How to Quit Your Day Job and other advice from Britni Danielle

By Javacia Harris Bowser

After being in the classroom for six years, Britni Danielle knew that teaching wasn’t the right fit for her. “I was quickly burning out, and I knew teaching wasn’t what I wanted to do for the next 30 years,” she says.

As she entered the 2011-2012 school year she knew she had two choices: “It was either quit that year or get stuck even deeper in a career I hated,” she says.

Her last day in the classroom was three days into the school year.

“I ran the numbers and realized that my freelance writing income could cover my living expenses, so I wrote my letter of resignation and quit,” she says.

Britni Danielle now writes for popular publications such as Clutch, Jet magazine, and Essence.com – just to name a few. Britni Danielle started her freelance career with no clips, no contacts, and no journalism degree. And now she’s determined to show other aspiring writers that they can launch freelance careers too, which she does through her website BritniDanielle.com, her online course The Write Pitch, a weekly newsletter, a Facebook community she calls The #GOALdiggers Project, and her book Break Out of Your Box: 5 Steps to Following Your Dreams.

SJW Mag: You launched a freelance writing career even though you didn’t have a journalism degree or connections at big publications. How did you do it?

Britni Danielle: The biggest thing is overcoming the thought that not having those things will stop you. I decided to break in to the industry through digital publications. I pitched Clutch, and another publication, which is now closed. Once I established myself at Clutch, other opportunities like Essence.com, Vibe and Vibe Vixen began to open up for me, so I took them.

I’d advise new writers to think digitally first. Breaking into a print magazine is really tough, especially if you haven’t made a name for yourself on the Web — either on your own blog or a digital pub. So build your brand, especially your blog. Build a readership on your own platform. Pitch digital magazines, then move to print.

How did you land gigs at popular publications like Clutch, JET, Essence, Vibe Vixen, and Heart & Soul?

I pitched Clutch about three or four times before I finally had an article accepted and got the ball rolling on the rest. So being relentless helps. My now-defunct blog helped me land an essay on Essence.com, which helped me build a really good relationship with one of the editors who now asks me to cover stories or interview celebs. My introduction to JET came as a result of an article I wrote for Clutch. A senior editor reached out to me, and in turn, I asked if I could pitch her some ideas. One was accepted and since then I’ve pitched stories and they also assign me stories pretty regularly.

Here’s the thing: All you need is your foot in the door. Once your prove yourself to be reliable and able to do good work, editors will keep shooting you stories. Every editor has a list of people they turn to first. You want to get on that list.

Why did you decide to start BritniDanielle.com?

Initially I started it so I’d have one place to put all of my clips. Then I switched my focus because I wanted to inspire others and offer advice for writers and entrepreneurs.

Do you feel it’s important for freelance writers to have a blog?

Having a blog is super important for writers, especially those without clips. For my online course, The Write Pitch, I interviewed editors from a myriad of publications and they all said having a blog that showcases a writer’s skills is extremely important.

Tell me more about The Write Pitch.

The Write Pitch is an online course I created to teach others how to break into freelancing without any clips or connections. That’s what I did, and those are the questions I get asked every single day. While I answer questions freely, I wanted to create a program that would teach people how get into the industry. Basically, it’s the course I wish I had when I was starting out, but had to teach myself.

I’ve always been impressed by the fact that you interact with your Twitter followers. Why do you think it’s important to do so and any tips on how to make time for meaningful social media interaction?

I love social media. I’ve met so many people and connected with writers and editors from around the globe. So I’m not doing my followers a favor by interacting, I’m just having fun. That said, you can leverage Twitter and other forms of social media to get on the radar of editors you want to meet. I live in L.A., which is a big city, but not the publishing capital. I’ve been able to network with editors through social media, instead of meeting them at happy hour. 

As far as making Tweeting a priority, apps definitely help. Using an auto-share app from your blog to Twitter helps to constantly drip content to your followers, but using an app on your smartphone will help you tweet while you’re out and about. I don’t set certain hours aside for my social media usage, but rather tweet or Facebook when I feel like it.

If you want a more structured schedule, sharing things to social media during normal business hours usually garners the best results.

How did the idea for The #Goaldiggers Project and the Monday Motivators come about?

I started producing my Monday Motivator emails just as a way to stay connected to those people who signed up for my email list. In the beginning I really didn’t have a clue what my newsletter would be about, but once I switched the focus of my blog from being about me to helping and inspiring others I knew I wanted that to be the focus of my Monday messages.

I started the GOALdiggers Project group because I wanted to continue the conversations happening in my email inbox about the Monday Motivators. Folks would email me to tell me how much they liked them and I wanted to create a space that was both inspirational and supportive for myself and for others. That’s when the GOALdiggers Project was born.

What’s the most important piece of advice you would give someone who wants to quit her job to write full time?

My best advice: Face your fears, run the numbers, and follow your heart. Fear will keep you trapped in a job you hate forever, but when you run the numbers to figure out exactly what you need, you’ll feel better equipped to set goals and reach them. Quitting your job to be a writer takes time and it may even require you to keep working while you build your name as a writer. Just do it. If you love to write and really want to make this your career, the long nights will be worth it.

Check out Britni Danielle’s book Break Out of Your Box: 5 Steps to Following Your Dreams.