Hidden Gems: Meet Hilary Kirchner of Dream Write Creative

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hilary Kirchner

Hi Hilary, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started my company in 2011 when the Great Recession in the US was still affecting the job market in my area (Ohio). Many large companies were still laying off their editorial staff and relying on freelance support to complete their projects. That’s when several former colleagues started offering me freelance opportunities. I did one or two gigs as a side hustle and quickly realized that I could earn more and do more if I was an independent writer/editor. So I took the leap and went into business for myself full-time.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being your own boss or starting a business is never a smooth road. Especially when you go into it because you love what you do but don’t have much practical business knowledge. I did everything I could to learn best practices and what to do or not to do, but a lot of times — especially early on — I fell into the trap of thinking I had always be working to avoid the dreaded “feast or famine” cycle. This led to significant burnout right before the COVID-19 Pandemic hit. So, pile all the stress that came with that on top of burnout and the typical stressors of entrepreneurship? And…well, it wasn’t good. 2020 was actually our highest-grossing year, but it happened because of non-stop work and emergency project after emergency project as clients turned to us and our creative partners to transform in-person events into digital training and communications. But by late 2022, our project pipeline started to recalibrate and we needed to start getting creative and pivoting. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy and 2023 brought our lowest profit margins. Thankfully, things are picking back up now.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At Dream Write Creative, we’re the ones experts turn to when they have highly technical or difficult topics that they need others to get on board with. Whether it’s content marketing, funding proposals, or creating training programs, we make complex stuff interesting and easy to understand. I’m so proud of our team of content strategists, writers/editors, and instructional designers. They really bring a wealth of creativity and empathy to every project, making clients feel comfortable and confident in how they communicate with their audiences.

For example, simply editing our client’s research funding proposals helped them win over $1.2 Million in funding from the US Department of Energy and National Science Foundation. Meanwhile, we helped another agency win over $2 Million in repeat customers by helping them craft innovative training materials.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
When it comes to a creative project or communications for difficult issues, I think it’s important to take an empathetic, ego-free approach that centers on the needs of the audience. The audience is the hero here, not the client or us. Our job is to make sure that the audience turns to our clients as their trusted advisors.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dreamwritecreative.com/
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dream-write-creative

Image Credits
Ashley D Photography