Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where
we explore the journeys that lead to success.
I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five
Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you
insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders
and experts who will share not just their expertise,
but the milestone moments that have reshaped
their journeys and led to significant achievements.
So if you're looking for motivation, you're in
the right place. Subscribe now and discover the
milestones that mark the path to success. Welcome
to another episode of Milestone Moments in Business
and Leadership. I'm your host, Sheila Slick.
And today, my special guest is Rachel Allen.
Rachel is founder of Bolt from the Blue Copywriting.
She's a fast -thinking marketer with over 17
years of experience and clients in over 21 countries.
She has written for some of the biggest names
in businesses, worked with influencers, nonprofits,
and brick -and -mortar brands worldwide. Her
work has contributed to high ROI launches industry
awards, and national level honors. She believes
that great marketing is equal parts data and
humanity, and she has built her entire career
proving that. Welcome to the show, Rachel. Thank
you so much for having me. I'm so excited to
chat with you. Well, me too. And I'd love to
begin asking you, how did you get started in
this line of work? Well, I had no idea what this
line of work was until the day I started doing
it. I would have never thought that I was going
to run a business. I never thought that I was
going to do marketing. I didn't really even know
what marketing jobs were because I had gone to
school for journalism and I did all the stuff,
interned in PR, had the grades and then graduated
into the 08 recession. And of course, no one
was hiring and especially not journalists from
rural Tennessee. So I sent out 200 resumes and
the only response I got was for this job at Old
Navy, like unpacking boxes on the 5 a .m. warehouse
shift. So I did that for about six months and
was like, this is not how I want to spend the
rest of my life. And in my 22 -year -old brain,
I was like, well, what's the furthest place away
from Tennessee? Turns out it's Hong Kong. So
I bought a plane ticket and I just left. But
of course, I hadn't gotten a work visa or anything
before I left. So I ended up straighted there
with about $200 in my bank account and I had
to make rent. So I'm Googling like how to make
money online, which is only marginally less idiotic
then than it is now. And I found this freelance
job and they said they would pay me $3 .25 to
write something. And I was like, done. So I did.
And I ended up loving it and decided to build
a business off of it. So that's quite a pivot
story, not just because you, you know, went from
journalism to packing boxes, but going to Hong
Kong, going across the world. And then you had
a language barrier. So how did you manage with
a different culture, whole different system and
a whole different language? So I had studied
abroad there and I had a like six -year -old's
level of Cantonese. So, you know, like I can
like get around to the metro and I can order
food and like find a bathroom. But as far as
the culture, I mean, honestly, I was just so
excited about it. I had always wanted to travel
and I had grown up in these like very rural hollers
in Appalachia. And while there are so many wonderful
things about those, I just always wanted to see
the world. And so it was just really exciting
for me. I didn't find it anything like anything
other than great when I was there. So I actually
ended up living nomadically for about 10 years
after that. And I moved like every six months
to all these different countries. So it's actually
scarier to me to like stay in one place. That
to me feels like the risky part of like, because
you're like, oh, pack a bag and leave the country.
I'm like, sure, whatever, no problem. But it's
like, hey, like stay here and make friends in
your local community. And I'm like, oh, like,
do I have to? But I just I'm trying to envision
the change because you weren't like in a big
city either. You said rural Tennessee, right?
So you're going from the smaller towns and the
nature in the fields. I mean, Hong Kong is like
one of the most modern, biggest cities in the
world. Yeah, that's just fascinating. Yeah, it
was definitely different. Like personal space
thing was a big thing to get used to, just because
there's so many people, the population density
is so high and they don't have the, you know,
three foot American bubble. Did at any point
in time you just think, oh, my gosh, what have
I just done? Kind of all the time. It was a little
bit of back and forth of like, this is amazing.
Oh, my God, what is happening? So let's talk
a little bit about copywriting. So now we know
that that was your origin story. I am assuming
it went well because you began with $200 and
then you not only managed to stay, but you were
able to live in different countries for over
a decade. Yeah. So what made you return back
to the United States? I'm actually back in Tennessee.
So I was living in London with someone that I
had been with for nine years and our visas were
together and then we broke up. So I had to leave
the country, which is a just horrible setup.
And I don't say anybody should do it. So we broke
up. I had to leave the country. I crashed on
a friend's couch in Switzerland for a while.
And then one of my oldest friends texted me and
she said, hey, I'm living in D .C. I'm looking
for a roommate. Do you want to come live with
me? And I was like. Sure, what do I know about
D .C.? Sounds great. So I packed my bag and then
went and lived with her for about four years.
And then after that, I just really had the feel
to get back to the mountains for a while. So
I moved to a different, slightly larger town
and have just been really enjoying the nature
again. Do you have a book about all your adventures?
I do, actually. Yeah, it's a memoir. It should
be coming out fairly soon. It's called Bat Shit.
And it's about growing up. And I was, like I
said, in this very rural community, extremely
hard right fundamentalist Christian. And that's
just not my belief system. And I could I just
couldn't make my brain. function on that. So
I thought I was insane. I thought I was literally
crazy. And so the story is of me realizing like,
oh, no, actually, you know, that's just not my
particular belief system. And I'm not actually
insane. And it is possible to live a different
life. I can't wait till it comes out. Please
share that link. I will be one of your first
purchases because I really want to dig into what
that life looked like for you. Yeah. I think
it's something that a lot of people may want
to read about. What are some of the trends that
we're seeing today, especially with AI? So I
think we're seeing a couple of things. One, people
are really either like digging down into AI and
using it super effectively or they're like, you
know what? Actually, I don't want anything to
do with this. And both are perfectly valid and
both can work. The third trend that I'm seeing
that people are struggling with is they're trying
to like kind of do half and half. And I'm like,
you can't really like. Do it a little bit. You
know, you need to either learn these tools and
get good at them or you need to decide that you're
going to do something else and differentiate
yourself that way. You can't just be like, I
don't know, chat GPT, do my marketing for me.
And then just put a bunch of stuff out because,
I mean, the term AI slop exists for a reason.
We're all so jaded seeing this same stuff over
and over again. Do you think it's here to stay?
Oh, yeah, I think definitely. I think. People,
I think the hype is going to die down around
it. I think there's a lot of promises made about
it that just aren't realistic given that it's
like. It's a large language model. It's not a
genie. And I think there's a lot of like hype
of, oh, this is going to change the whole entire
world, the way we communicate. And I'm like,
humans have been using language for at least
60 ,000 years. I mean, some studies vary. It
depends on who you look at, what we count as
language. But we've been talking to each other
for a really long time. And this is not going
to fundamentally change that. It just amplifies
some elements and downplays others. I agree.
Part of your stance in leveraging AI is to not
lose the human voice that actually converts.
So what's one thing that you can share or a key
takeaway in respect to how do we protect our
human voice and make sure that it converts? Oh,
that's such a good question. So I think there's
a couple things. One is to actually get a really
strong sense of what your own voice sounds like.
I think if people have been doing, if they've
been outsourcing their marketing kind of from
the beginning or if... they've never really listened
to what they sound like it can be hard to say
like oh no that's me or no that's not me so I
think you need to start by doing the horrible
awkward thing of like listening to how you talk
on recordings or watching the way you speak if
you're on stage thinking about how you naturally
write things when you're not kind of in like
marketing mode and then saying does it actually
sound like me or does that just sound like every
other thing I read And if you find yourself being
like, well, when I speak as myself, it's weird
or it's off -putting or it's too human or it's
awkward. I'm like, no, you need to lean into
that. You don't have to go around like intentionally
being awkward because then you get into like
Manic Pixie Dream Girl stuff, you know, where
it's like. I'm not like the other marketers.
And you don't want that. But you just want to
be as human as you possibly can, because we know
it when we see it. And we're like, oh, thank
God someone is actually talking like a person
to me instead of a LinkedIn post. I agree. Maybe
even leave a misspelling at this point. Sure.
I mean, if that's how you talk or I mean, I have
all sorts of little idiosyncrasies in the way
that I speak. And when I when I pay attention
to them. So, for instance, every email I ever
write says, hello, lovely human. And that's how
I talk to people in real life, you know, or if
I'm leaving a voice message with someone, I'll
normally be like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
OK, the end to bye. And so, you know, I use the
things that I naturally say. And you can't manufacture
that. No one would be like. Like, let's think
of a greeting that sounds warm, yet also human,
you know? So you also say that you're partying
like it's 2009 in online entrepreneurship. So
what does 2009 look like for you? I'm so excited
you asked me this. No one ever does. Okay, so.
Way back when I very first started, around 2008,
2009, there were a couple of internet trends
that were going on because there were a whole
bunch of people coming in from the Great Recession.
So you had a large amount of churn. You had a
lot of people who had skills in other areas that
they were learning to apply to something else.
And so in marketing, you had a whole bunch of
things come in. So we had the traditional MLM
tactics start moving over into online marketing.
We had the FLEB, the Female Lifestyle Empowerment
brand, was a big deal. Everybody's hair was...
shiny. They were sitting on motorcycles for some
reason. I'm not sure why. And it was a lot of
like coaches coaching coaches to coach coaches,
you know. And so we're seeing a lot of the same
things as people are struggling to get back into
the job market as. Things are shifting economically
again, as there's a lot of chaos. A lot of people
are moving from their jobs back into online entrepreneurship.
And so there's a little bit of a feeding frenzy
going on where all of these people who sold like
email list tactics and, oh gosh, the webinars
and, you know, all that kind of stuff way back
in the day, they're selling it again, repackaged
to new people. And because those people are new,
they don't know any better. So what can we learn
from you, someone that has seen all of this,
to these new people or people that perhaps haven't
had that same point of view? Yeah, a couple things.
One, you know so much more than you think you
do. When people first come in, their entire industry
is predicated on being like, you don't know how
to make a good decision here. You don't have
the right skills. You need an expert to guide
you. And while it is true, you can learn things
from people. And I highly recommend coaching
or mentorship. Ultimately, deep down, you need
to trust your gut because you're an expert in
something. So many people are coming in and they've
been in the C -suite space with their execs or
their management. And then they come in and they
feel intimidated because it's all new and flashy
and online. But I'm like, no, you've got skills
that carry over that people in this industry
work for years to get. So trust yourself and
trust your gut. The second thing I recommend
is make some really good friends who actually
see you and like you as you. So it's easy to
want to join like the online popularity contest.
Well, back in the day, it was B school. Everybody
went to B school and everybody was friends there.
Now there's other ones that are popping up. But
you need to find people who genuinely believe
in your business as you want to run it, as opposed
to like you should do it like Susie Marketer
or you should do it like, I don't know, whatever
dude is on stage these days. So be yourself,
know your skills, find good friends, and then
focus on doing one thing really well instead
of trying to do all of the stuff all the time
because you just can't and it's a waste of energy.
So who do you help and how do you help them at
Bolt from the Blue Copywriting? I help founders
and execs. Oftentimes they come to me with what
I call impossible dreams and unsolvable problems.
So they've shown up with something that they
want to do in their marketing and they're like,
oh, that's like really big. I don't know how
I would do it. Or they've reached a level in
their marketing where they're like, man, this
is not working and I do not know why. So they
come and work with me. I'm industry agnostic.
So I've worked with people literally all over
the world in every single industry you can possibly
imagine. And I just really like. helping them
get the word out. Where can they find you online?
They can find me at boltfromthebluecopywriting
.com or connect with me on LinkedIn. So before
we wrap it up, what would be that one key takeaway
so that we can take action today? update your
bio. People do them once and then they leave
them forever and it's horrible and it ends up
out of date and cringy and then you feel weird
about sending people to look at it. So update
your bio. Get a quick, short little one up that
feels accurate to what you're doing now and update
it once a year because otherwise you get real
dated real fast. Do you have a special formula
what the bio should say to it? Yeah, I've got
two templates, actually. I'd be happy to share
them. One is the like, I'm a blah who does blah
for blah. You know, the one everybody knows,
but you can spice it up a little bit. The other
one is I believe blah. And that's why I do blah
through my work in one, two, three. I help people
do thing. And I'd be happy to send through a
template for people to download. And I'll make
sure to leave all the URLs in the comments. Well,
thank you so much for joining me today, Rachel.
Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This has
been great. And we'll have to invite you back
once your book has been published so that we
can learn more about that. I'd love that. Well,
thank you all for tuning in to another episode
of Milestone Moments in Business and Leadership.
Until next time.