Crystal J. Milburn

LONG STORY SHORT

More than 20 years of sales and marketing have led me to LOVE the unexpected: WRITING. Why hadn't writing landed on my radar back when I was choosing a major? It never occurred to me, plusI genuinely thought I wanted to climb all of the corporate ladders when I was young and green. This sentiment gives me a good laugh now, not because there is anything wrong with climbing corporate ladders but because those ladders are so far from my core now. Needless to say, it was more of a happy accident that landed me in copywriting 12 years ago. Then, eight years ago (2015), I stepped into freelance copywriting and haven't looked back!

SHORT STORY LONG

By now, you've caught on that I have more than a crush on writing but you may not know that I did a lot of exploring prior to landing here. I worked my way through high school and college, landing only jobs I really wanted (to my very grateful fortune).

My first tax-paying job was as a bagger at a unionized grocery store, which meant I quickly made more than minimum wage, had paid vacation and company health insurance at 16 years young. In college, I landed a retail job and a sales assistant job, both of which would be useful later when I needed a business-professional wardrobe and some experience to reference during job interviews in the 'real world.'

Those interviews led me to take some really awesome, lucrative post-college opportunities. After my first sales job, I realized that my goal of getting into marketing would be on the back burner for a bit. Professional sales had a way of luring me in, with its flashy hotels and luxury trips. So, I went on to sell patient cleansing products, search engine optimization (SEO) services and IBM/Lenovo computers for a longer time than I'd planned.

This corporate B2B sales endeavor continued for 11 years. Cold calls aside, it was a lot of fun. The lushest were the limos and Ritz Carltons that came along with medical sales. The most fun had to be the Google-like SEO startup that encouraged scooter races and loud music, topping out at 300 employees before the feds shut the place down (I snuck in a visit to Google's HQ in Mountain View just prior). And, the most enlightening (enlightening for my soul, anyway) had to be the fortune 500 (Lenovo).

Not long after this exploratory phase, which included two 1,000-mile relocations, I made my way into marketing. Finally, the career I'd set out for so many years prior, yet something didn't feel right here either. So, I learned as much as I could and met some really great people while I pondered what I really wanted to be when I grew up.

The real question was, how soon can I get out of high heels and into some sweatpants?

It was at my first agency (where jeans were allowed and encouraged, a step in the right direction) that I wrote my first blog (2012). I immediately knew what had been missing ALL OF THIS TIME. Writing sales proposals and PowerPoint presentations just wasn't the same. Connecting with people via words and creativity, wow, this was IT. It was love at first blog and I knew there was no going back so I forged ahead to explore every kind of copywriting I could: social media marketing, SEO-friendly web copy, newspaper ads, radio scripts, brochures, year-end reports and so on.

There was a lot of downsizing during those formative years and layoffs became commonplace. Being typically risk-averse, I may never have jumped into entrepreneurship but my experiences had taught me that everything is a risk, whether it appears that way or not.

Eventually, the stars aligned and I became a freelance copywriter, seemingly overnight. It was an easy and aligned transition but having patience and trusting life was key for me to take the leap. Had I attempted to go full-time freelance any sooner, I'm not sure it would have worked out.

I'm ecstatic and grateful for the opportunities I've had over the years, especially this one. I never thought I'd ditch the Sunday blues, happily work from home and find fulfillment from the very thing that pays the bills. It's still a "job" some days but one I can fully cherish thanks to my hard-earned perspective. The freedom and lack of a dress code are priceless, though I do clean up well when forced!

If you've read this far (kudos!) and have any curiosity about working together, let's connect in one of the 74.6 ways available online, or, (gasp) in person!