Sharing your real story despite the fear of losing clients, with Laura Vegh

Reme:
Welcome Laura. I am super excited to have you in this episode of who Cares About My Story. Thank you for accepting this invitation.

Laura:
Thank you for inviting me. It’s great to be here.

Reme:
So please tell us who you are and what you do.

Laura:
Yes. So I’m a freelance writer and strategist. I mostly write long form content like blog posts, white papers, case studies and some LinkedIn posts. And I also offer content audit and strategy services. Mostly I work with B2B software as a service businesses. But I do have a soft spot for health and wellness and topics like neurodivergence.

Reme:
Nice. So how did you get here? What’s your story in getting involved into what you do now?

Laura:
So my story starts a long time ago with little Laura. Little Laura loved to write from a very early age. I think I actually learned to write before I even went to school, around 5 or 6. By the time I was 8, I already had a diary. And I also loved to write notes to my mom, like to tell her things. Not because speaking to her wasn’t accessible. Like sometimes she was just in the other room. But I would prefer to write because I felt like that was more, that was a better way to express my thoughts.

Laura:
Then as a teenager I started writing fan fiction. I had the chance to grow up in the time when Harry Potter was just coming out. So I was deep in the fandom in those years and fan fiction was a world of its own. So we would think, you know, it’s normal that I became a writer. It just goes from there. That’s not true. Sadly, it wasn’t that easy because I also grew up in post communist Romania in the 1990s and 2000s. And in those years you as a kid you pretty much heard one message.

Laura:
You know, if you are a smart kid who is to do well in life, like have a good career, earn good money, you have to study mathematics or other exact sciences like biology, physics, all that and become an engineer, a doctor, or maybe a lawyer. That was it. If you were a boy, you also had police and army as an option. Everything else like you know, writing, literature, languages, social studies was pretty much a guarantee of a life of financial struggles. Now maybe it was true in the pre Internet years or like the early Internet years when we still didn’t know what jobs would come out of it in a country that was still trying to figure itself out. And I was also too young to form an opinion about socioeconomic things. So I accepted this narrative. And as a little nerd that I was, I studied mathematics and then IT, and then I became a computer engineer.

Laura:
And I didn’t stop there, I continued. I got a PhD in the same field, in cybersecurity more specifically. And I worked in academia for 9, almost 10 years. And I really loved what I did. I’m not going to say I didn’t. I loved the research, I loved working with students, explaining all these complicated topics, making them easy, seeing the light bulb moment on their faces. I loved all that. And then I also encountered the other fun part of this environment which was writing.

Laura:
Because as a researcher, academic researcher, you have to write and publish papers to showcase your work. Unfortunately, despite this, as time went on, it became ideal that, it became clear that that was a less than ideal environment for me. I’m not going to go in all the details. Part of it is probably something that only people from Romania or other post socialist, post communist countries would understand. There was also some harassment involved. And for many years I did my best to hold on. Like I had this idea that if I give up just because of a disagreement or some harassment, I am weak, I’m a loser. So I didn’t want to give up right away.

Laura:
But I think deep down I slowly became aware that I had no future there. So I started looking elsewhere. And in that search I started working with a startup that despite my engineering degree, it was an IT startup. And despite my engineering degree, they seemed very interested in my writing skills. Up until that point, after all those years in academia, I had published a good deal of peer reviewed scientific papers. So they asked me to do white papers and then blog posts and then web copy. It was an almost imperceptible transition. And I’m going to be honest, I think at first I didn’t really know much about what I was doing because if, you know, if you’ve seen even just a glimpse of academic versus web writing, they are completely different worlds, completely different styles.

Laura:
Then with web writing you have SEO and all the other things you have to learn and marketing and all of that. So it was a slow but quite significant transition. But somehow within six to 12 months, their website, which I had pretty much written from top to bottom, was on Google’s first page. So that was quite the achievement. And from there I started doing smaller projects with other companies, pretty much freelancing part time while I still, while I was still working at university. Until in 2020, I think. Yes, it was already during the pandemic. I decided enough was enough and I quit my job in academia and began freelancing full time. And this was a very interesting moment because I suddenly had to market myself while I was freelancing part time.

Laura:
This part was not as big, it wasn’t really an issue. I had a monthly salary from the university, so I didn’t really care how many projects I had. So I just took, you know, what came to me through referrals or through platforms like Fiverr. It was very random, but I didn’t do any pitching, I didn’t do any marketing. I think I didn’t even have a website at that point. Once I went full time into freelancing, that had to change and I figured out I had to figure out a way to create a brand out of everything that was, you know, my story. And that was not easy. You know, do I, do I say I’m a computer engineer? And if yes, do I lead with that or do I put it as a fun fact? Is it better to lead with my portfolio and say I’m a writer? But how do I do that when my degree says I’m an engineer? So there was a lot of back and forth in my head and a lot of self doubt and unfortunately I think it led to some mistakes that brought me to work with less than ideal clients.

Laura:
No, I, I just had a pretty confusing message. Like the, the mistake was in a way on both, on both sides because I wasn’t marketing myself properly. So people were coming to me unsure. The wrong people were coming to me, I was going towards the wrong people. Like it was, it was a mess. Then I started writing on LinkedIn and again, I had no idea what I was doing and again I was pretty unsure in how to use my backstory. So I just listened to experts and started writing, you know, generic advice for my ideal client, whoever that was, because I wasn’t very clear on that at that moment. And the generic stuff, as you would expect, got me a couple of likes, which were mostly from close friends who were pretty much pity liking my posts.

Laura:
And then somewhere along the way I finally began experimenting with putting my real story out there. Writing personal essays both about my career change and about myself. Like more personal stuff, like the fact that I’m neurodivergent. And I started publishing them under my own name because previously I had published some stuff, but under a pseudonym. You know, I was terrified that if I started doing this I would lose all my existing clients and get nothing in return. Especially once I started posting that I’m neurodivergent. That did not happen, surprisingly. And soon after that I also started sort of being more myself on LinkedIn.

Laura:
I gave up the generic advice, which was obviously wasn’t working. I started posting, you know, jokes, sarcastic remarks about marketing and the copywriting industry, criticizing toxic, toxic trends, and occasionally also genuine writing advice. Like I said, despite the fear, you know, that once I start writing this, once I start sharing that I’m neurodivergent. Once I start posting these jokes that are basically mostly sarcasm about what’s happening in the industry, that clients would be like, well, do you even want to work with her if you make jokes about these things? And it turned out that they do, and many people agreed with me. And yeah, I started getting more followers, which are really a vanity metric because most of them were writers like myself, so not necessarily the people who would become clients. But then I also started getting more clients and so on. It was not an easy shift for sure. There were a lot of doubts about how to frame my story, how to turn it into a brand.

Laura:
But I think I’m finally at the point where I’m comfortable with what I share. Like, yes, I’m a computer engineer by degree, but yes, I switched careers and now I’m a writer and strategist with a solid portfolio to prove my skills. Yes, I’m neurodivergent, which I honestly believe it kind of helped me in the transition in, you know, in the way that I can focus on things and it makes me a better professional. So yes to that as well. You know, the career change I think is also very helpful. And the two, the two very different careers, like, I can merge the academic in me with the teacher and the writer, and it gives me this unique middle style voice and voice that can help me create unique content.

Reme:
Amazing. Thank you for sharing this journey from one side of writing to the other side. Totally different. And all the different styles that you are able to do. Because since academia is totally one style, but then writing for others for the website or their blogs, and then what you do for yourself in your own writing, like this sarcasm and this type of content is like so many, so different between them. So, yeah, that’s. That’s really interesting. So how has been your experience telling your story? So how has telling your story impacted your business?

Laura:
I would say it 100% made it better. You know, looking back, I can’t believe I was afraid all these years, all those years to share it. I’m not gonna say it’s picture perfect. Like, you share your story and instantly all the clients start flooding in your way and you never have a slow period and they’re always fully booked. That’s not the case, you know, I. I like to be very real. I advocate for ethical marketing and I do it for myself. Like, there are still slow periods sometimes, you know, now sometimes I still wonder where the field will go and where my career will go with ChatGPT around.

Laura:
But overall, sharing my story has only made things better. It has made things easier for me to market my offer and pitch new clients. For instance, this year I’ve started officially. I officially added my audit and strategy service. I had actually offered it before, but it was never a service that I marketed. Like, I think it simply sort of happened with some acquaintances who had a website that wasn’t really pulling its weight, and some past clients, like, I was writing for them, and they were like, okay, like, let’s stop adding more and let’s start. Let’s try to look back, because something in what we did years ago isn’t working. And so I did offer these audits, but I never marketed them because I felt like they kind of don’t fit.

Laura:
And now, for instance, putting all of my background story into play, you know, I can say they actually fit very well with my background and with my engineering background, because an audit isn’t just like, you don’t just look at the text. You also look at technical stuff. You have to have strong analytic capabilities, which I do. And I think my background proves it. You know, I can spot patterns. I can, I know my way around all sorts of software, and I’m also a writer, so I find these issues on the side really quickly. So, yeah, this is part of the impact of sharing my story.

Reme:
Yeah, I can imagine how for doing an audit, that your analytical thinking and all your different skills that you have naturally and also learned through the years in your different experiences has make a unique combination that is really powerful. And that’s something that I always like to highlight to people, is like, showcase what makes you unique. Because there could be more people having a similar academic background or having, doing similar services, but the combination is always unique. And you bring certain things to the, to the service or the offer that are unique and are valuable for your clients. Even if it’s something natural to you, it’s still valuable for them. So, yeah. So do you remember a specific moment when you realized the impact of sharing your story for your business?

Laura:
That is a good question. And sadly, I think it happened after the fact. You know, I wish I could say I saw it before, but I think I was too caught up in all the doubts and the imposter syndrome before I started sharing to consider how it could help. I was just at the point where I knew, okay, what I’m doing isn’t helping, isn’t sustainable, it’s not getting me the results that I want, so I have to try something else. And so I might as well incorporate, you know, my story and who I am. Because, because why not? So, yeah, I did it and it helped. But yeah, unfortunately I saw its impact and how good it was only after the fact.

Reme:
Do you remember having to face any unexpected challenge by sharing your, your story?

Laura:
Not too many. I think I had a lot of worries and scenarios in my head when I started sharing about my neurodivergence. You know, like there are a lot of misconceptions, especially around autism, that people who are autistic are not as bright maybe and not as good to work with. So I had a lot of fear around that that people would react negatively, but it actually hasn’t happened. I mean, I don’t know if there are any potential clients who saw the story and were like, nope, not working with her, not working with someone like that. Maybe they exist. They have never told me. If they exist, I probably dodged a very big red flag because they were probably not very good to work with.

Laura:
One thing that I know, yeah, it has affected. But I don’t know if this is so much about making my brand a story is people believing that I have very high prices because I have a PhD. This is something one person actually told me after I pitched him. He said, you know, I, your, your, profile portfolio looks great, your style is great, but I don’t think I can afford you. Which is not true. I’m not the lowest in terms of prices on the market. I mean, I’ve been around for a few years doing this, but from what I know, I also don’t have the highest prices on the market. I’m somewhere in the middle.

Laura:
So yeah. But I do believe there are some people who assume this and just don’t even want to try to have the conversation. But yeah, it is what it is. Can’t, can’t change that.

Reme:
That’s interesting. It’s like this, having that as part of your background is positioning you in a place also price wise. So that’s interesting. Yeah. And of course with the messaging or there’s also a way of clarifying that, but it’s interesting to have the input that that has made an element in considering where you are in your pricing range. So when deciding what to share and what not, have you ever worried about sharing too much?

Laura:
Oh yes. Especially when I started sharing the personal essays and writing about the fact that I’m neurodivergent, like I said, with all the misconceptions around these topics, I was very worried it would have a negative impact on me. I also wondered, you know, is it, is it necessary, is it even necessary for me to share it. I mean, it doesn’t have anything to do with writing or anything, so why, why am I even talking about it? But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the answer is yes, you know, I should write about it because it’s part of who I am, it’s part of what allowed me to be where I am today. And like I said, I think in many ways it makes me a better professional. But yeah, the worry existed and the worry also existed because at least years ago when I started in the industry, you could find a lot of copywriting courses that told you, you know, forget about the words. Words like I or me. Like never talk about yourself.

Laura:
It’s never about you. It’s always about the clients. It’s always about them, never about you. So while now I strongly disagree with it, not just in general, also because like something like AI came around. So I think the I in the story, the me in the story is what can differentiate us from ChatGPT. But yeah, this, this rhetoric is, is and was still embedded somewhere in my brain and brings doubts every now and then. For instance, last year I started a Substack and I originally meant it for personal essays and to share little snippets from a memoir I’m currently writing. I haven’t mentioned it so far, but I am writing a memoir right now and I wanted to use my Substack to share more of that, but I ended up taking a step back.

Laura:
I shared a few personal essays on there and I ended up taking a step back and creating some more business related posts because I worried it would be too much me, me, me. So yeah, this, this, this worry exists, but I think I’m getting more comfortable kicking it to the side.

Reme:
Yeah, and I can imagine like in other parts of the business, like there is ups and downs and it’s like an evolution. So no, it’s not like, okay, now I, I don’t have any more concern. I have 100% sure and it’s going to be like that. But it’s like a journey where sometimes you are progressing until a point and then you, you want to talk about certain things or your personal journey is moving, it’s evolving as well. So all of that has made an impact, I believe in how is our progress. And it’s not a linear thing. It’s going to be ups and down.

Reme:
Also in, in it. So you know that the pod, the name of the podcast is Who Cares About My Story? So what would you say to someone who is wondering who will care about their story?

Laura:
Honestly, as cliche as it may sound, I think everyone, everyone cares. I think it’s what sets us apart. You know, without your story, you’re just another writer, another engineer, designer, podcaster, whatever, whatever your work is in. Yes, you have your portfolio and your style, but so do the other thousands of people with the same job title. But your story, on the other hand, that’s, that’s yours and yours alone.

Reme:
Yeah, 100% agree, of course. Yeah. I feel like it’s so important to understand that our story can inspire others and can be that even as you said, it’s providing this context about who we are as a person and what is important to us, why we decide to work around a certain work, around helping a certain group of people. So all of that is bringing a lot of like, information and nuance about who we are. And that’s going to help deciding who I want to work with, right?

Laura:
Yes.

Reme:
So some of our listeners, they are in a pivotal moment in their business and you have mentioned that you have changed careers. So how was for you that process of updating your messaging after changing in your business? And how did you decide what to share?

Laura:
Well, like I already said, it was a very slow process. I honestly, I just kind of let go and allowed myself to like share my thoughts. I think that was, that was the key thing for me. You know, I had, I had seen what didn’t work. You know, the generic messages, the everything. I had seen how that doesn’t work. So I just started putting, you know, snippets of my, my story, my jokes, my humor.

Laura:
Yeah, yeah, that’s it. Sorry I don’t have a better answer for this. This will have to be shortened.

Reme:
Yeah, it’s okay. So, yeah, you just mentioned humor and this is something I really appreciate. Every time that I go to your post on LinkedIn, LinkedIn and your writing, I like how refreshing it is. Your sarcasm and all of that. I am curious to know how has been your experience using humor in your storytelling?

Laura:
Well, the first thing was, it was a bit scary. Like I said, it’s humor, but it’s also sarcasm. It’s also slight critique. So there was a bit of a fear of being perceived, you know, as the Karen who’s also. Who’s always criticizing things. But I quickly learned that these posts also have a pretty good chance of going viral or close to it, which is the biggest vanity metric out there. And I have gone viral a couple of times and it didn’t necessarily bring me any new clients. So, you know, that’s not necessarily something I chase after.

Laura:
But I think this might sound a bit cliche, but, you know, I think right now we really need a lot more humor. For me, it’s something that happened organically going in this direction. And I like sharing something light and fun. Like we have enough generic content online. We have enough educational content. We also have a lot of bad things happening in the world right now. So why not go with some humor? You know, if, you know, if I come online one morning and I see that my little sarcasm about this toxic trend made 100 people laugh, it’s a win. I call it a win.

Laura:
You know, even if my, my inbox isn’t full with, with inquiries from potential clients or there’s just one in there, it’s. It’s completely fine. Yeah, I like it. Maybe, maybe I also like it for myself. Like I. I make some light on my own feed in the midst of all this weirdness. Weirdness that’s happening right now. Yeah.

Reme:
Yeah. Yeah, and I think also that using that bring that aspect of learning more about you, like the real you behind the writing. Because if it’s a more generic or just more about the technical side of writing or benefits and things like that, without that touch, I believe that this can be writing for as you say, for maybe help, getting the help of AI or just something more random that you see and you cannot understand who these belong to. But your humor posts or, and your realness is something that, yeah, there is a human behind. And also you can. When you have been reading your, your things, you. You have your style.

Reme:
So I can under. I can see that style going there. And as someone interested in maybe hiring someone or if I came across someone that looking for something a bit more different, I will have that in my mind. Even if I, I am just interacting with your content in a, in a way that, just for, as you say, starting the day with something like not just that draft content or the concerning news and all that. So yeah, I think that’s bring a lot of the real element that is really powerful in my opinion for a personal brand.

Laura:
Yes, you said it much better than I did.

Reme:
Oh no. So yeah, I would, I. So I would like to know about your process, deciding to get help in shaping your messaging and deciding what to share. How has been your, your experience?

Laura:
Well, I worked with you, which is something I would 100% recommend. You helped me see some things from my story that I always thought were, you know, boring or not worth sharing. And then you helped me realize that they are 100% worth sharing. If maybe it’s just about, you know, the messaging, the packaging, but they are 100% worth sharing and not. And not boring. I decided to work with that because I kind of felt like on my own, you know, I’m looking at things with a certain perspective, maybe a certain closed perspective almost that’s filled with all these doubts and definitely someone else will help you look at things in a different way. So that’s one thing. I also had a lot of help from a writing community I’m in. So this is a quick shout out to my friend Kim Marsh, and she runs this beautiful writing community.

Laura:
And there we do these things, this thing called the Monthly Salon, which is a monthly meetup where we gather on Zoom. And if we want, there’s nothing mandatory, if we want, we can read something we wrote in the previous month or months or whenever. And that was actually where I first started sharing my personal essays with an audience and their feedback and their reactions helped me, you know, not just become a better writer. That was also obviously a, a side effect, but especially gain more confidence in sharing my story.

Reme:
I love, first of all, thank you for the part of the recommending me. And then I love how when you are surrounded by a community, a supportive community of peers it’s so valuable because it’s like you, of course getting the feedback from an audience and from people that you are like, maybe you’re friends and all that, has a level and it’s good. But then like the feedback from peers is a different, has a different aspect. And it’s, when you are surrounded by a really supportive community, it’s really, I don’t know, it’s really special. And I, I am really happy that you to found her community and I also know her and she’s like really a, a lovely business owner and person and community leader. So yeah, really happy too that this is a place that is supporting you as well as a writer. So now we are just wrapping up and I want to ask you a question that I like to do to all my guests.

Reme:
What part of your personal brand story surprises people the most?

Laura:
Honestly, I feel like few people told me they were surprised. Maybe they just didn’t tell me. I had people say they were impressed at my background. I think some feel surprised that I am neurodivergent. But I think it’s something that happens mostly because people have misconceptions about that, and about what that means. Yeah, I did have a few, a few peers who also commented on all the different styles I write and how I went through them and how they don’t feel like there was, I was speaking with this writer and she specializes in academic writing, actually, and she said she just doesn’t see herself switching from styles to style the way I do.

Laura:
So yeah, that would be.

Reme:
Yeah. This is a really unique skill, right. To move from one side to another. So thank you so much. Please. How can people find out more about you, about your work, and also about reading your, your writings? Right.

Laura:
So for services and portfolio, I would say my website is the place to be. For personal story, my Substack. Though I will be very honest, at the time of recording this episode, I haven’t been very active there, but I’m hoping to change that in the future. And of course, you know, for the random jokes and sarcasm, you can find me on LinkedIn.

Reme:
Amazing. I will make sure that we have all the links in the show notes and near this episode so people can go and. And find them easily. So thank you so much for sharing your insight and your perspective on this. I really appreciate you.

Laura:
Thank you so much for having me. This was wonderful.