Alexis Grant: Skills Trump Education
Today we’ll be chatting with a very successful online entrepreneur, Alexis Grant. Alexis (Lexi) is a media innovator with a passion for building online businesses and growing audiences. She started her career as a reporter at the Houston Chronicle and U.S. News & World Report, then grew a content marketing agency. After five years, that business was acquired in 2015 by a media company called The Penny Hoarder. Alexis joined as the third employee and worked alongside the founder as EVP of Content to grow the company to 100+ employees. She left that role in 2019 for a less stressful lifestyle and moved her family to a mountain town in West Virginia. Alexis now helps startups scale their writing team in a consulting capacity while running several online businesses, including a website for writers, The Write Life. Her next venture has an in-person angle (COVID permitting): she’s organizing deep think getaways or “workcations” for professional women. Fun fact: Lexi backpacked solo through French-speaking Africa in 2008. This is when she first got into blogging! Why should YOU tune-in? Alexis knows exactly what makes a freelance writer marketable, she’s the one doing the hiring for startups! So what is it that separates a writer from the rest of the crowd? Listen in as Alexis lets us know! What we’re talking about: Freelance writing and working online Skills trump education Multipassionate entrepreneur What makes someone marketable A simple way to build apps and websites Links mentioned in this episode: Alexis’ Websites: Alexis Grant, Retreat & Create, & The Write Life The Money Guide for Freelance Writers Book Alexis’ Social Media: LinkedIn & Instagram Minute-by-minute breakdown: 3:24 – Journalism degree? 4:58 – Do you need a degree? What Alexis looks for when hiring a freelance writer 9:27 – Alexis is passionate about her current work 13:16 – She also just finished a passion project with her dad 15:36 – Thoughts on the work-life balance 19:14 – Retreat & Create: a brand new concept 23:04 – Alexis built an app (easily)! 30:39 – What else is Alexis passionate about? 34:37 – Alexis’ one piece of advice