La Cura - What Was Your First Job?

On the 270th episode of The Copywriter Club podcast, we’re diving into the world of Kira Hug. Who is she really and does she even like to hug? She shares her experiences from the beginnings of her own copywriting career to where she is today and where she plans to go in the future. Tune in to find out: The rise of Kira Hug. What it was like to live in New York City and what her favorite experiences were. Raising kids in Brooklyn and moving to Washington, DC. Kira’s first writing experiences and learning about her love for interviewing. The struggles Kira faced most as she built her copywriting business. Navigating through the head trash that can be such a constant burden for copywriters. How to stop getting in your own way. Kira’s least favorite client project and how she said “see ya later!” Finding the confidence to know you have what it takes to move forward. Building The Copywriter Club, copywriting agency, and raising young children. Was it love at first sight for Kira and Ezra? Are we going to start training for a copywriter’s marathon? Why Kira uses a tiny paintbrush for big projects. The motivating factors that drive Kira to keep going. The push to continue to get better in life and never staying complacent. The biggest takeaways Kira has had from coaching hundreds of copywriters. How your business can have dramatic change by implementing this one thing. Why you can’t let yourself surrender to the head trash. How copywriters can think bigger for themselves. The legacy Kira wants to leave for the world and her kids. Listen to or read the inside scoop of everyone’s beloved copy mom. The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground Four Thousand Weeks    Full Transcript: Rob:  Welcome everyone. This is another episode of just Kira and Rob talking on the podcast, which means we don't have a written out introduction. I suppose we could talk about how this episode is brought to you by The Copywriter Accelerator, which should be opening momentarily, within days of this episode going live, or within weeks anyway. Accelerator is our basic training, 16-week... It's not really a course and it's not really a membership, but it's a program where you go through with a cohort of other ambitious copywriters and basically set the foundations that you need to put in place for a successful copywriting business. The skillset that you need as a copywriter are different from those that you need as a business owner. And, if you want to succeed at both, you need to have both, and so that's where The Accelerator comes in. Okay, so now that we've dealt with that part, it's just you and me, Kira. Kira:  We've dealt with the whole selling our stuff part, let's get that out the way. Rob:  Exactly. So, 10 episodes ago you interviewed me. We do this every once and a while, where it's just you and me talking, but 10 episodes ago we did a little bit more of like, "Okay, we'll try to dive into a little bit more of behind the scenes Rob." And, of course, we want to turn the tables now and get the behind the scenes Kira, and find out who you really are when you're not necessarily doing The Copywriter Club thing. Kira:  I am the exact same person. Rob:  We're going to find out. Kira:  Shocker. Rob:  Yeah, we're going to find out. Kira:  Yeah, same person. Rob:  Okay, well let's start with a couple of easy questions, warm you up. You've lived in a whole bunch of places. You've been in Chicago, and Virginia, you went to school in Virginia, you lived in New York. I think when we met you even described yourself as, "A New Yorker," that was who you were. Kira:  Oh, yeah. Rob:  And now, you're living in Washington D.C., so I'm curious about the history of Kira traveling around and being in places. What's your favorite place that you've lived? Kira:  I still consider myself a New Yorker, even though I no longer am in New York. I think some people can live there for one year and they feel like it's in them forever. For me, I was there for 12 years, so I feel like the 12 years, that counts. But, I'm sure there are New Yorkers who'd say, "You're not a true New Yorker." That's what I love about New York. So, to me, that always felt like home. That was my dream. That was my big dream in college, is I was in Virginia, I was like, "Just move to New York and you've made it in life." Even now that I'm out of there, I don't miss it necessarily, I miss parts of it, I'm really happy where I am in D.C. I like my life here, but I still feel like that's a part of me. I take New York City with me wherever I go. Nothing really has topped that for me. Rob:  So, what's your very best New York City experience? Kira:  I think there are a collection. Rob:  No, no, no, you have to name just one. Narrow it down to one. Kira:  Okay. There's swimming in the lake in the middle of Central Park, is definitely a New York City moment, I think before the cops kicked us out of the lake. It was very late at night, a little fuzzy, but a lot of fun. And so, it just felt like a true New York experience to swim in that lake and jump in there when we weren't supposed to be in there. Also, I think it's less about the one experience, and, for me, as I look back at that time, it was mostly in my 20s, and so it was really more about the people you're with in New York. That's where I made some of my best friends. It was with those women, and that's what I take from New York, is just that group of women. Because, it didn't matter what we did, we bonded during that time because there's nothing like living your 20s in New York City. It's just nuts. It's just a nuts experience. And, I had my kids in New York as well, which was almost an entirely different lifetime, moving to Brooklyn and raising kids in New York, which was dramatically different than my time there with friends in my 20s. But, I'm glad I had both experiences, just two different experiences in that city. They were both fun, in different ways. Rob:  Okay. So, what's something that locals in New York City do that tourists don't, but maybe we should when we show up there? Kira:  I was reviewing your questions, because I like to prepare, and I started digging through my emails from 2010, because this is where I got into writing. To continue to expand on that, I became the New York City Examiner writer, that was a whole thing, theexaminer.com. And so, I would go on adventures in New York City, and then I would write about them. That's how I fell in love with writing, because it forced me to go out and have these really interesting experiences, because I had to write about it. I don't even think I was getting paid, but it was assignment. So, doing that, I did find these really interesting experiences, and I was trying to find the link to all of them, but that site has shut down. Some of the ones I remember that I liked were actually StreetWars, this experience called StreetWars, which is like the Assassin game, a live-action game for players to basically eliminate each other. We played this game, StreetWars, and you played it in the entire city. So, for three weeks I was just paranoid walking anywhere in the city, because I thought someone was going to shoot me as part of the game. So, if you're a paranoid person, you probably should not play that game. I don't know if that's still going on, but it changed my experience in New York City, because it turned it into just a playground. It was already a playground, but it was even more of a playground playing this interactive game. Rob:  Wait, I want to stop there for a second though, because it's really funny that you would say that because I think there's maybe a perception by people who don't live in New York that New York's a really dangerous city. And, that you would have a game that... Obviously you're not really getting shot, but that's playing on that danger- Kira:  Right, it's like a water... Rob:  ... is kind of funny. I wouldn't even expect that as somebody showing up in New York for a few days, or even a few weeks. Kira:  It's a weird game. I don't think I would play it today. I think I have enough stress in my life today that I don't need to add more stress- Rob:  Getting shot in the grocery store, yeah. Kira:  ... where I think everyone... I would get on the subway and I assumed everyone was playing the game and anyone was stalking me or could pull out a water pistol and shoot me with water at any point during those three weeks. I was highly paranoid, so I don't recommend it, again. The game's probably shut down by now, but it just was so much fun. And then, the other one that's a little bit more toned down, that I also wrote about for The Examiner, was Bargemusic. So, it's a floating concert hall under the Brooklyn Bridge. That was something that just was one of those experiences that I would not have found unless I was seeking it out as a writer trying to find cool experiences. Rob:  Is that live music on a- Kira:  Yeah, live music. Tiny little concert hall on the barge. It's just one of those moments in New York you're just like, "It doesn't get better than this." There were multiple moments like that, but I wouldn't have sought them out if I had not been a writer. So, I think it's just interesting to go back to how writing can change the way we live our lives, and writing can actually be a tool for us to use to live a richer life, and to seek out new opportunities that we might not find normally. And so, I don't think I realize how many experiences I had because I had to write about it back then. Rob:  That's really interesting. That's the thing I love about New York, there's limitless, not just opportunities to do things, but to invent things, to be things. It's got to be the most creative city in the world.