I'm Doug. I write in your voice for a living.

The short version

I interview founders and owners, pull the thinking out of their heads, and publish it in their voice. LinkedIn first, then newsletters, books and blogs. My clients run companies in M&A advisory, sales consulting and training, professional services, specialty finance and B2B tech. Most of them keep their names private, so I keep them private too.

Teacher first

Before I wrote for a living, I taught special education for 7 years in Chicago, Baltimore and DC. I worked on my master's degree at night, taught by day and tutored in between. Then I found copywriting, got paid to write words, and built the whole business on it.

I trained as a creative writer at Columbia College Chicago. 14+ years later, writing still pays the mortgage.

Deaf since 18 months old

I had spinal meningitis when I was 18 months old, and it took my hearing. I went to speech school in Mississippi in kindergarten and grew up mainstream, so I'm lower case deaf. I learned sign language at 25 in grad school and married my wife, who is also deaf, soon after.

Deafness is neither a superpower nor a tragedy. It is what it is. And yes, I taught hearing kids for 7 years.

Why I quit chasing reach

I spent years on social media and learned to game the algorithm for reach. I got good at it. Reach paid in likes. My clients needed deals.

So I built my practice around the buyers who can hire my clients, reading something that sounds exactly like them. Claps ain't cash. The deals come from voice.

How I work with clients

Every engagement starts with an audit. Then I interview you, document your voice and write from what you said. I direct the calendar, so your content keeps moving while you run the business. Every piece passes 1 test before it reaches you: read it out loud. If it sounds like you, it ships.

See the 3 ways to work together, or read what my clients have to say.

Elsewhere

• LinkedIn, where I post most
• The newsletter, long-form and unvarnished
• 1,000 Routes with Nick Bennett, episode 29
• Eating Crow, episode 34