This week on the show we have the one, the only, soon-to-be New York Times Bestselling author, Laura F*ing Belgray!

When I thought of who I would want to help ring in my 100th episode, my mentor, my friend, Laura Belgray catapulted to mind first.

She has a long list of accolades which you can learn more about on her Talking Shrimp website...as well as learn why her company is named after a chatty crustacean to begin with.

A bonafide celebrity and icon in the copywriting world, she's about to launch her first book, aptly named, "Tough Titties: On Living Your Best Life When You're the F-ing Worst". The book comes out June 13th, but you can pre-order it here. I read it cover-to-cover in under four days...a joyous respite between the job, the kids, and the MBA program that currently (happily) rule my life. 😍

In this episode, Laura tells us how she went from wandering through life to earning $1,000,000+ annually (I could have just typed 7-figures but damn, $1,000,000 is more fun) by chucking the standard rules of copywriting out the window and letting her personality shine through. We unwrap what exactly goes into the traditional publishing process, even when what you're publishing isn't traditional - why would a copywriting expert write a book about her life's trials and tribulations instead of how to write emails that sell your product but not your soul? Because. She's Laura F*ing Belgray.

Connect with Laura on her website (linked above), Instagram, and LinkedIn (although she spends most of her time on IG).

Episode #99!  Wow. When I first started this podcast I just wanted to connect entrepreneurs so we could inspire and learn from each other. What a journey it's been.  

As we catapult to episode #100, I thought I'd highlight the top 5 episodes so far (by downloads), introduce what's next with the podcast...and let you know who the special guest for episode #100 is (hint - she's a celeb in the copywriting world and about to launch her first book...sure to be a NY Times Best Seller).

Top 5 episodes so far:

• The 4 Critical Steps to Starting a Business
• 10 Free Resources for Copywriting
• Six Ways to Set Boundaries for Business Growth
• Here's My Exact Email Writing Process
• How to Create Super Clickable CTA

What's next for the podcast? CLOVER. I'm beyond excited for this series.

Who's my special guest for episode #100? I'll give you a hint. She met one of her business partners at Crunch Fitness in NY...back in the Crunch Fitness heyday.

I'll be honest - the mere thought of artificial anything, when it comes to creating the written word makes me cringe. It goes against every fiber of my being because for me, the point of writing is to put pen to paper or finger to keyboard to create something genuine. 

Even if it's fiction, it's supposed to come from a place of organic creativity. So when I heard artificial intelligence, I was like, oh here we go. But I'm not one to blindly shut something down. So I did take a deeper look. And AI is here to stay. We'd be silly to ignore it and hope it goes away. And actually, it's been pretty cool. 

So, as such, how do we as writers leverage it to our liking? Ultimately, when it comes to writing, is AI a friend or a foe? So turns out, it can be both.  I'm committed to using the technology for good. And I'm seeing AI as a friend.  I like to joke, maybe it's more like you keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. ;)

Listen in on how to leverage AI for good!