Seven years ago, as I was about to walk out the door to play a day-after-Thanksgiving flag football game with friends, I received word that my first ever freelance weird animal piece had been published over at @Slate. This story changed my life. https://slate.com/technology/2012/11/porcupine-sex-mating-behaviors-involve-quills-musk-penis-spikes-fights-and-arcs-of-urine.html

Now, you may be wondering how a story about porcupines urinating on each other could be so important to a person. Well, I'll tell you.

At this point, I'd been working in advertising for 2 years. And I was happy to have a job after completing an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. Especially since

NO ONE EXPECTS YOU TO HAVE A JOB AFTER COMPLETING AN MFA IN CREATIVE NONFICTION.

No one I knew, at least.

But I hated it. I hated the buzz words. I hated the copy. I hated the expectation that you should stay late, bust your butt, not take days off so that your clients stayed happy and your boss got a little bit richer.

But for all its faults, this job taught me so, so, so much. It got me on Twitter, for one. And it gave me a chance to learn SEO. And the people I met there helped me develop my first website, a blog where I could write about anything I wanted.

So every day, I went to work, and I cranked out the best damn healthcare, higher ed, and nutraceutical copy I could.

And every night, I came home and stayed up late writing about sea slugs, opossums, and slow lorises.

Eventually, I had enough on my blog to use it as an online portfolio, and I started to pitch. After working through a few different ideas with me, @laurahelmuth green-lit the porcupine piece. It was then I felt like a real writer.

I cannot overstate how pivotal I think it was that I got to start out with Laura. As anyone who has ever worked with her knows, she just makes you feel... worthy. I was a nobody. A copywriter. But she liked my words. She encouraged me. And she made me feel like I could do this.

But there were so many others! @maggiekb1 talked about a few of my blogs on @BoingBoing and even skyped with me to give me career advice. I still owe her some tacos.

Glenn Oeland and @9brandon spent time responding to my emails with generosity and insight. These were gifts given without any reciprocation, nuggets of encouragement and guidance. And I'm still thankful for them.

And then, @scottdodd and @mahony128 took me under their wings at @onEarthMag. I started writing for them in 2013, for awhile doing a daily column that had me up at 3 am before my day job at 9. They called me on alllll my shit. And have made me a much better writer for it.

Anyway, eventually I was able to put together enough freelance gigs to quit my day job. Which was good, because I was writing so much I got tendonitis in both wrists.

Since then, I've had the good fortune to work with sooooo many other amazing people. @cdellamore & @karinbrulliard & @Douglas_Main & @Rachael_Bale & @rachelegross & @RachelFeltman. They have made me sound smarter than I am for years. I would help all of them move.

This year, when my Porcupine Anniversary rolled around, I was on top of a mountain chasing birds and a virus for an assignment.

I'm amazed every single day that I get to do this for a living. And I'm thankful for all the people who have helped me along the way.

And if by chance you're huddled over a laptop with a dog-eared copy of Wild Mammals of North America in your lap and a sharp pain in your wrists, I want you to know

I'm rooting for you.