Living the Writer's Life:
Stella Bouldin
By Mindy McHorse

Copywriter and e-newsletter writer Stella Bouldin travels often;
here, she sits in front of the central church in Amealco, Mexico.

When a fortuitous layoff forced Stella Bouldin to lean in to what she really wanted from life, she began by exploring different countries. But the appeal of not having to get up early for a job led her to look for more flexible opportunities, and getting paid to write for a living was the most appealing. Discover how she’s made the most of her writing lifestyle and why it allows her to continue to travel the globe.

Before you became a copywriter, was there anything you were trying to escape?

Stella lives three hours away
from the Mexican end of the annual
monarch butterfly migration,
a site that draws millions
of visitors every year.

I spent 20 years in human resources. It was definitely not a 40-hour-a-week job. I’d say closer to 60. Then in 2013, my company merged with another company and they said, “We don’t need two of you. We’re going to go strictly by seniority, not performance or anything else,” and I lost by eight days.

I didn’t want to start over at the bottom of the pile in some other company in HR. I looked at what did I like to do, and I loved training and talking with people. So I went into teaching English. I moved to China, then South Korea, and then Ecuador. It was while I was in Ecuador that I said, “This teaching thing, getting up at 4 in the morning, isn’t for me.” So, I asked myself, “What else would I like to do?” And I stumbled upon AWAI and copywriting.

You’ve really excelled in the world of e-newsletters. Tell me more about that.

I was working with a client and doing content creation and he said, “We’re looking at starting a newsletter. Do you do that?” I’m like, “Sure.” He’s still a client today. It’s a property management company, so kind of related to hospitality, one of my niches. Found out that e-newsletters are really pretty easy.

If I have to do research, I would say probably about four to five hours a month to write this newsletter. But if I don’t have to do research and I’m just pulling in stuff that already exists, then we’re only talking maybe two hours a month. And I get paid $1,500, that’s the best part.

Tell me about all the amazing places you’ve been since you started copywriting.

I live in Mexico right now, in Queretaro. If I want to go to the beaches at Mazatlán or to Zihuantanejo, I can take a day trip. I’m three hours from Mexico City. I do a lot of traveling just in and around Mexico. But I was in Paris in July. I spent two and a half weeks volunteering at the Olympics. I was in Kenya and Nairobi in January of last year and got to do all kinds of safari stuff and saw the animals and different tribes. I’m going to Italy for Christmas.

What do you love most about the copywriting lifestyle?

The freedom and being able to set your own schedule. Like I said, I only “work-work” maybe 20 hours a month. Sometimes a little bit more. Only ever 10 hours a week maximum, because I do some content creation on the side as well. And it gives me more than enough money to live on, to travel, to do what I want.

Can you tell us about the e-newsletter you write for yourself?

Yep. Another one of my side things that I got into is working as a travel adviser. I book travel for people who want to travel like I do. So I’ve got a travel newsletter that goes with that. It’s a short, simple one-page thing. All the people that I’ve helped arrange travel for get that newsletter every two weeks. I’ve got Facebook and LinkedIn profiles attached to that specific side of business, and I get leads from there.

When you transitioned to writing for a living, what did your friends and family have to say about it?

They were curious. They’d say things like, “Wait, you make a living just writing? You make $5,000 a month staring at your computer?” Which is how they viewed it. Some wanted to know more. So, I’ve had a few friends to whom I’ve gifted the AWAI Method.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to write e-newsletters and travel the world?

Explore your interests. If you determine that this is something you want to do, then go where your passion is. If you don’t really have a clear idea of where your passion is or you don’t think it’s enough, then go where your experience is.

Stella's Living The Writer's Life story was originally published in Barefoot Writer. To learn more about how you can start living your dream writer's life too, click here.

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