MY STORY: From Bartending To $300K Freelance Copywriter To 7-Figure CEO

I've shared bits and pieces of my story here on YouTube over the years, but you have never heard the whole story until now. Hey, posse, what's up? It's Alex. A couple of weeks ago, I shared what I call my falling from grace moment with thousands of the Posse community during a live online masterclass that I hosted. It's always a little terrifying to be so, so open about the hardest and lowest points of my life, especially with complete strangers on the Internet. Because let's be honest, most of you who watch these videos are very super awesome, rad humans, and you're very supportive. But I do get less than supportive Internet troll comments from time to time. And I would be lying if I said that these comments didn't get to me sometimes. And to be honest, I guess that's probably why I've never really wanted to share my whole story here on such a public platform platform like YouTube and just shared little bits of it here and there. I mean, I don't want, like a total vulnerability hangover tomorrow, but I was inspired to share my story here on YouTube because after sharing it on the masterclass, I received some really heartwarming messages from people all over the world telling me how encouraging and inspiring it was to hear my story, which I can never get over. Like, I don't feel like my story is inspiring, but I am going to share that story with you today. I hope it will help inspire, encourage you as you inevitably encounter your own struggles, low points, or just hard times as you build your business. But before we get into it, if you're new around here, make sure you like and subscribe to my channel below for more real talk about digital marketing and what it's like navigating this wild world of entrepreneurship. Because you are not alone. And don't forget to hit that bell to be notified when my next video goes live. All right, now let me tell you a story. Something you might not know about me is that Even though my YouTube channel and my brand, the Copy Posse, are only about four years old, yes, I started this channel in 2019 and the copy posse in 2020. I have been in this world, the world of copywriting and digital marketing for like 16 years. Which is wild when I say that I started off as an Internet mindvalley, which is one of the world's leading online publishers of personal development programs, and then went on to become the creative director and then the event director of Mindvalley's annual event, a fest. I have been so lucky to meet and learn from so, so many Incredible people who I now call friends and mentors and peers. I'm talking about people like Brendan Burchard, my old boss at Mindvalley, Vishen Lakhiani, Marie Forleo, Jim Quick, Lisa Nichols, Bob Proctor, Joe Sugarman, Frank Kern and Jeff Walker. And even Matt Mullenweg, the guy who developed freaking WordPress. I learned everything I know from these people. And I wouldn't be where I am or who I am today without their influence early on in my career. But let's rewind a bit because the story actually starts years before any of this. It was March 17, 2008, and I remember it well because it was St. Patrick's Day. This is what I would consider the first low point in my life. And it wasn't because I was rocking these terrible bangs. Oh my God, what was I thinking? I was 23 years old, living in my parents basement. I was bartending a little and serving at a restaurant down the street to earn a little extra, extra cash, even though I did have a business degree. But here's the thing. I had no idea what the hell I wanted to do with my life. My twin brother Eric was off to med school and so I felt all this pressure to do something like, equally as amazing and to measure up and of course, prove myself. So I had a business degree and I thought, oh well, my brother's a doctor, I guess I'm going to be a lawyer, right? That seemed like, like the best next step. And to be honest, it's what everyone was expecting, expecting me to do. And it's what I had said, so that's what I was going to do. So I started studying for the LSAT and researching law schools to apply to. But the problem was I had this nagging feeling, like right in the pit of my stomach that law school was not for me. Problem was I didn't know what I wanted to do. But I knew, I knew that I did not want to go to law school and that that wasn't it and that corporate grind was not going to be for me. So one night I went down the rabbit hole online like doom scrolling. Although this was before iPhone, so I probably was on my like old Dell laptop or something and I found an internship at a company called Mind Valley in Malaysia. And I remember I had to look up where Malaysia was on the map. I'm like, okay, it's below Thailand and above Singapore. Got it. And I thought, hmm, well spending like six months in Malaysia while I figure my life out sounds pretty fun and exciting. So what did I do. I applied and I got the job, right? So within a few weeks I had so sold my car, I had quit my job, I told my parents I am moving out of the basement, I packed my life up into two suitcases and off to Malaysia I went. Now, I didn't know it at the time, but oh my God, I was about to dive both feet into the world of sales, online marketing and personal development. It was like my head was exploding and my life would truly, truly never be the same again. Now let's talk about the next three and a half months. Years. Yes, I was living in Malaysia and suffice to say, I quickly became obsessed with absolutely everything I was immersed in. And that short six month internship to figure things out turned into an amazing three and a half year career of insane learning and growth. So at the time when I joined the team, Mindvalley was not the massive company that it is today. We were a very small and scrappy team. It was a really hands on startup environment, you know, with all hands on deck and that was really the philosophy. Like everybody really just got in to figure it out and I freaking loved it. I jumped at every opportunity I could take to take on more responsibility. I worked late nights, I learned every skill I could and it paid off because during my time at the company I was actually promoted three times. When I started at 22, I started as an intern doing customer support and since then I've grown in the company. I've gone from customer support support to project manager to business manager and now to creative director and then later the event director of Mindvalley's A Fest. So the company grew quite a bit during my time there from a scrappy startup that was like in a bungalow on a residential street in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to a multimillion dollar company that's really leading the way in personal development and digital marketing. And they have gorgeous offices now and team all over the world. It was a wild three and a half years and during this time I really felt like, oh my God, this is it. I have made it right? I was 26 years old, the creative director of a multimillion dollar company. I was traveling to the most gorgeous Instagram worthy places. Although Instagram wasn't really a thing yet back then. Every single weekend, right? Like Bali, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Cambodia, Vietnam, island hopping, scuba diving and really having like the best adventures on the regular. I remember my friends looking at me on Facebook and being like, what is your life, right? I was surrounded every single day by incredibly inspiring and passionate entreprene who I worked directly with. Right. I got the chance to meet and work with some of the hottest transformational authors on the planet. And I regularly networked with like the giants of the marketing industry. Like I mentioned earlier, and from the outside looking in, I really did like have it all. But what you would never have known about me looking at those photos on Facebook was that I was actually very, very sick. So it was about 2011 and I was having like severe health issues. I'm talking chronic fatigue, panic attacks, really bad nightmares that kept me up all the time, allergies, gut issues, and truly like the list goes on and on. It was becoming really hard to function on a day to day basis. My brain and body were essentially going haywire all the time. I was like either sleeping or I was in this mental fog and I was on the brink of just like a complete breakdown. So I made the really tough decision. After coming home for Christmas in 2010 and my parents looking at me and saying, something's wrong, you're sick, we need to get you help, that I decided it was time to quit my job. The job that I had loved so, so much. Even though I was incredibly successful, even though I was making more money at 26 than I really ever dreamed of at that point in my life, even though everyone on the outside thought I was living this picture perfect life. Even though I had been involved in growing this awesome, incredible company, you know, from this small business to this multi million dollar success, even though I had a huge network around me, even though my parents and my family and my friends were all so proud of me, I did it. I quit my job. I walked into Vishen's office and I told him that I was done. I gave it all up. I moved back to Canada and I moved into a small bedroom that was my friend's spare room. I was sleeping on an air mattress from Walmart. I remember when I bought that thing, I had a very small, small amount of savings and still a lot of health issues to figure out. And I had no idea what was going on or really how to move forward. And the icing on the cake was that I had just gone through like the worst breakup of my life. You know, the one that like leaves you questioning everything and just like heart ripped out. It was a major starting from scratch moment. And that is what I call my fall from grace era. It wasn't pretty. It was a very, very tough transition period for me. I was actually diagnosed with celiac disease. So I finally had figured, felt that the cause of all my health issues was because of the food I was eating. Essentially gluten. Now, this was back in 2011, and no one was really talking about celiac disease back then like they do today. I mean, now you find gluten free stuff, like absolutely everywhere. And you would think my diagnosis and, you know, getting to work on healing my symptoms would be this really, really happy moment. And while I was relieved in a lot of ways, I was still totally miserable because I had beat myself up so hard about my decision to leave. And I thought if only I had gotten this diagnosis sooner and figured out what I could eat to make me feel good, I wouldn't have needed to quit my job. I felt like I truly had just ruined my life and made the worst decision ever. And it didn't help that everyone who knew me thought I had lost my mind. Like, are you kidding? You left behind this cushy salary, this career, this title, the connections, living this luxurious lifestyle in Malaysia, right? I was freaking devastated. And for a long, long time, I felt like I had made the wrong decision. I cried myself to sleep a lot. Like every night I will. I would wake up, I would just get to work without even like brushing my teeth or eating breakfast on the dining room table. Like, I was struggling. And I'll never forget one night I took this photo. So I had just gotten off the phone with a really good friend of mine who is a fellow entrepreneur, and I was crying and he told me, take a picture of yourself right now. And I was like, what? No, I don't want to take a photo of myself. Like, I'm crying. This is terrible. And he said, no, take a photo of yourself, because one day you're going to look at this photo and say, damn, girl, look at how far you've come. So I was so annoyed, but I did it. I took the photo. And I am so glad I did, because this night was like, huge, huge turning point for me. I was like, okay, that's enough. You made this decision. Now it's time to figure it out. So let's look at the next era of my life. I call this my freelancing era, right? I started my freelance consulting and copywriting business, right? I just spent three years working in digital marketing, learning from some of the greatest marketing minds. So for me, the logical thing was to start my own freelance marketing business and really put all that knowledge that I learned to good use. The only problem was I didn't have any clients. Nobody had ever told me how to run a freelancing business. I didn't know where to go or how to really leverage the connections I had made. Because the only connections I had were the people at the company that I used to work for. And there was no way I was going to get clients from there. Right? Plus, if I'm being honest, I was completely embarrassed and felt kind of ostracized from that world. Like I had made this big decision to leave and I was, you know, there was no way I was going to go back and ask for help. That just felt like too vulnerable. Right? I wanted a fresh start and I was so freaking determined to do it on my own. So what did I do? I started networking my pants off. I went to every marketing conference and event I could find, you know, and I just tell people what I did. Hey, I have some marketing and copywriting experience. Well, really, back then it was just marketing. I didn't even really consider myself a copywriter yet. And I would land a few projects here and there, like helping someone, you know, review their marketing funnel or give them advice on their email marketing. But nothing really major happened for, you know, quite a few months. So I was doing this for a few months, you know, barely scrounging up enough money to pay my rent and of course, pay my bills in Vancouver. And my savings had dwindled down to nothing. And then I went to this one event and honestly, this event changed everything for me. I met this couple who owned a company and they happened to be looking for some marketing and copywriting support. And I was like, okay, yeah, I can help you with that. And we hit it off right away. They decided to hire me for a 750 doll dollar project to update a sales page that they needed for an upcoming promotion. So shortly after that, obviously it went well. They turned into a $1500 a month client, then a $4500 a month client, then an $8000 a month client. Then they became a six figure a year client, one client. And I worked with them through my entire freelancing career. They were the very last client I ever let go of when I started the Copy posse too. And they were the first people to like, really bet on me and trust me. And because of this one client, I was able to get some good experience, experience under my belt and grow my confidence. I got referrals because I was working with them and that really helped me build my authority and build my business. Right. So my first year as a freelancer, I made about $40,000. I remember I had to take out a loan to pay my tax bill that year. The second year, my confidence and my momentum really started to pick up and I was getting referrals and getting more clients without really having to network much anymore. And then my third year, I was making over $300,000 as a freelance copywriter just two years after that first year, right, when I had to take out a loan to pay my taxes. And that's where I was at for basically the next five years. After that it was just me, my laptop, a handful of like really good clients. I started traveling again. I started to feel like, haha, I made it right, I could pay my bills, I'm traveling. By this point I'd really established myself as a copywriter in the personal development and digital marketing space. I helped launch several successful brands and I was the driving force behind a lot of really successful launches. I then became the co host of a high end mastermind that gathers the world's leading online entrepreneurs. Everything was great, life was good. But then it happened again. It was 2017, right? So I was about six years into my freelancing career when that nagging feeling in my gut came back. While I absolutely loved what I was doing, I love digital marketing and copywriting and helping brands grow and scale, but being in the industry for so long. So at this point, it had almost been a decade since I started at Mindvalley, right? I started to notice that there was this dangerous divide happening in the industry. There were so many businesses out there with empowering messages that were selling products that genuinely help people, right? Like all of the clients that I worked with. But then there were these other people, the ones who gave marketing and online sales a bad reputation. There were so many marketers and copywriters who I knew of and online who were using manipulative and scammy and just severely outdated sales tactics that I did not vibe with at all. And I was seeing things happening online that I just didn't really believe in or I thought was douchey or unethical. And like I said, I was really lucky that none of those were my clients. My clients were awesome people who loved my approach to marketing and paid attention to it and listened to it. But it was starting to feel like everywhere I looked something shady was going on. Have you ever had that thought? It's like the million scam text messages I get every day. You're like, something shady is going on. Can someone do something about this? Right? And as a marketer myself, I felt guilty by association, right? Even though I wasn't the one doing it. I didn't want to tell anybody what I did. I remember one time I was at a party, and a guy asked me what I did for a living. And I told him, oh, I'm a copywriter. And he's like, oh, you're one of those people who sends me all of those spam emails. And I was like, right. Like, so offended, right? Scammy emails and spam emails were everywhere. And somehow he was, like, looping me in with that. And to be honest, it was embarrassing. I really didn't want to have anything to do with it anymore. And I almost gave up. I couldn't understand why, like, nobody was actually talking about this. And it just became, like, commonplace. So I decided that maybe I should be the one to do something about it. So I decided to start a YouTube channel. I posted my very first video, actually my very first video in January 2017, and it was horrendous. You can go look at it right now. And then for two whole years, I did nothing. Absolutely nothing, right? So come 2019, I still had this message that I really wanted to share, and I was really passionate about it, but I was so, so terrified to really own it and, like, put myself out there. I dip my toe in the water back in 2017 with that terrible video. But then I gave up because there were so many negative thoughts and doubts and comments in my head about, really, like, what. What it would mean to go all in on my YouTube channel. I was like, who do you think you are teaching people about copywriting, right? Like, what if your colleagues from Mind Valley see these videos? What are they going to think? What if people that I learned from, like, the great, you know, I'm talking, like, Joe Sugarman, Frank Kern, Jeff Walker, all of these people that I learned from, what are they going to say when they see these videos of me calling myself a marketer and a copywriter? They're going to laugh at me, right? Oh, my God. Imposter syndrome, you guys. It is a real b. But anyway, so I found every reason to delay starting my channel, and it worked for, like, two years. My backdrop isn't good enough. Now I don't even have a backdrop anymore. I need to, like, rebuild it up now that I've moved to new house or I don't have the right gear or equipment, or I'm just terrible on video. I need to practice first before I actually go on video. Like, hello. That's how you practice, right? So that is what I was telling myself like. But the reality was I was playing small. I was procrastinating. And putting it off. Because massive change is hard and scary. And this is something I bet every single one of you watching this can completely relate to, right? Stepping outside your comfort zone is no joke. So my question to you is, how long have you been waiting? Hesitating, playing small or letting fear stop you from pursuing your dreams? Whether that's starting a YouTube channel or starting your copywriting business? Comment below and let me know. Because I promise you, you are not alone. So I was in it. But then I finally did it. On February 13, 2019, I published what I call, like, my first official YouTube video. Like, that's when, like, I really started. I was still working full time with clients, mind you. And then I was doing this on the side. It was like, okay, I'm gonna work with my clients, I'm gonna make my money, but then I'm gonna come and do my YouTube videos. And yeah, the first few sucked. I mean, not as bad as that first one because my lighting game at least was on point. But they. They weren't great. But I still did it. I continued to show up every single week, even though it felt like absolutely no one was watching. But on August 9, 2019, I had finally hit 1,000 subscribers. Finally, six whole months after starting my channel and posting a video, every single week, I hit 1,000 subscribers. And I noticed, right, that people were starting to leave comments on my videos and sliding into my DMs to tell me what they were struggling with and thanking me for my content. And I was like, oh, my God, a stranger messaged me. And they would tell me that they wanted freedom, that they wanted to learn how to write, that they wanted to learn how to use their passion and creativity to make an impact in the world. And so I decided to create something to help them do that. Even though at this time, you guys, I had a very small following. Not big on YouTube, tiny on Instagram. January 29, 2020, I launched my first program, the Copy posse Launchpad Season 1. This is an eight week program that I designed to teach anyone how to start copywriting and build their portfolio from scratch. And like I said, my following was small. My email list at the time was only about 2020, 300 people. And I had been building that, you know, over the previous year after starting my channel. And I'll never forget thinking that, okay, if just one person buys this course, it would be worth it, because then I'm at least just helping one person. But it wasn't just one person who joined. 44 people joined season one of the launch pad and I just remember thinking, oh my God, people really care about this. People want to know how to sell ethically and have empathy and write with integrity. And that was when the Copy Posse was officially born, in January of 2020 and the rest is history. Here we are now and over the last four years I have created several more programs and offers the Write and Ignite Challenge that teaches my sales page formula Own the Inbox, which is my email marketing program the Posse Eye Challenge, which is all about helping you create a brand voice guide that stands out. My Look Legit website toolkit containing all of my website formulas Storm a full marketing course for business owners who want to master content marketing. I launched rain, my high level mastermind for copywriters and entrepreneurs who really want to level up beyond six figures. And most recently I launched Spark, a new membership for copywriters who want to make their first $10,000 month. I have spoken and presented at dozens of events all over the world. I've made countless new friends and mentors and colleagues. I've been featured in Forbes magazine in 2022, Digital Marketer named me Marketer of the Year. In 2023 I was voted the number one most popular copywriter. And this year in 2024, I was the winner of the Game Changer Award at the Women of Inspiration Awards. And the Copy Posse has now to date served over 7,000 customers. So for all of those incredible high moments I just listed, I want you to know there have been plenty of lows too along the way. Days when I felt like I disappointed myself and the people I love the most. Which honestly is my greatest fear. Times I've received really hurtful comments online and even though I don't want them to bother me, they do. Months where I have worked myself to near complete burnout and many, many more moments where I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I have to fight the urge to not compare myself to other groups, creators and entrepreneurs online. That never really goes away. And there are days when I feel like I am just getting it all wrong. I spend nearly a hundred thousand dollars every single year on high level masterminds and I still regularly feel like I don't belong there or that I have nothing of value to contribute. And I often feel like my success so far was just one giant fluke and that any day now I could lose everything that I've worked so hard for and let everyone down. Not just my friends and family, but all of you. And there are plenty of days when I just miss being a copywriter when I could travel the world with nothing but my laptop, have a few calls, make a lot of money. Because let me tell you, running my business and being a boss and being responsible for the livelihood of my entire team, it really takes its toll. But I am so proud to be where I am today. I am so proud of the Copy Posse and absolutely everything that we stand for. I am so proud to have helped literally thousands of people live a life that they love. And even though the journey hasn't been easy and there are still a lot of up and down moments, it has all entirely been worth it. And if you've gotten this far in this video, first of all, thank you. And the main thing that I want you to walk away with is this. I know that you can do this too. Whatever it is, whatever is in your heart and on your mind, whatever that dream life and business is for you, you can do it. It probably won't be easy, right? There'll probably be ups and downs along the way. But I hope that hearing my story helps you realize that it's not easy for anybody. And everybody struggles and has their low moments. And yes, we all come from different experiences and circumstances and backgrounds, but we all start with making one decision. And all it takes is one client or one moment of courage to change your life forever. So always trust the process. I am here to root for you. I am your biggest fan. I hope you enjoyed this video and hearing a little bit more about my channel, my story. Comment below and let me know what dream you are chasing next and I will see you next time with a brand new video. Until then, I'm Alex. Ciao for now. All right guys, if you enjoyed that video, make sure to check out the next one from me right here and you can click right here to get a free gift. The life and career of your dreams could be right around the corner. But are you getting in your own way? In this video I'm going to share with you the three mindset shifts that completely changed my life and how to know if you're self sabotaging. And yes, this tough love might hurt just a little bit.