Neurodivergent and Burnt Out? Why Freelance Editing Might Fit Your Brain Better than a 9-5 Job Does

After a Yale University Press internship where a supervisor told her she had "a strange brain," and six months of applications with zero interviews, Hannah Bartlett stopped trying to fit into a system that wasn't built for her.

She launched a freelance editing business instead—and has doubled her income every year since.

In this episode of the Leaving Academia podcast, Hannah shares what it's like to build a business as a neurodivergent, disabled editor—and why freelancing can fit your brain in ways a traditional job never will.

We discuss:

🧠 How posting about neurodivergence and disability on Threads became Hannah's #1 client source

🧠 The communication boundaries that protect her energy ("book editing is not an emergency")

🧠 How email templates and inquiry forms eliminate the dread of client communication

🧠 Why her autistic directness is a strength clients seek out—not something to hide

🧠 How to unlearn academia's validation trap ("I don't need an A in freelance editing")

If you've been struggling to find a job that's a fit, this conversation will show you it's the environment that's the problem—and that you can build one that truly works for you.

🎧 Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and share this one with an academic who needs it.

Resources Mentioned:

✅ Episode 89 with D. Scott (chronic illness, health insurance, and freelancing)

✅ Hannah's website: https://www.hannahbartlettediting.com/

**Check out Hannah's website for a link to the Writers’ Self-Care Guide and the upcoming Editors’ Self-Care Guide.

✅ Hannah's Instagram and Threads: @hannahbartlettediting

✅ Editor's Tea Club: https://www.editorsteaclub.org/

✅ ACES: https://aceseditors.org/

✅ Beeftext (free PC app for email templates): https://beeftext.org/

Want to end burnout and become an academic editor or coach? Go to AcadiaEditing.com/map

Intro: Disability Pride Month + meet Hannah Bartlett

1:52 Hannah's path: pandemic college and the MFA plan

2:42 The Yale University Press internship

3:24 "You have a strange brain"

5:37 Hundreds of applications, zero interviews

6:59 Landing the first clients: communities and free edits

8:31 Why Threads works: marketing that fits your brain

12:21 Vulnerability as marketing

16:41 Full-time work vs. freelancing while neurodivergent

20:42 Doubling income every year (and the AI question)

23:09 "Book editing is not an emergency": communication boundaries

24:58 Email templates and systems that kill the dread

30:08 Neurodivergence as a strength

35:40 Advice for new freelancers: community and listening to your body

41:40 "I don't need an A in freelance editing"

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