Living the Writer's Life:
Irene Gabelnick
By Mindy McHorse

Irene cites afternoon walks and traveling as perks of being a Barefoot Writer; here she rests along the beach after an afternoon walk near her rented cottage.

Irene Gabelnick’s youthful dream to be a writer got squashed in an all-too-common and sadly effective manner. She only circled back to that dream after tragedy hit. And though her writer’s life still required effort and strength, she’s since built up a career filled with satisfaction, inspiration, and monetary success — not to mention some very happy clients and exciting new ventures.

Had you always wanted to be a writer?

Irene enjoys an afternoon stroll
by the lake near her home.

Yes. I’ve always been a book geek and was always a straight-A student. Then in high school, I had a permanent substitute teacher filling in for my English teacher, who had fallen ill. Well, I got a big red C on my first graded paper from him. I’d been getting A’s. So after class I went up to him, nervous, and asked how I could fix it. He said, “It was a bad paper. You’re a bad writer.” He crushed my dreams of ever becoming the next Katie Couric or a journalist.

Ouch! What a misguided substitute teacher. Where did you go from there?

I ended up getting my degrees in business and went into sales and eventually real estate. Then in my mid-40s, my sister passed away of breast cancer. She was only 46. It took me two years to muster up the courage to go through her things. What I found was not one, not two, but more than 10 books on how to write a book, how to get paid to write. I never even knew that Natalie wanted to write a book. That night I went home and typed into Google, “how to become a writer,” and AWAI popped up.

You used that tragedy to harness action. What did you gain from AWAI?

I learned how to build an email list and took the course on email marketing. I took the web writing course and the seven-figure accelerated writing course. Then I had to pick a niche, and I’ve always been passionate about health and fitness. It was hard for me to get clients right away, and I was still doing real estate. I was juggling a lot as a single mom. So I started a little health and fitness blog. Then I published my first book, which was a weight loss book.

You achieved your book writing dream!

Yes, I finally became a published author. Then I started helping clients with email marketing, like welcome sequences, launch sequences, things like that. My bestselling e-book, which is more of a little mini-course, called “Podcast Power: The Zipping It Up Guide to Land Podcast and Radio Interviews Fast,” was doing well, so I started creating courses.

It sounds almost effortless but I’m sure a ton of work was involved. What did you struggle with?

Honestly, getting clients was not easy for me at first. I just didn’t have the confidence. It wasn’t until clients came back with testimonials like, “I booked up three podcasts in 10 days, I made $7,500. You’re a genius.” Once you start racking up those testimonials, it builds your confidence and gives you so much joy to know you’re helping somebody.

Do you have any other writing aspirations?

There are so many projects that I want to accomplish. I’m writing a [work of] historical fiction about my parents, how they met in Ukraine. And there’s another project I’ve been working on about unique stories related to organ donation. My sister was an organ donor and her eyes helped two people to see. So there’s all these inspiring stories. And I see that being turned into a documentary. I just feel called to do so much.

I get it; it never stops. How do you stay on top of so many different moving parts?

I need help with that. I really need to hire an assistant. Every day, you really have to consider the three biggest things that are going to move the needle in your business. And don’t sweat the small stuff. Do it scared, do it before you’re ready. If you look at my sister, she didn’t have that chance.

How do you take advantage of life as a Barefoot Writer?

Whenever I need a walk, I go for a walk. If I need a little self-care, if I want to take a bath at 2 in the afternoon in lavender salts, I can do it. I also spend as much time with my kids as possible. And I really like the outdoors. I like to walk a lot along the creek.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in writing?

The more you write, the better your writing gets. Also you don’t have to do it alone. There’s so much support out there. The writing part can be lonely when you’re doing it, but the community is not.

Irene’s story was featured in December’s Barefoot Writer magazine issue.

Every month, Barefoot Writer magazine brings you over 30 pages of motivation, inspiration, and practical advice for turning your writing dreams into reality.

You’ll learn things like the best opportunities for writers, where to find clients who value your skills, how to rock your writing assignments so companies call on you again and again … and a whole lot more.

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