I’ve been thinking a ton about different seasons of life lately, and it’s made me realize there are also different seasons we go through in our businesses.

The ugly truth is that not all seasons in our businesses are positive. Just like in life, it’s completely normal to go through hard times. Unfortunately, it’s easy to feel like a failure for experiencing a less-than-incredible season, which is a narrative that needs to be rewritten.

In this episode of The Modern Editor Podcast, I’m walking you through the variety of seasons you may experience in your editing business so that you can normalize it instead of wondering if you’re doing something wrong.

• (1:44) Not All Business Owners Experience the Same Seasons
• (3:07) The Learning Season
• (3:50) The Planning Season
• (4:23) The Networking Season
• (7:25) The CEO Season
• (9:02) The Pivot or Expansion Season
• (9:58) The Maintenance Season
• (11:23) The Dry Season
• (14:29) The Back-End Season
• (15:52) The Front-End Season
• (16:50) The Burnout Season

• Women in Publishing Summit
• Episode 5: Working ON Your Business vs. Working IN Your Business

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

Springtime comes with a sense of renewal and new opportunities that always make me feel reinvigorated. To celebrate, this episode is a re-air of a previous episode where I offered six tips to refresh your editing business.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for a certain season to follow these tips, but it’s natural to feel the itch to do a little spring cleaning at this time of year. Taking advantage of that fresh spring energy is the perfect way to set yourself up for success in quarter two. Consider this your spring cleaning checklist for your editing business.

• (2:23) Clean Up Your Workspace
• (3:56) Declutter Your Desktop
• (5:23) Refresh Your Bookmarks and Extensions
• (6:10) Clean Up Your Email Subscriptions
• (8:13) Organize Your Subscriptions and Memberships
• (9:29) Declutter Your Social Media Following
• (10:52) Spring Cleaning Your Business = Quick-and-Easy Wins

• You Need a Budget app

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• Join the Freelance Editors Club

Welcome to our fourth and final episode in our editor wellness series! In this episode of The Modern Editor Podcast, we’re talking all about social and intellectual wellness for freelance editors.

There’s a lot to mull over in this episode, including the difficulty of making friends as an adult, cultivating critical thinking skills, and why you shouldn’t outsource your brain.

As always, this episode could bring up some emotions. Please take what works for you and leave the rest. Give these concepts time to sink in so you can apply them to your life in phases rather than all at once.

• (2:08) The Social Downside of Working Solo
• (8:50) The Challenge of Making New Friends as an Adult
• (11:33) What Is Intellectual Wellness?
• (14:56) Don’t Outsource Your Brain
• (19:11) Our Brains Are Our Superpower
• (20:14) Your Wellness Is the Core of Your Editing Business

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

Welcome back to our series on self-care! Our last few episodes covered physical/environmental wellness and financial health. In this episode, we’re diving into mental and emotional well-being tips for freelance editors.

Specifically, I’m talking about how our thoughts and emotions show up in our businesses and how I process my emotions. I’m also going to share some self-care ideas that can benefit your mental and emotional health.

It goes without saying that this can be a loaded topic, so please remember that I’m not a medical or mental health professional in any way. I’m simply sharing what I’ve learned from fourteen years of running my own editing business so that you can take the insights you like and make them work for you.

• Jessica Stong
• Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab
• Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
• Your Attention is Sacred Except on Social Media by Amelia Hruby
• Hood Wellness by Tamela J. Gordon
• The Cure for Burnout by Emily Ballesteros
• Quiet by Susan Cain
• National Institute of Mental Health
• Calm app: How to regulate your nervous system and restore calm: 12 proven techniques
• Episode 3: Why Mindset is More than Just a Buzzword
• Episode 7: Why You Need Boundaries in Your Business
• Episode 26: How to Avoid (or Recover from) Burnout
• Episode 47: Editor Self-Care: How to Use Affirmations in Your Business

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

If you want to confront your relationship with money, start a business. Have you heard this saying before? I couldn’t agree with it more. Nothing makes you get up close and personal with your finances than running your own editing business.

In this episode of The Modern Editor, we’re continuing our editor wellness series on self-care, but this time we’re talking all things money for freelance editors.

I think it’s safe to assume that most of us didn’t learn about money the way we should’ve and likely have complicated relationships with our finances. We’re diving into how our upbringing affects our relationship with money, how to improve our money mindset, and I’m giving you practical tips on how to run your freelance business as financially effective as possible.

• (2:45) The Systemic and Political Issues Involved in Owning a Business
• (4:23) How to Improve Your Money Mindset
• (8:09) Money Tips For Freelancers
• (16:15) Take Your Business Finances Seriously
• (18:00) How Often Should You Change Your Rates?
• (19:52) It’s Okay to Seek Financial Aid
• (20:48) Buy Back Your Time
• (21:52) Three Money Mantras

• Keeping Finances Personal by Ellyce Fulmore
• Moving Beyond Broke by Dasha Kennedy
• Get Good With Money by Tiffany Aliche
• I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers
• Editorial Freelancers Association
• YNAB
• Quickbooks
• IRS website

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

Welcome to a brand-new editor wellness series on The Modern Editor Podcast all about health, wellness, and self-care. (I kind of hate those words, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important 😂) As freelancer editors, it’s easy to let our health fall by the wayside, especially in busy seasons.

In this episode, we’re exploring physical and environmental health and how we can take care of ourselves in a holistic way. Content warning: We’ll be talking about food and exercise.

• (0:56) Why You Need to Take Care of Yourself as a Freelancer
• (3:51) The Importance of Sleep
• (9:56) Drink Your Water
• (10:56) Eat to Feel Good
• (16:00) Move Your Body
• (18:00) Fix Your Posture
• (20:31) Take Care of Your Eyesight
• (22:22) Take Deep Breaths
• (23:22) Creating a Healthy Work Environment
• (27:00) How to Incorporate Positive Health Changes With Tiny Habits®

• Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

Instead of a typical goal-setting exercise to kick off the new year, I’m walking you through some writing prompts to get your creative juices flowing. Think of it more as a new year vibe check to help you ease into the year.

If you want to set some goals for 2026, I encourage you to join us inside the Freelance Editors Club, where we’re running those exercises!

• (0:14) Why Writing Prompts?
• (2:45) Prompt One
• (3:17) Prompt Two
• (3:42) Prompt Three
• (3:58) Prompt Four
• (4:23) Prompt Five
• (5:29) Prompt Six
• (5:55) Prompt Seven
• (6:18) 2026 is Not a Race

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• Join the Freelance Editors Club

I can’t believe I’m typing this, but we’ve made it to the final episode of The Modern Editor of 2025. Naturally, I decided to use this episode to reflect on what I’ve learned this year, both personally and in my business.

I could easily talk about all the things that went wrong and the goals I didn’t hit this year, but I want to focus on the good instead. Two things can be true at once: The world can feel like it’s on fire, and I can be excited about my business. I can feel proud of what I’ve built and also wish it were growing faster.

I think it’s important to hold space for the good and the bad, but celebrating the good doesn’t mean you're ignoring the bad. So without further ado, let’s celebrate the best of 2025.

• (4:07) Lesson One: The Importance of Systems
• (7:00) Lesson Two: It’s Okay for Priorities to Shift
• (9:53) Lesson Three: My Business Comes After My Family and Loved Ones—Always
• (11:25) Lesson Four: Things Are Going to Take Longer than You Expect or Want
• (13:48) Lesson Five: Find Something Outside of Your Business That Lights You Up
• (16:05) Lesson Six: Action is Always Going to Win

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club