Explore FAQs

I believe there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all. I don’t have an interest in scaling because I can’t. Those who scale their work can only do so if they smash clients into their mold, churn out the same hamburger. Every one of my clients is their own beautiful, non-replicable mold. My clients are few in number because I’m dedicated to and focused on them. Clients get a level of attention impossible from someone else—by design. I believe your voice is unique. Vital. Content should not be “good enough.” It should be perfect for you — and only you. Whether you’re a writer or a brand or a mission-driven organization, I honor you as the subject matter expert. My job is to elevate your voice as your master wordsmith and support your communication as your writing sherpa. I help find and perfect your voice so you sound exactly like yourself. That's true authenticity. That's how you are seen, heard, and understood. I also manage the process so the steps are clear, manageable, and simple to execute. I believe no one needs to "be convinced" to spend money on your books, services, or products. Instead, they just need to meet you. I help you find and connect with your audience. You know, the ones who are in alignment with you and can't wait to engage with you. One of my superpowers is an uncanny ability to find my client's audience, understand their brands, and replicate voice. I’m a master of the precise story structure and content strategy that makes you irresistible. I believe in the highest standards of integrity and excellence. I am absolutely non-nonsense and will never waste your time — or your money. I always fight for what's best for you and right for your content. My work is consistent, clean, high-quality, and brand/voice/writer specific. I always meet or beat deadlines. In short, I am the writer, editor, and content strategist that I want to work with.

We all know logically that butterflies are insects. But human nature being what it is, we don’t generally put them in the same mental category as cockroaches, mosquitos, fleas. We’re delighted to see butterflies, not dismayed or disgusted. We point them out to others when we see them fluttering about the flower garden, not swat them away or crush them under a heavy shoe. When my kids were in elementary school, our family purchased a tabletop butterfly garden. The mesh habitat came with everything we needed to provide a safe and healthy environment. We kept it on the counter in the kitchen, the room we spent the most time in, so we could watch the transformation while we ate meals or drank coffee, completed math homework, and opened mail. Even the youngest Eric Carle fan knows that a caterpillar’s sole purpose is to eat for as long as it remains a caterpillar. And our five caterpillars gorged themselves with gusto. Eventually, obeying a silent signal only they could sense, each caterpillar made its way up to the holding log, where it attached itself to hang, wriggling, upside down. We watched each slow down, grow motionless, and stiffen into a chrysalis pod. The most intense transformation takes place inside the protective chrysalis. (There’s a reason we humans call being in our safe and happy places cocooning!) Like a drawn curtain, the opaque barriers blocked our view from the intense, crucial labor being performed. One morning, my children noticed over their cereal bowls that one chrysalis had grown much darker in color than the others. Soon another did the same. The others followed. The chrysalides dripped a dark liquid. Something was happening! As luck would have it, all four of us were watching when the first chrysalis burst apart. After the seemingly long and tedious wait, the emergence happened lightning fast, in the almost-literal blink of an eye. Our first butterfly, streaky with fluid, clung to the log with its spindly legs. As the hours passed, the butterfly waved its wings slowly, both testing and drying them. Wings! it must have thought. I have wings! How perfectly astonishing and wonderful! In their own time, its four brothers and sisters likewise emerged, completely changed yet authentically themselves, into the world. Transformed. Full of purpose. Ready to take flight. All four stages of butterfly transformation — caterpillar, chrysalis, emergence, and flight — are orderly, purposeful, and necessary. And the complete cycle, though it happens in plain sight, feels like magic. So, too, does the art and science of creating language that resonates. Writing begins in discovery and insight. It’s crafted and evolved. Refined and perfected. Empowered to be the very best version of itself. It might, as did our hatched butterflies, bring you to tears of joy. My proprietary framework, the Butterfly Blueprint, transforms your copy into content that sounds exactly like you — only better.

Sherpa (capital s) and sherpa (lowercase s) are often used interchangeably, but while there are overlaps, they are not the same. Capital S Sherpa designates an ethnic group of people residing in a specific area of the Himalayan mountains (the word “sherpa” comes from the combined Tibetan words meaning “east” and “people.” In lowercase, “sherpa” designates the workers who assist with expeditions by handling equipment or walking alongside trekkers as partners, assistants, and guides. Connotatively, outside the world of mountaineering, “sherpa” applies to someone with vast experience in a particular field; deep knowledge of tools, strategies, and best practices in that field; and both the necessary vision and the stamina to lead and support others, show the way, and stay the course. For more than 30 years, I've lived the business of words: as a writer, editor, teacher, and coach. I know the terrain. I possess the expertise. In short, I'm your writing sherpa, your guide and partner for each step of the journey. I can't wait to support you on your adventure!

I am not a copywriter. I am a writer. What’s the difference? Did you know there’s no specific training requirements for copywriting? That’s right! Anyone can wake up one day and hang a shingle. Quality copywriters are few and far between. Even the best ones have expertise in what’s already been done before in advertising and publicity materials. Copywriting is narrowly and exclusively marketing focused. By definition, copy writing is based on formulas and templates and fill in the blanks, all of which has been done before and will go out of favor, and none of which are individualized. That's why so much copy sounds the same. If that makes you feel icky, like being doused in a bucket of snake oil, that’s for good reason. A copywriter, even a really good one, isn't trained to create, understand, or manage your content beyond those narrow parameters. But I can. As a trained and multiple advanced-degreed professional writer, my expertise with language (writing) and purpose (strategy) reaches far beyond what others offer. I understand language on a granular, word-by-word, sound and sense level. I also understand your entire content strategy, across suites and platforms. I’ve managed the whole of communications for large, complex organizations and one person shops. My knowledge and expertise are based on longstanding truths of language, presentation, and human connection. (And I believe the word authenticity contains real meaning.) If you're only interested in getting one-off, salesy, fad-driven, just-like-everyone-else, marketing sizzle with no substance, doing only what has been done before or glomming onto a trend because “everyone else is doing it,” we aren’t a fit. But yes, I also understand metrics, KPIs, SEO... and yes: I create killer copy.

Not at all. In fact, my lack of expertise in your specific business means I am approaching your communication needs pretty much exactly the way your cold audience would. You educate me on your topic, point of view, and style, and I’ll partner with you from there to make sure you are truly communicating what you intend, and in the clearest, most compelling way possible.

Overeducated/underemployed hourly (and sometimes salaried) worker, struggling parent with young children, scrappy entrepreneur, cog in the corporate machine, middle manager, program director, volunteer, executive director, C-Suite corner office holder. I've been all of these things, and more. The point is: I. Get. You. I'd like to think my experience and client/student testimonials speak for themselves, but nothing replaces good old-fashioned human connection. Don't hesitate to shoot me a message so we can discover if we are a good fit for each other.

If you're here, you're already well aware that premium services from master practitioners aren't just an unnecessary upsell. You really do get what you pay for. ​ Think about your own area of expertise. What do you sell? What service do you provide? Is your only market position that you undercut the rest? Frankly, would you want it to be? I'm not the least expensive writer, editor, or teacher you might find, but my prices are 100% competitive with the best. I know, because I'm one of them. ​ Instead of asking if I can match someone else's rate, ask that someone else if they can match my customized, bespoke, premium-quality (and decades-earned) knowledge, service, and integrity.

Oh, honey. No. Please don’t “just” use an automated tool. While they can indeed be very helpful (I use some of them myself, especially for spot checks and final proofs), they are soulless machines. Many suggestions/corrections/flags they generate are not quite right or just plain wrong. The user must have a good understanding of grammar and writing conventions to separate the wheat from the chaff. Consider the humble calculator. If I don't know that 12 times 12 equals 144, then I won't recognize a calculator error of 1440 when I have accidentally mistyped a numeral. Similarly, if I don't know the difference in meaning between affect and effect, I won't recognize an erroneous correction. The tools are just that—tools. When your words matter, you need an expert, not a tool.

Absolutely not! While my client list includes household names and global brands, it also includes hundreds of super niche or hyper local clients. In some ways, the “small fish” can make the biggest splashes in their respective ponds. ​ In my teens and early twenties when I spent all my ice cream-scooping money on concert tickets, I finagled my way into the front VIP section for David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, the Monkees, John Waite, Duran Duran, U2, Phil Collins, Journey, Bryan Adams, and the Michael Stanley Band (If you know MSB, you know). I'll help get you to the front row for your audience, too, no finagling needed. And for the record, all my clients are big deals to me. I work with individuals and mission-driven organizations. Are you committed to the being the change you want to see in the world? Do you have a strong voice that’s worthwhile, that has something to say, not just add to the noise? Are “sales” in their proper place for you? I.e. would you believe in the value of what you offer even if you did it for free? No tricks, no gimmicks. Whether you're a creative writer or you have products/services to sell, if the above resonates with you, I'm your girl.

I genuinely enjoy all the clients who choose to work with me. They are all wonderful, inspiring people who bubble over with ambition and intelligence. My life is all the better for having them in it. ​ If I had to pick a project I'm most proud of, it might be the proposal that successfully brought in a two million dollar investment for that client. Or it might be the display ad that generated a local-level client's record-smashing single day sales. Or the grad student who paid me to write a bespoke poem to frame for his wife as an anniversary gift. Or maybe my favorite project is yours? Let's find out!

OK, this isn't a FAQ related to my business, but I wanted to tell you more about me! I've given skritchies to a pregnant koala bear, acted in a Peloton commercial, fed and bathed a 25-year old elephant, been interviewed on television right after the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia died,won the front row seat lottery to Sting's Broadway show The Last Ship (and saw Hamilton's original cast on Broadway too),gone into labor at an Amiri Baraka reading, interviewed Pulitzer-winner Charles Simic for a book on contemporary writers,scored a bogie on lucky hole #13, brought a handful of houseplants back from the dead, and plugged my ears at a monster truck rally. I'm content to live my life joyfully and completely, surrounded by exceptional friends and beloved family, even though I will never, ever, no never outlive the lengthy list of books-I-want-to-read list.