"I feel that being steeped in great literature and learning to identify and understand narrative arcs and complex characters can transfer into emotional intelligence, empathy, and persuasion."
When did you graduate from BYU?
BA English 2013
What is your job/position? And how would you describe what you do in that job/position?
I’m a marketing strategist and senior copywriter. I study audience demographics and create and perform user testing to validate brand positioning and messaging. I write web copy and strategic email funnels to help companies increase sales conversions and reach different customer personas.
Describe the path that you took from your BYU English degree to your current career, highlighting the important realizations and turning points that paved the path for you.
I initially wanted to work in book publishing. After graduation, I was accepted into a postgrad program at the Denver Publishing Institute. I focused on editorial work in children’s publishing. But instead of going to New York with the rest of my class, I got married and moved to the Bay Area for my husband’s schooling. My editing internship at Chronicle Books was unpaid, so I got a job as an executive assistant to a marketing manager at Microsoft. Within three months, I had started taking over the internal newsletter within the department, and I was promoted to the marketing communications team. I worked there for three years and eventually started doing product marketing. After I had my baby, I didn’t want to go back to the office, so I started reaching out to startups nearby for part-time marketing work. Over the years, I’ve taken on more clients and had long-running retainer work. Last year I expanded my team and brought on two new copywriters and am building a small marketing agency. Turning points: My boss seeing my potential and giving me a shot at internal communications and later product marketing even with no prior experience. Seeing all the writing and content necessary in running any business well and finding a way to connect my skills into those opportunities.
What are the specific skills that you cultivated as an English major that you now use in your professional life? And how do you use those skills in ways that set you apart from your colleagues?
Critical thinking and making connections to things that otherwise feel abstract are probably two of the most valuable skills I cultivated. Reading texts closely can translate into close listening. I feel that being steeped in great literature and learning to identify and understand narrative arches and complex characters (and the mechanics behind creating them) can transfer into emotional intelligence, empathy, and persuasion. All those soft skills are essential to good copywriting. Soft skills are often talked about in business, like bedside manner in the medical field; they’re nice to have, and make for a better experience for those who work with you, but not essential to doing the job. However, in copywriting, those soft skills are exactly what I rely on to directly affect a business bottom line and turn a profit. By truly understanding the motivations, frustrations, and aspirations of a target audience, I can position a product or service in a way that connects, persuades, and inspires action.
What are some of the surprising ways in which your English degree helped you in your life?
Strategy and analytical thinking. My writing and reading skills feel almost secondary to my thinking and analytical skills that were cultivated in part by my English coursework. Seeing one text through multiple lenses. Putting a text within a historical context. Discerning authorial intent versus my own interpretation. That has all contributed to my ability to see things from different views and perspectives and recognize the depth and nuance that can exist in something that otherwise seems straightforward.
What do you wish you had known as an English major? Is there any advice you’d like to share with current students?
Get internships. Every summer. Coursework and real-world work in an industry are so different. There is so much more out there than editing for the Ensign. Don't get so caught up in the headiness of the academic world that you forget to think about a stable career that can pay you well. I wish I had cared more about seeing a direct application of my skills in three to four different careers and put in the effort to get hands-on industry experience during my educational years.
Contact
lanae.carmichael@gmail.com