UPDATE: I no longer offer consulting. Check out my resources on content operations instead.
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I help companies hire writers and editors.
More specifically, I work with startups to scale content teams through hiring and training.
My superpower is spotting potential in writing and editing candidates, then training them to be star players. I’m known in the writing industry as having a strong network to pull from, as I’ve stayed in touch with many of the writers and editors I’ve trained over the last decade.
Even leaders within the content industry will tell you it’s hard to hire good writers and editors. But this has been one of my primary responsibilities for the last decade, and I enjoy the challenge. By taking this on, I free head space and time for startup founders to focus on other parts of their business.
🧑🏾🤝🧑🏼 Light Touch Consulting
We talk through your needs (usually with a phone call) and I suggest 1-3 people you should consider, candidates I would consider if I were in the hiring seat.
My recommendations include writers I’ve worked with before or trained and/or writers in my extended network that I’ve lightly vetted (including a phone call). I often lean on the database of 3,000 writers and editors I’ve built over the last decade.
Once I suggest several candidates, you conduct your own deep vetting, as you would with any job candidates. If you hire one of the writers or editors I suggested, you pay a flat fee. There’s no fee if you don’t hire one of the people I suggest.
🧑🏾🤝🧑🏼 High Touch Consulting
These months-long consulting arrangements typically result in adding one to ten A-players to the company. I work with just one or two clients at a time, and I heavily customize my services for each client’s needs.
My work happens through three phrases. Companies hire me for just one, two or all three.
💡 Needs assessment: Identifying what kinds of writers and editors your company needs to meet your goals and what those roles might look like. Plus envisioning a team structure that will accommodate future growth.
💡 Hire A-players: Writing compelling job descriptions that appeal to strong candidates, getting the openings in front of the right people, vetting applicants and hiring star players to join your team. Vetting applicants typically includes a writing or editing trial, as well as candidate interviews.
💡 Training: Hiring the right people is only half the challenge; even excellent hires need training and support to do their best work. Once new hires are in the door, I work with content teams to develop effective processes for content creation, including identifying weak spots and training in those areas. While this looks different for each team, one of my most popular training sequences helps teams integrate SEO into their content-creation process.
I’m uniquely qualified to support startups in this way. The best content leaders understand both content and business, and my sweet spot is where they intersect.
My last full-time role was as EVP of Content at The Penny Hoarder, a personal finance media brand with millions of pageviews each month. As the second employee, I hired employees across our content division, including writers, editors and visual creators, working alongside our founder to scale to 100+ employees. I also put infrastructure and processes in place for those hires to succeed.
Prior to The Penny Hoarder, I grew a boutique content marketing agency that relied on content creation systems to serve clients and manage submissions from dozens of freelance writers. That agency was acquired by The Penny Hoarder in 2015.
I began my career as a journalist, first at the Houston Chronicle, then at U.S. News & World Report, and I earned my master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. I also founded one of the most well-known websites for writers, The Write Life, which sees nearly half a million pageviews a month.
“There is no one more dependable than Lexi. We worked in the trenches together for years and I was constantly impressed by her expertise, work ethic and positive attitude. This is the person you want by your side.”
– Kyle Taylor, CEO of The Penny Hoarder
“We hired Alexis to help grow our writing team and boy did she deliver. Over the course of a few months, she streamlined our hiring, interview, and trial writing process. We went from a team of 2 generalists to a team of 4 with expertise in SEO, scriptwriting, and email marketing. Lexi helped us narrow down our wishlist, weed through hundreds of applications, and ultimately find the perfect people for our team. I couldn’t be happier with the process and the results! The icing on the cake is that she’s a joy to work with — organized, professional, kind, and generous with her time.” – Marian Schembari, Senior Editor at Marie Forleo International
“I hired several writers and editors for my content agency who were originally trained by Lexi. They are all A-players and have helped me grow my business by consistently producing outstanding work. I regard anyone vetted and/or trained by Lexi as the ultimate seal of approval. She has a unique ability to spot editorial talent and has the experience to create and implement effective training programs. If you’re in the content business, you want to work with Alexis Grant.” – Jaclyn Schiff, Founder of PodReacher
Explore more of my experience on my LinkedIn.
Get in touch: alexis[at]alexisgrant[dot]com.