seeing things from my client’s client point of view–considering how they interact with the brand and products–has been what’s helped me create messaging that resonates deeply with my client’s target audience, and design a customer journey that people actually enjoy. We need to ask ourselves: how will people feel if they read this? What questions would they have? How do we want to make them feel? This is how we create with purpose.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My dream clients are beauty brand founders who have created an incredible product and are ready to get it into more hands. They’re ambitious and driven, but come from a place of genuine care and desire to make a positive impact. They’re at the point in their brand-building journey where they’re getting traction but want to elevate it with more PR, ads and influencer partnerships. My job is to help them refine their stories and messaging so that when all those new eyes are on them, people take action.

If you’re building a skincare brand, makeup line, or fragrance collection and know it has all the right ingredients to be the next IT brand, I want to hear from you! Let’s make it happen.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Photography by Maria Fernanda Lima

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