Alumni Spotlight: Thomas Mitchell, ESTEEM '18
Meet Thomas Mitchell, an ESTEEM alumnus from the Class of 2018 who turned a neurobiology degree and a knack for editing, into a freelance medical writing business. After a brief stint in software sales made it clear that working for someone else wasn't the right fit, Thomas built a freelance career in medical and scientific writing from scratch, eventually co-authoring a book with his mentor, Don Harting, that's become a go-to resource for writers trying to break into the field.
ESTEEM'S ROLE IN AN UNCONVENTIONAL PATH:
ESTEEM: With your neurobiology background, then into ESTEEM, what made you choose freelance writing? That's pretty different from where the typical ESTEEM class heads out into the world.
Thomas: When I was working on my thesis project, my advisor noticed I was pretty good at the actual writing part — one of my jobs at Notre Dame was being a thesis editor. I found I really had a knack for it, and I didn't even understand that was a business you could go into until he encouraged me to explore it. After graduation I figured I should probably still get a traditional job, so I took a software sales job because I was interested in medical device sales. I worked there for about four months and realized working for someone else just wasn't going to work for me. So once I quit, I was twenty-four, didn't have a family to support yet, and decided I might as well take a shot at freelance writing.
ESTEEM: You mentioned having a mentor in the ESTEEM program, was there anything you learned while you were here that actually applied to running your freelance business, or anything that surprised you by being useful?
Thomas: I think one thing the program gave me was the value of learning to be patient. When you're twenty-two or twenty-three, you have this earnest desire to change the world and prove yourself, and that's great, but sometimes you don't have the patience to overcome problems when things get tough. What I learned on my thesis project, when we hit roadblocks, is that sometimes you've got to actually dig in, even deeper. ESTEEM gives you the opportunity to do that kind of digging in a pretty safe environment, and it builds some grit that carries over well when it's actually your own business on the line.
“Think of ESTEEM as kind of like a good warm-up. And then, when it's actually time to execute… you're ready to go. You've done it before.”
— on what has carried over from his thesis project
BUILDING THE FREELANCE CAREER:
ESTEEM: When you first started out with freelance writing, how did you go about landing your first clients? You had some background and proof of concept — how did you market yourself and secure those first clients?
Thomas: The University of Notre Dame was actually my first client. I started off editing the next year's class of theses which gave me an idea of whether I wanted to be an editor, and it turned out not really, because you make more money writing. So I joined the American Medical Writers Association and found a mentor, Don Harting, based in Pennsylvania. He wanted me to buy his book, and I figured it was ten dollars, why not. What made the book special was that it had a whole listing of clients you could contact, emails, phone numbers, all of it. Having just come out of a sales job, I knew exactly what to do with that list, so I started reaching out directly. A lot of people weren't interested, but there were a few who said yes, and I gave it my all. After I did well on one project, they'd give me another, and it kept building from there, into bigger projects, and more responsibility. Now I work directly with doctors, building out entire programs.
TURNING EXPERIENCE INTO A BOOK:
ESTEEM: The projects stacked up, and that eventually led to your book, which is very exciting — congratulations. How did that work set you up for writing the book, and what was that process like?
Thomas: I wrote it with Don, my mentor. My desire to work on it kind of stemmed from the fact that the book I bought from him is basically the book I have now, but we decided to make it even bigger and better — more company listings, more real-world insights. Because I'd been working as a writer for five or six years, I had a sense of what new people actually need. With the confidence I'd built from working on projects, I was able to interview the equivalent of my own clients. One of my ESTEEM professors, Sam Miller, always talked to us about blue ocean strategy, and that's really what this book is — there's no real competition in this niche. And when people talk about AI, I'd push back a little: this is work where you can't afford to get it wrong, so I think specialized medical writing is going to be fine for years to come.
ESTEEM: These editors and scientific directors you interviewed for the book — how did you convince them to be in it? How did you get them to put their name out there?
Thomas: It turns out that in this field, getting people who are talented and reliable is actually super hard, and a lot of these companies don't have dedicated recruiters working on their behalf to find professionals who can do this kind of writing. So any exposure they can get to new talent, they're very eager for. If they can get one writer, and that writer wins them a couple of grant proposals, that could be several hundred thousand dollars in revenue for them, so a thirty-minute interview is an easy trade. Most of the people I asked were actually willing to be interviewed. I did the interviews face-to-face at a conference where my clients and other writers go, so it was a pretty natural environment to just meet and talk for half an hour.
ADVICE FOR CURRENT ESTEEM STUDENTS:
ESTEEM: In terms of advice for current ESTEEM students with a strong science background like yourself — would you say trying to freelance right out of grad school is a smart move, or is it better to build up some industry experience first before venturing out?
Thomas: It really depends. I was very fortunate to leave ESTEEM without student debt, and because of that I felt comfortable enough to try my hand at freelancing. I think there are two things to consider: one is your financial situation — there's no shame in going directly into industry if you have bills you immediately need to pay. And two, if you don't feel like you have a particular skill or direction yet, industry can help give you both. But if you have the financial freedom to do it, and you're also good at what you do, I'd say invest all the time and money you can into getting really good first, because there's no value proposition better than just being competent. And I wouldn't wait around for “more experience”, obligations only pile up with time, and it's easy to let that become an excuse. That's the beautiful thing about being young, you have fewer obligations and more energy, and you've got to take advantage of that.
“There's no value proposition that's better than just being competent. If you're great at what you do, people will want to work with you — they'll be falling over themselves to work with you.”
— on what he'd tell his younger self
WHAT'S NEXT?
ESTEEM: My last thing here for you — what's next for you? Is the book a new chapter?
Thomas: It is. Now that the book's published, I want to get more copies of it out and get it into the hands of people where I was, to help them find some direction. I'm also interested maybe in subcontracting, getting some junior writers to work with me on projects. I feel a need to build a sense of community, and if I could mentor people myself, kind of like how I was mentored along the way, that's something I'd be really interested in. Maybe even coming back to campus to give a presentation; I'd be happy doing something like that.
“There are things much worse in life than failing… It's not even about the money. It's a lifestyle, a way of life. Build a life that's aligned with who you are.”
— Thomas's closing advice for current ESTEEM students