How I Became a Professional Pet-Niche Writer with No Training or Additional Education
My unexpected journey from scientist to — professional cat lady.
For ten years I was a professional biologist. I spent my days hiking potential development sites digging holes, identifying plants, and guiding clients through the spiderwebs of environmental permitting. This in itself, I understand, sounds like a pretty cool job.
I had no plans, nor any idea to pivot my career into something outrageous, something that not even my childhood self could have dreamt up. Yet here I sit, typing the words into my keyboard: I get paid to write about pets, take pictures of cats, and walk cats.
It all started with a blog.
Maybe that’s not true. I suppose it started with cats, as all good things in life should. I was born a cat lady, despite my dad’s animosity toward our ever-growing clowder of barn cats (I guess TNR never occurred to him). My 8-year-old self still retains the rights to the slow blink, long before Jackson Galaxy divulged this little secret on My Cat From Hell.
But I digress. Becoming a paid freelance pet-niche writer started with a blog. I wrote about traveling with my adventure cats, how to choose and introduce gear to a new adventure cat, and everything else you never knew you wanted to know about adventure cats. I paid for a Squarespace domain (tip: a free Medium account will also do!) and I just wrote.
Then I began guest blogging.
Are you actually a good writer if you're the only one publishing your work? I had to know.
I didn’t spend a lot of time on this step. Once a few sites were happy to publish my writing (for no pay) I felt satisfied and I moved on.
Paid Platforms
I stumbled across a site called UpWork. I can feel some of you shuttering as I write it.
UpWork, similar to Fiverr, is a site crawling with freelancers of all kinds and clients in need of those freelancers. The shutter comes from the clients on UpWork looking to get your time, work, and intellectual property for as cheap as humanly possible. But, I assure you, there are good clients on this platform. And for me, it was a quick way to get clients, make money, and build a portfolio.
With no experience and my own blog a few guest blogs as a portfolio, I was hired to write blogs, website copy, and develop brand guides — all in the pet niche. At the same time, I had just purchased my first real camera to capture our adventure cat treks. So, I naturally also applied for pet product photography gigs using my cats as models.
Where I am Today
I launched my blog in January 2020 and by May 2021, I quit my full-time job. By diversifying my income between writing, photography, and as a local cat-sitter and walker (seriously, I walk cats), I was bringing in half of what I was making as a biologist — a number that I felt okay with.
I still retain clients on UpWork, but these days I use LinkedIn to connect with editors and companies I have an interest in working for. With the help of LinkedIn, I am now a regular contributing writer for Rover.com and Daily Paws, among others. Feel free to connect with me, let’s chat about how we can help one another achieve our goals — or ask me how you can train your cat to go kayaking.
I think my story can go a lot of different ways. If you’re interested in freelance writing, I hope this gives you the encouragement you need — and a little piece of advice that you might not need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on copywriting courses.
I think the biggest take-away for me is that maybe the cliché saying you can do what you love really is true. Even for us cat ladies.
