The Write Like a MOFO Community Is Two!
I’m celebrating 2 birthdays.
On Tuesday, I turned 40.
Well, at 40 my life makes much more sense to me today than it did at 35 and 30.
I wanted to launch my big book by my birthday. I so craved a 40th birthday celebration fueling the launch of my book.
But, the book isn’t ready yet, and that’s okay. I’ve been working on it for 2 years and 10 months — what’s 2 more months? It’s taking longer for many reasons — distance learning, distractions, fires, and more revisions, tweaks, and additions than I could have planned for.
They all happened for a reason, and now my book’s just going to arrive a little later than planned. My firstborn was 2 weeks late, and I was a late baby, too, so my book is “late” — I use quotes because I mean late as in on a made-up timeline that I invented.
It’s okay.
I love hearing how people celebrate their birthdays, so here’s a snippet of how I celebrated 4 decades on this rock:
I planned the day off — blocked my calendar months in advance and turned on my out-of-office message
Set my alarm for 7 a.m. (sleeping in) but woke up at 6 from noise downstairs
Ry took the kids to get flowers and Starbucks at 6 a.m. — these greeted me when I got downstairs
I enjoyed my almond milk latte and did some journaling under a big blanket on the couch (NJ mornings are chilly these days)
I made a breakfast with gluten-free toast simmered in coconut oil then added avocado, smoked salmon, pink salt, and sriracha
I went to Starbucks to get my free birthday drink — another almond milk latte, this time with cinnamon and nutmeg sprinkled on top
I brought my computer so I could write you this — I didn’t plan on writing today but would if the mood hit, and it did, so here I am!
I did a little shopping, went for a massage, came back and sipped a glass of gifted rosé on the front porch
Then I took Talia to dance class and made dinner. I know... I cooked on my birthday. We went out for a great Italian meal on Sunday to celebrate because Ry had school that night. I could have ordered takeout, but as I stood in my kitchen, I craved my own food. I wanted to cook. We had seared tuna steaks, sesame-miso mushrooms, and basmati rice. And cake. It was perfect.
I made a new wish and slipped it into my Wishbeads bracelet. Apparently, your wishes are 10x more powerful on your birthday. That’s what Alexa told me anyway.
If you pop onto Instagram, you’ll see a visual roundup of the day.
So that’s turning 40. While I also wanted to celebrate poolside in Vegas with champagne, I’m writing this to you sipping lime LaCroix in the Jeep watching Talia’s outdoor hip-hop dance class.
Also, 40 isn’t the only birthday I’m celebrating this week.
The Write Like a MOFO Community Is Two!
I launched this membership community on my birthday two years ago with a short and sweet email to some creative business owners who had previously come to a writing marathon. Most of them said yes, and then I showed up to provide a safe container for writing, creating, and coaching.
Like any “baby,” it’s grown up in perfect timing. I didn’t push this MOFO out into the world and force it to run a marathon by the time it was 4 months old. Nor did I force this at 2 years old.
I let it find its legs, grow, and transform into what it wanted to be.
A community that’s two years old in the internet world may as well be 40.
MOFO is 2 but it has a 40-year-old soul.
I’m proud of what I’ve built, intentionally, and doing it my way — tuning out the noise from marketing gurus and tuning into me, listening to what members needed most and giving them that.
This is a lesson that applies way beyond the scope of leading a community.
The Write Like a MOFO community has had many milestones over two years, and it’s been fun to see the growth.
Here’s what the MOFO community has done in 2 years:
Brought 75+ business owners together
Hosted roughly 800 hours of butt-in-chair writing time
Created 23+ templates for copywriting, client services, proposals, and more
Hosted 32 hours of expert-led workshops
Held dozens of 1:1 strategy sessions with members
Fostered many collaborations and connections — I can’t begin to quantify this; there are so many amazing relationships that came out of this group.
The future of the writing community
Since I started the community, the membership has stemmed and formed roots in two kinds of people:
Creative business owners, like web designers, coaches, and branding experts who want to learn to sound human in their copy so they can sell more and get more clients
Writers and creatives who want the time, space, and creative container to finally work on their passion projects.
The first group of creatives had hired copywriters in the past, tried to DIY, and their voice never felt quite right. They just needed a little support. They needed someone to reflect back on what they were thinking and to prompt them with tough questions. They wanted a fresh perspective on their words. This is where my intuition comes in.
The second group is people who are just like me — writers who aren’t/weren’t writing for themselves. They’re often copywriters, content writers, coaches, strategists, and consultants who enjoy writing as their form of content marketing and self-expression — they just couldn’t get it to happen. They were also sick of trying to write alone. They have a book on their heart (like I did).
When copywriters started joining the Write Like a MOFO Community, I wondered why they wanted to be here. Now I know. They needed the space for their work to grow. I needed the same thing. It took them asking me for it to realize that I needed to create it.
I created this writing community for me.
It turned out that it was exactly what I needed to write my book. On many co-writing sessions inside the community this past year, I greeted the amazing humans as they joined, we all declared what we’d work on — me, my book — and then we got to work.
Many days I’d put my book first, though some days I didn’t.
The funny thing about putting my writing work first was that when I looked after my goals first, everything else felt easier. Words for clients felt easier, and I felt even more present in every 1:1 conversation.
The driving reason behind this — congruency. When how I invest my time lines up with what I say is important, I’m congruent. It’s work, sure.
This is the work.
And with that, I’m excited to tell you that the doors are open for the Write Like a MOFO community.
You’ll find two options for writing with us:
Option 1: Co-writing (no copy feedback)
Option 2: Copy feedback (includes co-writing too)
Imagine, how great it’s going to feel when you see your growing body of writing work, and big copywriting projects done.
Update for 2022: The Write Like a MOFO community is now the Unfussy Writing Community. And the doors are still open, as always.
