HOW THIS COPYWRITER FROM EGYPT BUILT A $4K/MONTH BUSINESS & QUIT HER JOB – IN 6 MONTHS

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Want to hear how my Launch Pad Grad, Reem a non-native English speaker from Egypt, went from working a 9-5 job to being the CEO of her very own copywriting agency?…

In just 6 months?!

Coming at ya this week with an exclusive sneak peek at a?BONUS INTERVIEW?I conducted with one of my awesome?Copy Posse Launch Pad?Grads, Reem.?

I really wanted to share Reem’s story with you because her transformation is?incredibly inspiring.

Reem enrolled in my 8-week copywriting program, the?Copy Posse Launch Pad, just one year ago…?

During the program she landed –?not one, not two, but?FOUR?– retainer clients and?just 6 months?after graduating she said goodbye to her unfulfilling 9-5 job to start copywriting?full-time.

That happened in October 2022…

This interview happened in November 2022, so just one month since quitting her job?she had built up a $4K/month copywriting business…

And her business continues to grow and grow.

In her own words, she went from “being paid “peanuts” from clients who were “undervaluing her work” to being the CEO of her own copywriting agency with a team of freelance writers to work under her…

But, like any great story,?she didn’t get there magically…

Reem began her journey with lots of?fear?and?doubt?around whether she would be able to turn her passion for writing into real career.?

In this interview, you’re going to hear?EXACTLY?how she was able to overcome the mental blocks and barriers that were holding her back…

How Reem Built A Copywriting Business & Quit Her Job

Alex:

I am so excited you’re here. Your story, first of all, you were in the?Own The Inbox challenge?one year ago. And I remember- Yes. Exactly one year ago. I remember you asking a lot of questions, and I remember you expressing a lot of doubt about whether or not this was something you could do. And now here you are as one of the panelists on this interview, sharing your story. So how do you feel when you think about that? That one year ago, you were in the shoes of so many of our challengers right now, feeling some doubt about getting started.

Reem:

Honestly, I think, I feel like it’s all not happening to me. I’m living, like, in some other body or something. It just doesn’t feel real until right now. Even watching myself be on this panel and like being with everyone else and remembering?last year how I was so astonished and so inspired by everyone?and just doubting myself and thinking,?“I don’t think I’m going to be one of those,”?you know? Maybe I’m going to be a success, but not to the extent of being on a panel and sharing my story and making a buzz or anything like that. So it still feels very surreal, I’d say.

Alex:

Yeah, which I absolutely love.?I absolutely love that.?So for everyone who doesn’t know you, share where you’re from.

Reem:

I’m from Egypt, and I’m working from Egypt. Like, I don’t travel abroad or anything because I still live with my family. That’s the tradition here in Egypt where we don’t move out of our houses until we get married and that sort of thing. So this is where I reside. I don’t travel except for vacations and things like that.

Alex:

And that was I know a big doubt that you had getting started in copywriting was that you weren’t a native English speaker, and?you were worried that that would hold you back in some way.?So I want to talk more about that in just a sec, but to rewind. Where were you a year ago? Obviously, we know you were in a challenge with the posse a year ago, but where were you at, sort of, in your life at that point in time, and what made you decide to join the Copy Posse and start learning copywriting?

Reem:

Okay, so I had been working for four years full-time jumping from job to job, all corporate. At the time of the challenge, I was just promoted to head of content at an SEO content agency. And on paper, everything was great. I was basically climbing up the corporate ladder, doing the thing that everyone in my country is supposed to do. But for me, something always felt wrong. I was always so unhappy with the 9-to-5 lifestyle, having to ask permission to take time off, having to commute every single day, and having to work from the office because in Egypt it’s not so common to be working from home or working remotely,?doing things that not always would they fulfill me.

And I just felt like I would always want to do more. And so I started freelancing on the side. I wasn’t entirely new to it when I joined?Own The Inbox, but I was basically doing it just to try to find something that fulfills me and at the same time make ends meet. Because you know, salaries and, in Egypt aren’t exactly very high. And so I was working with a couple of clients, mostly local ones here in Egypt and a couple of international ones on Upwork, but?they were all very cheap?to say that I was making, like, average would be like an overstatement. I was making less than the average.

And so I wanted to delve more into copywriting because I was so passionate about it when I came across it with some clients. And that’s when I came across a course here in Egypt and it was a really well-known course, but then I took it and?I felt like there was still more to explore. This isn’t exactly in line with my expectations. And so I think because I was searching for so many copywriting courses, that’s when you started to pop up in my feed and like on my browser, like, everywhere, I would just see your name.

And then I found the Own The Inbox challenge and I felt, okay, this is a start. And although it was the first time that I would invest, like, in an international course with an international, like, course instructor, I felt like this was the right thing to do.?And then the rest is history from one course to another with you until now, like, where I am, that’s how it started.

Alex:

Yeah. I love that. Well, first of all, thank you algorithm for leading you to me. Yeah. And so what were your doubts getting started? I mean, like you said you had been content writing and freelancing already, but wanted to get more into copywriting. You were making some money, but not a lot as you said. And yeah, what were some of the doubts and fears that were coming up for you at that point?

Reem:

Okay, so at that point, I was just, as I said, I was just like basically treating freelancing as a side hustle. I?didn’t even get this idea of full-time freelancing?until Own The Inbox. And then when I started seeing that people are doing this, like, for a living, I started going deeper into this whole and searching. And like, I started joining a lot of Facebook groups, following a lot of people who are doing this for a living on Facebook and on LinkedIn and stuff. And I was like, “I want that for myself too.” But then most of these people, they would be Americans or Europeans and, you know, they weren’t Egyptian basically.?No one’s doing this in Egypt.

And the first thing that came to my mind is like,?“Why would anyone choose me?”?I’m not a native speaker, I don’t live in Europe, I don’t live in the US, I don’t live in any of these places. And the numbers that they were charging, they would easily make up my salary like here in Egypt. And so I was like, “Oh my God, how would I ever charge this for, you know, a blog post or for a sales page or whatever.”

I was like, “That’s impossible. It can’t happen for me,” you know, because I feel like I was conditioned to believe that because native, like, English-speaking, I’m not a native speaker. This wouldn’t be possible for me. Like, they would hear it in my voice, they would see it in my writing, they would feel like I’m scam, you know, I don’t know.

I had these fears that someone would post about me on LinkedIn or something and say, you know,?“This person is a scam. Like, she’s an imposter. She can’t do this.”?And so I don’t know,?I would make up these scenarios?in my mind and the conclusion was the same that, no, this isn’t possible for me and I would just lock it out of my mind entirely. But being the passionate person that I am, I would just, like, let me give it a try anyway.

And then I wasn’t mistaken to continue, with the posse and everyone, I never felt for a minute that I wasn’t a native English speaker, or that I shouldn’t be doing this because it’s too big for me or whatever. Everyone treated me equally, and it was just, like, we’re a family, we’re all supportive of each other. And that was what gave me the push to keep going, and it worked. So, yeah, it was the native English-speaking thing that was a big doubt for me.

Alex:

Yeah, and you’re not alone. I’ve heard that from so many posse members and I get it, you know, and I think?everyone has their own version of that.?I always think about how?we tend to overestimate other people’s abilities but underestimate our own. And I think that’s so interesting, you know, like, we are willing to root for people who we don’t even know and we know ourselves better than anyone, yet, it’s so hard to root for ourselves.

And so, you know, if you’re like listening to this and you’re thinking the same as Reem, like, I’m not a native English speaker, I can’t become a copywriter, or you know, fill in the blank, you know, oh, I don’t have a background in sales and marketing, or I live in a different country where there’s clients that don’t, you know, charge or don’t wanna hire copywriters or I, you know, fill in the blank.

There are so many stories we tell ourselves, and I always say as creative people, wow, we really use our creativity to come up with excuses why it won’t work for us, you know? So imagine if we stop using our creativity to come up with creative reasons why something won’t work, and instead think of creative reasons how it could possibly work.?And that mindset shift is huge?because whether it’s where you’re from or the language you speak, we all have stories that hold us back.

And so I love that Reem, and I saw your passion and dedication and watching you over the last year has been such an honor because I think?you really have shown people what is possible when you work hard?and you keep moving forward, and, you know, despite all of the doubts and imposter syndrome and, you know, whatever that comes up. So let’s talk a little bit about your journey in 2022. So you were in the Own The Inbox challenge, you joined?the Launch Pad. Can you share a little bit about just, sort of, your experience from the top of the year all the way up to, sort of, what you’re doing now?

Reem:

Yeah, so during Launch Pad, it was this self-realization experience where?I started knowing my worth?and feeling like I could be doing so much more. And that honestly, boosted further my lack of fulfillment in my job. So during Launch Pad, I was full timing 9-to-5 like I usually would because I wasn’t yet ready to leave it all. I’m a very calculated person, so I’m the kind who would be like, okay, well, I need to make the income of like six months or whatever before I do this. I need to think about how I’m going to tell my family. Because also in Egypt, freelancing is seen as this thing for people who don’t have a job. It’s not taken seriously. No, no, I’m serious.

Alex:

No, but it’s not just Egypt. A lot of places, I can think of a lot of friends and posse members who’ve had that thought too, yeah.

Reem:

Yeah, so to say it like, I’m going to leave like this corporate job where I’m a manager and managing a whole team just to freelance is going to be, like, a big question mark. So I started doing my own thing. Like, I wouldn’t let it go, but I would just do it like on the side along my 9-to-5 and I was working on my portfolio and going through Launch Pad and everything, and, of course, there was a lot of encouragement and like jobs being posted on the job board and people applying to things, people saying that they landed jobs during Launch Pad. And I was like,?“Okay, I need to do something.”

It was a very healthy competition. And so I started applying to a lot of jobs, and during Launch Pad, I landed four retainers and they were, like, the rates were things that I’ve never charged before and I’ve even doubled my rates here in Egypt as well. So even with the clients that I had before, my rates completely changed.?And all of that was because I started realizing my self-worth and building my confidence?and feeling like I can start putting myself out there. I started putting myself out there on LinkedIn, on Instagram posting things that I’ve learned, and my experiences, and you would always say one thing, you would say, if you know one thing more than your clients do, then you’re already ahead of them.

And then that would be proven to me?every single day because people would be so inspired,?they would be so impressed they would want to work with me, they would feel like I’m an expert and treat me that way. And so I felt like, oh, okay, so this thing actually works. And so that was what was happening during Launch Pad. And then after that I made the decision that I would be quitting my 9-to-5 entirely because I was starting to make a steady income and it was consistent. So I just gave it, like, Launch Pad ended in April, I left I believe in October when I was starting to feel like, okay, so the income is steady because I didn’t want to judge by one or two months or so. And so I did quit.

And that’s what I’ve been doing since then. I’ve been a full-time copywriter and content writer. Right now what I’m doing is that I basically have my own mini agency because in no time I became fully booked. I found that I wasn’t able to cater anymore to my clients, but then again, I didn’t want to let them go. So I leveraged the experience that I had when I was a full-timer and?I tapped into that team that I had with me?when I was head of content. And these are writers that I had trained myself. They know my style, and they know how to write exactly like me. And so they’re now like on my team of freelancers and they help me whenever I have, like, excess workload and I’m starting to slowly tap into my own community with Egyptians and also teach them basically how to do the same gradually. And that’s also looking very promising.

So I think the major transformation would be that I shifted from like full-time employee to?now I feel like I’m a business owner?and I’m doing all these things, like I’m marketing for myself, I’m running ads, I’m managing finances, sending invoices, I’m doing all these things that were once, like,?“What, what? This is so big.”?And, most of all, I’ve proved to everyone around me, especially my family, that, you know,?freelancing is a big thing?and it’s like I’m running my own business.

I’m a solopreneur, I’m not just someone who’s working in my free time or doing something on the side. This is a career, and it’s actually starting to gain traction in Egypt. So I hope that this can be influential for other people who are also from countries like mine where, you know, a lot of things need to be challenged starting with the 9-to-5 career life in general.

Alex:

Oh my gosh, you said so much juicy stuff there. Like, first of all, holy cow, congratulations Reem,?you should feel so proud of yourself.?You are such an inspiration, and I love that you said that you kind of made a plan, right? You had a full-time job, you really wanted to be a freelancer. You, you know, a lot of people glorify this like, “Yeah, and then I took this course and I quit my job and like now I’m making seven figures and driving a Lambo,”?like, okay, no, what’s the plan? What’s the process?

And I think what I love about your story is that?you were very practical about it.?You were like,?“Okay, I’m gonna learn these skills and this is what it’s gonna look like for me to feel comfortable quitting my job.”?And I think that’s so smart, you know, and when it comes to quitting a job, like I said, there’s something so freeing about being able to say,?“I quit my job.”

And so many posse members have, but the journey looks different for everybody, right? It depends. It depends on what you have going on in your life.?It depends on your current situation,?fam, so many different things. But to be able to learn the skills and have the roadmap to be able to do it. And it’s just so cool to think that you were able to quit your job less than a year after being in the challenge last year. And that’s freaking cool.

And then, like you said, such an inspiration and for you to be able to show other people in Egypt and all around the world. I mean, you’re inspiring people from all around the world right now with your story, so. Thank you. Yeah. I really love that, and I love how you’re showing up and I love how you’re stepping into that authority that,?it’s been an absolute pleasure to watch you.?And so I’d love to hear more about, sort of, what copywriting looks like for you right now. So you were able to replace your income, how much are you making now, roughly per month as a copywriter?

Reem:

So for the past around 4 to 5 months, I’ve been making around 3K mark, this month is when I’m hitting 4K for the first time. And since I’ve landed two retainers just this month, so it looks like that’s going to keep happening for the next few months as well. And on that note, I keep seeing posts about people getting laid off and about the recession and so forth. And I saw your posts before about how?this is the time when the demand for freelancers is becoming more than ever.

And I just wanted to say that this is very true because almost?every day I wake up with a new invitation for a job,?or an existing client who is asking me to take on more work than I did before, asking me even if I’m able to work with them on a consistent schedule if I have the capacity and so forth. So I just wanna tell everyone here that this is really the time to start showing up if you haven’t been for the past period and let everyone know that you offer these services because I do have this instinct that this is going to become even more so in the upcoming months with the recession that’s going on all over the world and so forth.

Alex:

Yeah, yeah, I agree. You know, ’cause it’s definitely this thing, right? People are talking about it, and if there’s anything we’ve learned in the last year, it’s that, like,?job security is this nice idea, but does it really exist??You know, like you see Amazon and Facebook are just doing all of these layoffs and you would think, “I’m working for Meta, like, I’m set for life,” right? And I think learning the skills that can not only help you with, you know, start a side hustle like you did in the beginning, possibly turn into a full-time career and then possibly turn into a business.

I mean, it’s never a bad thing to learn the skills that will set you up to be able to make money outside of the traditional system. And I think that that’s something that you’ve showcased so beautifully. So if I could ask in your words, what was the biggest transformation internally that you’ve experienced over the last year, aside from obviously the incredible success you’ve had starting and growing your business, but?what have you noticed in yourself?

Reem:

Mindset. My mindset has changed because I remember my calls with you,?Own The Inbox, my voice would be stuttering and?I would be so scared while talking with you. And because again, I felt like a scam within myself. Like, I felt like, what am I even doing here with these amazing people who are talking English so beautifully and like making these huge successes. Like, I can’t be, like, here, you know? But then the more I spoke with you and the more I let myself speak with the community as well and started even posting questions when I had them, that wasn’t easy for me.

It took a lot of courage for me to show that there’s something that I don’t understand, or that there’s something that I have a question about, or that there’s something that I don’t know how to do. And then the posse people, they never made me, again, they never made me feel like I was weird or that I was stupid or that anything, even, oh my God,?even failures are celebrated within the posse?because there’s no such thing as failures. Like, everything is a win and like everything is a lesson learned.

And so mindset was the biggest thing.?And I learned that even someone as great as you suffers from imposter syndrome and that it’s normal, but that it shouldn’t prevent me from pushing and to keep going and that if I don’t recognize my own value and, like, my own worth, no one will. And so it’s all about how I position myself. And I think that’s translated into my work where before I was, sort of, this person who would feel like I’m on call whenever clients would want to get in touch with me, whenever they wanted a meeting, whenever they wanted work. Even if it didn’t necessarily align with me, I would feel like I should be thankful and grateful for this opportunity, so let me go ahead.

But now I’ve learned that no, there’s a discovery call.?I get to choose who to work with, I get to choose who I want to deal with and who I don’t want to. I get to choose the work, I get to choose everything. And so the mindset has changed, I’m not the same person. I’m just not. And all of that, to think that this happened, not even in a year, it just happened during, like, the Launch Pad itself. It just took a couple of months and I felt that every day, like every single day, my mind was changing.

I was growing more confident,?I was able to easily identify after that, that I was being paid like peanuts, that people were underestimating my worth, that they need me, and that I shouldn’t be thankful. I should just appreciate myself because it’s mutual, like, it’s business. And so confidence, mindset, knowing my worth, all of that is what I would attribute to the posse.

Alex:

Mm. Everything you said filled my heart up. I’m just so proud of you, I’m so proud of you. What’s one piece of advice to wrap up that you would give to anybody who may be feeling the same way that you were?

Reem:

Take action even when you’re scared, because that’s what will get you there. I used to think that this quote that said,?“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone,”?was a cliche. And I would just avoid it because I’m a person who loves my comfort zone so much. But then, the posse pushed me,?you gave me some hard love?and I just kept pushing myself out of my comfort zone during that. And so now I realize that it’s true, life does begin at the end of it. And like you can’t experience transformation if you don’t transform yourself as well. And that doesn’t necessarily mean like being an entirely different person in a bad way.

It’s sometimes?being a more mature version of yourself?that just knows your own worth. So even if you’re scared, just do it. Because being scared, I feel now, whenever I feel scared right now, I’m like, okay, so I’m doing the right thing. And that took a lot from me too. So whenever you feel scared, just go for it.

Alex:

Oh my gosh, I freaking love that. In fact, that’s been a mantra in my life, is if something scares me, I’m like,?“Oh shit,”?’cause that means I should probably do it, you know??Like, God, I really wanna just make up some other reason why I shouldn’t do it. And I’m just so proud of you, Reem.

Oh my gosh, goosebumps!?Isn’t her story amazing?

It really just goes to show that when you have the right resources and support,?anything is possible.

Now, the course that helped Reem massively shift her mindset and ignite her copywriting business is my?8-week copywriter coaching program, the?Copy Posse Launch Pad. You can learn more about that at the Launch Pad here.?I hope to see you inside.

And I will catch you next week with a brand new article.

Thank you for reading and subscribing,

Alex

Alex Cattoni is the Founder of the Copy Posse Agency and Academy. Since 2011, she has launched several successful brands and has proudly partnered with many of the hottest transformational brands and businesses on the planet, writing high-converting sales copy, scaling multi-million dollar brands, and crafting iconic promotional campaigns.

Today, she’s on a mission to mobilize the raddest, baddest crew of authentic copywriters with a passion for creating community, credibility and conversions with nothing but powerful and precise wording.

Through her weekly?YouTube?videos, Alex helps copywriters, aspiring copywriters and entrepreneurs learn, write and ignite their businesses with words that work.