Copy House Urchin’s origins and why we’re here

Welcome to a CHUy World

I started Copy House Urchin in 2019 as a blog dedicated to documenting any helpful tips I discovered while trying to break into the content/copywriting world. At the time, I was going on year 6 or 7 of being stuck in retail. I was a full-time retailer, but when I wasn’t at my store, I was a part-time writer working with clients and working on my own projects. Trying to figure out how to turn this thing into a full-time gig.

It took me nine years, 1 pandemic, and 5 layoffs to finally break into the industry and I figured…

Becoming a writer shouldn’t take long or be that hard.

I couldn’t find any resources within those 9 years that fit my situation exactly: someone working outside the marketing industry, who wanted to transition a career into full-time writing. I was duct-taping a lot of close-but-not-quite resources together and trying to make things work… Ultimately I think that was part of what kept me stuck for so long.

Building resources that actually help

So I created the resources that I couldn’t find anywhere else. I doubled down on Copy House Urchin, documenting everything I did to become a writer. I wanted to make it the go-to place for anyone who wanted to make the transition into copywriting with real resources, step-by-steps, templates, etc., and not just squishy “believe in yourself” fluff that you can find everywhere that’s not particularly helpful or practical or actionable.

Copy House Urchin is a resource for aspiring, early-stage, and mid-career writers to build their portfolios, confidence, and credibility so they can break it big in the industry. 

But Copy House Urchin isn’t just for portfolio help. It’s also about employee empowerment—and how we can have more autonomy in our work lives. I also dealt with my share of hostile bosses, oblivious or toxic work cultures, and non-existent boundaries. All of those things eat away at your time and mental bandwidth to learn new things and change your circumstances.  

I’m not okay with the amount of power and leverage that some corporations wield over their employees while they keep them stuck and dependent living paycheck to paycheck. At the end of the day, I’d love for every employee to have f-u money and be able to make decisions based on their goals and values, and not for the sake of their paycheck.

Which brings me to the CHUy resources and platforms where you can find all this good stuff.

Break It Big

This is my platform discussing everything to do with writer portfolios, how to market yourself, client/job management, how to talk about your non-traditional background or multi-faceted talents, and how to gain and keep more power in your career. 

In the first series of episodes we’re getting into all the burning questions I get about becoming a writer:

• What should you put in your portfolio?

• What do companies/clients look for in a writer?

• What is the easiest style of portfolio for 2024?

• How can you market yourself and put words to your value?

The format is open and conversational. I always tell people to come as they are, that when you start something new, it’s not going to be perfect, so I’m taking my own advice here and keeping this as easy as possible. We’re not fancy, we’re just helpful.

Then there’s a way to put that knowledge into action and build a portfolio that companies want to see…

What I wish I’d known earlier…

Something I wish I knew was how much companies DON’T care about who you’ve written for or whether it was a paid experience or not—especially when you’re new. If only someone had told me about demo projects…

I hired junior writers at my agency and I can share that paid work wasn’t part of the criteria. And it wasn’t part of the criteria for my boss either when he was reviewing a portfolio… 

You know what was the most important thing about your work?

That you can write!

Demo projects are a fabulous way to learn how to write while creating brag-worthy pieces of content for your portfolio. 

A lot of portfolio courses and teachers will tell you to start with demo clients and projects…but they leave all the sourcing and building of that project up to you. When you’re brand new and don’t know what a content brief is…what a good one looks like…what a CTA is…what the difference is between a blog vs. a case study is…It’s really difficult to give yourself a writing project that’s worth putting in your portfolio.

So many of the writers I work with tell me this is where they got stuck and overwhelmed. It’s the “I don’t have clients so I don’t have a portfolio, I don’t have a portfolio so I don’t have clients.” death spiral…And they don’t know how to even start creating a project for themselves.

And this ‘you don’t know if you don’t know’ thing shouldn’t hold you back from starting. And that’s where I can help. 

Introducing the Copywriter Portfolio Starter Kit

Literally everything you need to setup your portfolio and start writing today.

New writers wonder what their portfolio should look like, what you should put in it, what clients or recruiters care about, and even how to write content that’s good enough to snag a job offer.

The good news is that your copywriter portfolio doesn’t need to take a long time to create or be this fancy, complicated thing. Since I’m a copywriter with experience in corporate and freelance with a 10-year background in interviewing and hiring, I have simplified your portfolio needs.

And everything you need is inside the Copywriter Portfolio Starter Kit.

Grab yours for free below! 👇