Racquel Collard was at the peak of her career in marketing but felt that she needed a new challenge. The next natural step was a CEO role, but that didn’t feel like the right fit for her, so instead Racquel decided to write a book. She completed Write a Book That Showcases Your Expertise with the Australian Writers' Centre and, with the publication of her debut, Marketing Launchpad, has now left the corporate rat race behind and embarked on a new career.
“Having a business book pretty much automatically sets you apart from the majority of others working in your space, as it is ‘proof’ that you know what you’re talking about,” Racquel says. “The book itself showcases a process that I’ve used with my clients to help them build the type of businesses they want to build, that give them the income and the lifestyle they want, and that’s just what I’ve done too!”
Finding her joy
Racquel has always loved the power of words and telling stories, so writing her own book was a logical next step.
“I explored a number of courses at the Australian Writers' Centre to see what was what, how to get it done and what publishing options worked best for me, then I decided to go down the business book road so I could also build a business around it.”
Racquel was drawn to the Australian Writers' Centre because she knew the courses were taught by industry professionals and published authors.
“Having access to tutors who were also authors was invaluable as they were able to not just teach us the technical skills, they were also able to give insights into their life as an author, tips in navigating the industry, and were wonderful and supportive people generally,” Racquel says.
She also found the courses fit easily into her busy schedule.
“The structure of the courses worked well for me, between two-day in-person intensives to self-guided or tutor-led online courses, it allowed me to schedule my learning and exploration around my day job and still keep moving forward.”
As well as Write a Book That Showcases Your Expertise, Racquel enrolled in several more courses to finetune her writing skills and learn as much as she could about the publishing industry.
“The more technical courses I did around using Scrivener, structure, editing, etc, have helped me hone those skills so I’m more confident in those areas too. But the big ones for me were the self-publishing and industry-related courses,” Racquel told us. “As a marketer, I was drawn to the self-publishing route as I didn’t see the point in giving away royalties to a publisher to do some of my marketing for me. Of course, it may have been easier, but the courses I did around self-publishing gave me the starting point I needed to have the confidence to take that leap and publish my own book.
“And I haven’t looked back since I did!”
Launching a new career
Since publishing Marketing Launchpad, Racquel has created a new business for herself centred around the book.
“I have now built out programs, memberships, courses and in-person workshops around the country, so that I can teach predominantly female entrepreneurs how to set up their business in a way that suits them, on a strong strategic marketing foundation.
“It’s my way of helping women overcome the gender disparity that is prevalent around the world, and doing that every day makes it a joy to wake up and start the day every morning, which is a big contrast to struggling out of bed each morning when I was in corporate.”
While publishing her own book had always been a hazy dream, the reality was far more powerful than she had thought it would be.
“I thought I’d be proud, but, you know, nonchalant about the whole thing. Then a copy of my book arrived and I burst into tears. Happy tears, but the emotion was completely overwhelming. Then when my mum got her copy – the book is dedicated to her – she got all emotional too, so that was lovely. And then the rest of my family told me how proud they were when they got their copies, and I got all the feels then too.
“And it continues every time someone posts a pic on socials or drops me an email or leaves a good review. I had no idea a marketing book was going to make me this emotional!”
Racquel has now well and truly launched her dream career.
“In terms of my business, the book has really allowed me to focus on doing exactly what I want to be doing.”
