EMILY CROOKSTON |
FOUNDER, THE POCKET PhD
"I started seeing my business as an experiment and it freed me up to try new things and worry less about whether I would be able to make any one thing “work.”
What would you tell yourself as a teenager?
You are stronger than you know, smarter than you feel, and YOU get to decide what success looks like.
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Very early on, a business buddy I met through networking told me to think of my business as an experiment. Up until that point, I had been thinking about running my business as a pass/fail situation. When I started seeing it as an experiment, it freed me up to try new things and worry less about whether I would be able to make any one thing “work.”
What are you reading?
I just finished Three Word Rebellion by Michelle Mazur. Currently, I’m reading How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb, and Cojourn: Harnessing the Power of Connection to Tune Into Your Wisdom, Achieve Your Goals, and Create the Life You Want by Molly Keehn and Karl Henricksen.
Describe your business and inspiration for it.
I’m a ghostwriter and Founder of The Pocket PhD. I love to help busy experts--who are long on ideas and short on time--write books, articles, and in-depth blog posts. I also do developmental editing and a bit of book coaching.
I’m a former philosophy professor and recovering academic. My inspiration to start my business came when I decided to climb down from the ivory tower. I asked myself what I wanted to do before I wanted to teach philosophy and my answer was “when I was 13, I liked marketing.” A friend of a friend who owns a boutique web development and marketing agency was looking for marketing help and I started writing her blog and blogging for her clients. After several months, she put the idea in my head to start my business. I started out calling myself a content marketer, but I don’t like copywriting and I’m not the best person to ask about marketing strategy, so after a couple of years I started calling myself a ghostwriter, which aligns better with my strengths.
What made you decide to become an entrepreneur?
I was pretty resistant to the idea of becoming an entrepreneur at first. My dad was an entrepreneur and ran an audio installation business for more than 30 years before he sold it and retired. Clearly, he made it work, but I saw the challenges and the feast or famine cycle was the backdrop to my childhood.
By contrast, I saw the life of an academic as very stable and secure (all you have to do is work really hard, land a tenure-track job, get tenure (in six years), and you’ll be making better than average money for the rest of your life). After applying to hundreds of jobs over eight years and never landing that tenure-track job, I had to let that dream go.
Becoming an entrepreneur solved some problems for me. I didn’t know how I could go from academia, where 3+ months out of the year I had total control over my time and could work on whatever I wanted, to the 9-to-5 corporate life. I also didn’t know how I would handle the hierarchy of a typical office environment. I love being my own boss and the challenges of figuring out how to grow my business.
What has been the key to your success?
Networking and referrals have been the keys to my success. When I first entered the business world, I was amazed at the generosity of people I met. I can get an answer to any question or feedback on anything I’m working on within 24 hours simply by reaching out to people I know or putting the question to my audience on LinkedIn. I’ve learned so much and gotten so much work from people I’ve chatted with only a handful of times, not to mention my wonderful clients.
What challenges did you face in the early days of being the Founder of your own business?
In the early days, my biggest challenge was figuring out what to spend money on. I knew there were tradeoffs that would save me a lot of time and headaches later, but I had no idea how to figure out what those were. Because I felt like I didn’t know how to do anything, I wanted to pay people to do everything, but of course that didn’t make sense for many reasons. It felt like everyone I met was trying to sell me something (that I really needed) or telling me to look into this or that resource and it was super overwhelming.
When self-doubt hits, what do you do?
When self-doubt hits, I try to name it and talk about it with people I trust. But self-doubt shows up in a lot of different ways and sometimes I don’t recognize it for what it is right away. For example, when I’m writing my blog and it’s taking F O R E V E R, often it’s because I’m feeling doubtful about my expertise or what I have to say about a topic. I would do well to notice this when it’s happening and find someone to brainstorm with me really quickly. How often do I do that? Never. I’m more likely to talk about self-doubt around bigger stuff that’s in my face, but noticing the little things would make more of a difference day-to-day.
Which books, articles, blogs have helped to shape your business and/or leadership style?
Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create, and Lead by Tara Mohr
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek (I never read the actual book. But this idea is so “in the water” in the business world, that I’ve picked it up through osmosis)
You’re a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson
What Works with Tara McMullin (podast)
Being Boss: A Podcast for Creative Entrepreneurs with Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon
What has been your best strategy for selling your product or service and what have you learned along the way?
My best strategy for selling my ghostwriting and developmental editing services is to first listen really, really well. If I can get the prospect talking about what they are hoping to get out of working with me and their vision for their business book, then I can steer our discussion in that direction. I listen to figure out whether the prospect is a good fit for the service (ghostwriting or editing) they’re looking for. I listen to figure out what their unique needs are, so I can speak to how I can support them in their goals. I listen to be able to answer any questions or direct them to the resources that can help them (if we aren't a good match). When the strategy is working for me, the conversation feels less like a sales pitch and more like a collaborative brainstorming session. My attitude is always one of curiosity, not of trying to give them my best caricature of a sales pitch.
What do you do outside the office to help you stay creative/productive?
I practice yoga, usually 5 or 6 days per week. I often have business and content breakthroughs immediately after I get back to my computer following yoga. My yoga family is a small, close knit group. We’ve been practicing together for years. I’ve been working with my teacher for 6 years. It’s nice to take a pause in the middle of my work day and focus on my body, instead of being inside my head for 8 or 9 or 10 hours straight.
What would you say to another woman who asked you if they should take the leap and start their own business?
Do it! I haven’t regretted for a moment leaving the university where I was teaching. Truly, I was miserable and felt undervalued by everyone around me. There is no good reason to be miserable or bored or underappreciated at work when you spend 8+ hours every day working. I don’t even think I had the perspective to know how miserable I was when I was in the sh*t. But now that I’m out, I see it so much more clearly. It’s so easy to start a business these days. All you really need is a website (and depending on what you want to sell, you may not even need that) and then, you can start telling people how you can help. It really is that simple to get started. If it feels hard, you’re probably making it harder than it has to be.
That being said, I also recognize the privilege in those statements. I was fully employed and in a position to be able to save for a year before I took the leap. I have a husband whose pension pays our bills. My privilege has enabled me to get where I am. I am considering how I can be an ally of those who have suffered as I have risen.
In the age of COVID, how have you pivoted or what are you doing differently?
I have pivoted in a few ways: Since I’m saving a lot of time not commuting to in-person networking opportunities, I’ve been very focused on business development goals. I’m getting more visible on LinkedIn (posting Monday-Friday), commenting on others’ posts, asking for recommendations, and connecting with at least 5 people each day. My application was also recently accepted to be able to do LinkedIn LIVE videos, so I'm thinking about how to leverage this new opportunity. Another way I'm growing brand awareness is by strategizing about how to grow my email list. I created a new email opt-in (a fun quiz) and have plans to build out some other valuable opt-ins. Finally, I'm tracking how much time I give myself to rest each day. I've heard so many people say they don't feel as if they're working from home, but rather that they're living at work. This is a recipe for burnout. Creating boundaries between work and rest is even more important in the age of COVID.