Head of Content

I manage the Content, SEO/AI Search, Web, and Regionalization teams at a Finnish tech company.

Every facet of my job connects back to writing, and to my degree, in some way. I manage a team of writers, edit their work, and advise other functions across the business on writing best practices. I've created an editorial style guide and content format taxonomy rooted deeply in rhetorical and generic considerations. 

My writing output over time has shifted from externally-facing content marketing collateral to internally-facing strategy communications, but I write heavily every single day. Despite being in a "marketing" role, I would argue that it's my passion for writing theory that actually keeps me employed.

A marketing assistant role opened up at the company I worked at within two weeks of graduation. I learned foundational marketing in a live environment and owned content production through to web publication. 

I realized during the pandemic that my chaotic brain much preferred working from home, so I sought out remote work once the RTO (return to work) mandate came through. I landed a job as a content manager at a content marketing agency that specialized in SEO for SaaS companies. 

From there, I joined my current company as a Content Marketing Manager, was promoted in time to Senior CMM and, eventually, SEO Team Lead, and then stepped into the Head of Content role last year.

I had a terrific advisor and mentor in Caitlin Horrocks. Maybe the most important lesson I learned from her was the value of the editing process—how to balance your perception of what the piece is with its potential.

I've baked those insights into editing and the general workshopping model into both my creative and professional writing processes. When I interview for open positions on my team, I spend a great deal of time gauging someone's willingness to receive feedback and iterate accordingly.

The same people who think AI can replace writers are themselves terrible at writing. AI probably does improve their writing because it was awful to begin with, but it just turns "burn out your eyes" writing into "makes you a little sad inside" writing.

Unfortunately, many of these terrible writers hold executive positions. At some point, one of these execs is going to ask you why your job can't be done by AI. You will not be able to make a quality argument because they don't understand writing in general. 

Instead, get extremely comfortable arguing from data. Show them the plethora of studies showing that AI-generated copy performs worse on websites. Point to the abhorrent consumer sentiment regarding AI content. Pull up the graphs showing how scaling sites using AI-produced schlock ends up hurting visibility and traffic over time.

If you show execs that AI writing hurts their bottom line—and that quality writing is now the floor to success—you create the space required to prove your value, as well as the value of your craft.