My Defining Moments:
How I Bridged the Gap from Underdog to Success —
in Just Two Years!
By Lynelle Suan

If the multiverse truly exists, then I bet there’s a parallel version of me who’s squinting while eating numbers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We can call her “Accountant Lynelle.”

Because when I was in high school, I was one of the best students in mathematics, and becoming an accountant seemed like a practical career choice.

But as far as this universe is concerned, the accounting path just wasn’t right for me.

Navigating My Career Path as a Young Adult

I’ve loved writing ever since I was 5. I wrote a couple of school articles, short stories, poems, essays, and the like. I just didn’t know that writing could be an actual career choice.

So, the moment I discovered the existence of copywriting (and how I could make a great living with it), I explored the idea of becoming a copywriter — even if I didn’t fully understand what “copywriter” meant yet.

At first, I dipped my toes in by watching YouTube videos, reading articles and books about copywriting, connecting with entrepreneurs in communities, taking up online internships, and even bartering services with small-business owners.

As my small wins piled up, I was convinced this was the path I wanted to take.

So I decided to dive in, commit to becoming a full-time copywriter, and go deep down into its lucrative rabbit hole.

Here’s a summary of how it started versus how it’s going right now:

Bridging the G.A.P. Between “Before” and “After”

Just like any other success story, this did NOT happen overnight.

It took me two years to get to where I am right now: one year of exploring and experimenting, and then another year of focused learning and intentional action.

In fact, this is literally just the beginning, because there are many more years for me to discover more ways of expanding my horizons as I grow my writing career — through possibilities such as writing my own books, collaborating with fellow writers, beating controls, and so on.

But from my experience, there are three core building blocks you’ll need to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to go …

Guts, Authenticity, and Perseverance

Guts — There’s a song called “Guts over Fear” by Eminem and Sia. The chorus of that song has been one of my mantras whenever I’m dealing with fear — such as fear of rejection, fear of judgment, fear of failure, and even fear of success.

So even if I felt the fear, I powered up my guts to do it anyway!

An example of this was when I entered the spec challenges for Bootcamp 2021. Was I afraid that my work might just be ignored and my efforts wasted? Of course I was! But I hit the “send” button anyway and fortunately, two of my three submissions won. Hooray!

Authenticity — Being authentic to who you are and your story builds connection and establishes trust with the people around you. So even if some prospects might not like it, I didn’t hide the fact that I was a teenager from the Philippines and that I intentionally dropped out of college to follow an unconventional path toward my writing career.

I personally thought those were disadvantages for me, but it turns out that staying authentic led me to the right people who accept and appreciate me for who I truly am — which is super encouraging and is absolutely the ideal environment to work in!

Perseverance — One of the biggest challenges in my journey is the time difference between where I live in the Philippines and where my clients are and copywriting events happen. But exercising perseverance helped me push through and find ways to make it work.

Right now, I’m taking better care of myself (and my mental health) by setting boundaries and mostly not taking calls or attending events in the middle of the night anymore.

But when I was starting out, I made the decision to adjust my sleep schedule (or even sacrifice sleep!) just so I could make it to a call or attend live online events.

And you know what? I don’t regret any of it, because it was worth it, and it definitely paid off!

Rocket Fuel (and a Defining Moment!) for My Writing Career

In fact, the three nights I spent glued to my laptop to attend AWAI’s Bootcamp 2021 was a great turning point for me. And a defining moment as I entered my defining decade … literally!

Because I actually celebrated my 20th birthday during the second day of Bootcamp.

Attending Bootcamp was the best 20th birthday gift I could give myself, because it was overflowing with encouraging energy, door-opening opportunities that catapulted my writing career, and the priceless camaraderie of fellow writers who are all walking together toward creating a brighter future.

Now, I’m sharing this with you because I want to show you that your dream of living the writer’s life is truly possible.

After all, if I could do it as a teenager half a world away from my clients, then so can you!