Leaving Academia: Becoming a Freelance Editor4 Jun

7 Clients in 12 Weeks: How Annie Left a 20-Year Teaching Career and Launched Her Editing Business

You've been doing everything right—teaching, advising, serving on committees, even organizing a union—and still hitting a wall.

Annie Brubaker did all of that for 20 years, watched her salary get frozen for 12 of them, went on a 29-day strike, and finally decided she was done waiting for an institution to value her.

Then she landed 7 editing clients in her first 12 weeks as a professional editor.

In this episode of the Leaving Academia podcast, Annie talks about what actually moves the needle when you're starting a freelance editing or coaching business from scratch—including the mindset shift that helped a self-described perfectionist get her website out the door before it was "ready," and why networking felt way more natural than she expected.

What we cover:

🌟 How Annie went from non-tenure-track faculty to 7 paying clients inside a single 12-week BAE cohort

🌟 The minimum-viable-product mindset that helped her stop overthinking and start landing clients

🌟 Her specific outreach strategies: informational interviews, cold emails, local nonprofit connections, and more

🌟 Why she chose to name her business after herself—and what that decision meant to her sense of ownership and identity

🌟 How LinkedIn stopped feeling like self-promotion and started feeling like finally getting to say what she thinks

🌟 Why Annie credits the BAE community with getting her clients years faster than going it alone

Connect with Annie:

Annie Brubaker Writing Consulting — abwritingconsulting.com

LinkedIn: / anniebrubaker

Resources Mentioned:

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Becoming an Academic Editor or Coach (BAE) program: AcadiaEditing.com/BecomeAnEditor

The Academic Entrepreneurs Studio: AcadiaEditing.com/studio

3:15 - Why Academic Faculty Should Unionize

7:20 - How To Overcome Institutional Burnout

11:45 - Building A Successful Editing Business

15:10 - How To Find Your First Clients

18:55 - Mastering The Art Of Self Promotion

22:30 - Future Goals And Final Thoughts

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