Hello, I’m Danielle Styles.

Following your passion isn’t just about you

My vision is for a world in which everyone finds the freedom to build their working lives around who they truly are – their innate gifts, passion and sense of purpose. With all of us weaving into this rich tapestry of human endeavour, I believe that somehow we’d find a way to undo this mess we currently find ourselves in.

But reality check: it’s a great privilege to be in a position to start your own heart-centred business. (Or to land a job that suits you right down to the ground.)

For now, I focus on coaching and empowering the service-providers who’re in a position to follow their hearts. In the future, I hope to broaden my reach.

How I became a copywriting coach

When I started out 10 years ago, copywriting was something I did while I was trying to figure out what I actually wanted to do with my life.

Copywriting was something I could do well, but it felt problematic. In the very early days I was writing copy how it was traditionally done – seeing it as the art of persuasion – for whoever turned up.

Not only was it painful to write for clients who weren’t aligned with my values, but the copywriting process was painful.

When I sat down to write copy, my time and energy would be sapped by trying to choose between all the different word choices and routes I could possibly take, without actually having the information I needed to properly choose between them.

Why? Because the client, aka ‘subject matter expert’, aka owner of the copy and final decision-maker, wasn’t working alongside me.

And that client, who had written my brief, was rarely clear on their copywriting strategy. Mostly because they didn’t have the time, knowledge or awareness they would need to get clear. 

So they’d review my first draft, realise it wasn’t right and ask me to do an extensive rewrite. 

It was exhausting! Mentally and emotionally.

So over the years, I made changes.

I became purpose-driven, choosing to work only with values-aligned clients. At first these were mostly charities; later they were social enterprises and other kinds of purposeful businesses too.

I evolved my process to work ever more collaboratively with my clients. I began to run ‘collaborative copywriting’ workshops where I’d sit beside the client and we’d write their copy together.

Eventually this evolved into the process that’s most true to who I am and what I value: copywriting coaching.

What I’ve realised is that copywriting doesn’t have to be about persuasion and manipulation. When your intention is good and you write consciously, copywriting transforms. It becomes a means of telling the truth in the way that most serves – both your business’ need for clients and your audience’s need to discern if your business is right for them.