2023 at a Glance: Growing
As I sit down to reflect on 2023, I’m struck by how each year since launching Copy & Co has had its own distinct character. If 2021 was about launching and 2022 was about establishing, then this year has been all about growing — which typically means navigating the unexpected. It’s been a year of challenges and surprising opportunities that I like to think have pushed Copy & Co to evolve.
Q1 & Q2: New Beginnings
The year kicked off with an exciting collaboration that felt like a dream come true - working on a content project with Y Combinator. As someone who devoured Paul Graham's essays during my Escape the City days, this opportunity felt particularly special.
My long-standing relationship with Ecology Media took on a new dimension as I began to work more closely with their team. From coffee-fuelled brainstorming sessions at Chiltern St Deli in Marylebone to collaborative meetings at WeWork in Shepherds Bush, this shift towards more in-person collaboration was a welcome change after years of remote work.
A new partnership with Penfold, an innovative workplace pension provider, opened my eyes to the importance of pensions. Creating case studies for them also inspired me to take a closer look at my own pension! (I love learning new things from clients.)
Perhaps the most mind-blowing experience of this period was learning more about AI through Nicolas Cole and Dickie Bush's ChatGPT workshop. The potential of AI in content creation is both intriguing and slightly terrifying. It felt the same way as how Facebook made the social media landscape feel back in 2006 — like we’re on the brink of something huge, even if we can’t fully grasp its implications yet.
While AI is useful for administrative tasks, I was reassured to find that it still can’t replicate the nuance and creativity of human writing. This realisation helped me refocus on the unique value I bring to my clients as a human writer, and I enjoyed putting that into practice when working with Replan, a leading provider of innovative supply chain solutions, helping them produce ebooks.
Q3 & Q4: Renewing Values
The latter half of 2023 brought a renewed sense of purpose to my work. Joining B Lab UK's Equitable Growth Advisory Group was a proud moment, allowing me to contribute to increasing diversity in the UK B Corp community. This experience, coupled with my role as a communications consultant for B Lab UK, inspired me to refocus Copy & Co’s mission on supporting B Corps and mission-driven brands.
Continuing collaborations with Penfold and Ecology Media provided a sense of stability — and a new project with GPET in Singapore meant that I got to help them tell their company story.
On a personal note, being accepted into Curtis Brown Creative’s six-month novel writing program was a highlight of the year. It pushed my creative writing skills further than any other course I’ve done. Having a peer group of writers to get feedback from has made a huge difference. While writing fiction works out different muscles, I see it as part of strengthening my overall “writing fitness” — especially valuable in an age where we human writers are finding out where we fit in amongst the prevalence of AI tools.
Looking back, the number of regular clients (a dozen) was lower than previous years, but it meant there was more time for depth. The year felt like a rollercoaster at times, with AI advancements shaking up the industry — and no one really knowing the answers to how it will continue to change things. But I also remembered that those challenges push us to adapt and evolve.
As I look ahead to 2024, I’ve got both anticipation and optimism. The landscape of content creation is changing really, really quickly — but I’m more convinced than ever of the value of human creativity, empathy, and strategic thinking in creating stories that resonate.
