WRITING COACH & EDITOR FOR AUTHORS, ACADEMICS, AND MISSION-DRIVEN SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
In 2026, original, human-crafted writing is having a moment.
Small business owners are returning to long-form content, sloughing off the algorithm’s unattainable demands, and finally realizing that 24/7 content creation is an unsustainable, neverending game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.
At the same time, academia is in a weird spot—navigating the potential uses of AI while trying to remain inside the ethical lines, even as those lines are shifting in the face of technology.
And authors? They’re still authoring, and mostly nursing a healthy mistrust of non-human-writing and any type of writing that could be seen as “selling out.”
Each of these three writing-dependent worlds sits in its own little silo, isolated from the other two—but there’s so much wisdom to be gained from a bit of cross-pollination.
Hi. I’m Sam 👋🏼
I’ve been a bartender, a barista, an elite personal trainer, a park maintenance worker, and the stoner at the antique photo booth at Six Flags (before it was even a Six Flags—I’m also a proud GenXer).
For the past decade, I’ve crafted inimitable brand voices, unforgettable messaging, and original, compelling copy for online educators, coaches, thought leaders, and high-profile service providers.
I’ve made a lot of money for women- and Black-owned small businesses, including a $75k email campaign and a complete Black Friday / Cyber Monday strategy that I executed from top to bottom.
I’ve written thousands of emails, dozens of landing pages, some pretty fun product descriptions, and, once, a blog post that got me fired.
From the moment I first dipped a toe into the Ryan Deiss-infested waters of online marketing circa 2015—a misogynist bro-fest that falsely equated shouting and swearing with “being edgy”—I knew that modern copywriting was broken.
I spent the next ten years trying (unsuccessfully) to fix it from the inside out.
With each new project, I developed a reputation for my chameleon-like ability to fully inhabit my clients’ voice; my holistic understanding of user experience and how it should inform messaging strategy; my creativity; and my unwavering integrity.
But as much as I would push for things like: not annoying your email subscribers; respecting their decision-making processes; being kind and inclusive instead of shamey and elitist; increased spaciousness for creative work; and longer timelines for overworked copywriters…
I knew deep down that the kind of work I wanted to do, and the way I wanted to do it, would forever be at odds with the scale-at-any-cost, extractive business models that had become my core clientele.
In the meantime, I was quietly exploring the publishing industry—creative writing workshops, conferences, and a side gig doing developmental edits for memoir and fiction authors that pretty much fell into my lap.
My first manuscript was an intensely personal memoir that mirrored gang culture in South Central L.A. with high school football—kind of like Friday Night Lights meets Boyz in the Hood. I dove in with both feet, following my instincts in an immersive way I never had the freedom to do as a copywriter—and discovered I was really, really good at this.
In 2023, my copywriting business got hit with a wrecking ball (long story), which became a welcome, if expensive, exit hatch.
I spent the next two years rebuilding. I became a CPD Certified Editor & Proofreader, and started taking on academic dissertations alongside developmental edits. I lowered my rates; forged new friendships, and designed a service suite that would serve community-minded, original thinkers in academia, publishing, and entrepreneurship.
In the summer of 2024, I launched The Craft—my witchily-named writing workshop that combines literary craft with copywriting strategy for business owners who DIY their own content.
The success of that first cohort revealed something to me: entrepreneurs desperately need to learn real writing craft (not just “copywriting” from a copywriter), and authors and academics need to practice the brevity, punchiness, and clarity that makes a piece of copy sing.
These two worlds—creative writing craft and copywriting—are so isolated from one another, and they’re both suffering for it.
Good thing I know how to do both.
Writing is writing, no matter what your field is or what medium you work in. The old ivory towers are toppling, and the only currency that matters is your ability to connect with your reader across time, space, and screens.
I built Indie Copy Studio to help you write better.
Period.
oh, the humanity!
Mundane human things you might like to know about me
I’ve lived in Asheville, NC since 2010. We’re four hours from the South Carolina coast which—so sorry—is better than every New England beach combined. I loved New England, and even though it doesn’t snow enough here and I miss a properly poured Guinness, Appalachia is in my bones now. It has a way of doing that.
I have a degree in Art History, which is just as useless as my dad said it would be. I’m a great time at museums, though!
I’ve never worked a 9–5 office job in my life.
When I was an aforementioned park maintenance worker, I once found a boys’ X-games shirt abandoned in a parking lot. “This is a perfectly good shirt!” I said, and proceeded to work out in it for the next 15 years. Finally, my coworkers at the gym cornered me in the locker room one day and told me I had to stop wearing it because it was ratty and full of holes and disgusting, and I worked there. :(
Many of the photographs and drawings on this page are my own! I still sketch and take arty photos whenever I get the chance.
GET thE mixtape
Side A: The Coffee Break (for everyone).
“Cassingle” sized pieces on writing craft and process, plus a monthly deep cut where I share a longer writing sample (from TV, film, literature, or the internet) and break down a more in-depth craft lesson.
Side B: The Tuesday Tastemaker (subscribers only).
Cultural, career, and trend observations from a wizened GenXer who's been writing, editing, and marketing in these trenches for over a decade. Plus a peek at what I’m reading & watching this week.
