How A Pandemic Kickstarted Our Creative Agency
A Melbourne-based copywriting and social strategy agency, born out of a need for more… and less.
Alright, here we are. It’s March 2024, and I’m finally writing Naughty Nancy’s very first blog post. Someone bring me a medal already.
Honestly? Blog writing is something I’ve been putting off since I founded this cute little creative studio back in 2021, and because 2024 is my year of ‘doing’ and ‘being productive’ (I’m laughing at myself as I write that because… I tell myself the same thing every year), I figured it was time to put my money where my mouth is and just. do. it.
So, yep. Here we are. And I figured there’d be no better way to kick off our first blog post than to introduce myself (Daniella), Naughty Nancy, and why I chose to start a creative business that’s structured in a kinda unique, but kinda awesome way.
Let’s throw things back to 2020 –
We were peak-pandemic. I was working from home (the no-boundaries thing between #worklife and #homelife was doing my head in), and I was working in social strategy at a well-known digital marketing agency. I loved my job, but having started out as an intern there, I felt like I was stuck in a suffocating box; No matter how hard I tried (or worked), I had a feeling they’d always see me as their intern, even though I was a full-time paid employee. We’ve all been there before, ‘ey?
I love a challenge, I hate micromanagement, and I despise the thought of not being able to grow in a role, so I accepted a job at a different digital marketing agency that was closer to home (not that this even mattered while we were working from home), was offering me a slight pay increase, and gave me the ability to take more control over my work. It ticked every box, really.
But, after 10-ish months in my new role, I knew it just wasn’t for me. We were back at the office, I had realised that my perfectionistic tendencies when it came to processes and creative strategy just didn’t align with the way the agency worked (which is a-okay, I just couldn’t work like that), and I hated being forced to work at a desk between 9-5 every day. So I took the leap into the world of freelancing.
Which was, naturally, the best decision I’ve ever made (other than the decision to marry my husband, and my decision to splurge on fancy goats cheese last week).
I loved that I had this newfound freedom to work from wherever, whenever. I loved that I could pick and choose my clients. I loved the challenge of running my own discovery calls and setting up super organised processes (if you’re an NN client, you’ll know how passionate I am about organisation and processes), and I loved that nobody was forcing me to work between 9-5 in a dark greyscale office, or jump into unnecessary meetings that went for way too long (and weren’t even required in the first place).
Working for myself in those first few months taught me exactly what I wanted from my work life, and exactly what I wanted to avoid forever… or for as long as possible.
Two and a half years later, Naughty Nancy isn’t just silly ol’ me, freelancing and side hustling. It’s a copywriting and social strategy studio (yes, I hate the word ‘agency’, too) composed of 7+ freelance copywriters, myself, and Simi who works on client projects 3 days a week. And she’s a legend, and one of my oldest friends. They say ‘don’t mix business and pleasure’, but it’s different with Simi in the picture. She’s probably the only friend I’ll ever hire (sorry to everyone else), and she’s one of those people who are just amazing with boundaries.
Naughty Nancy operates out of The Commons. Sometimes in South Yarra, and sometimes in Toorak. It really depends on my mood. But our location is a mere formality, because we all work from wherever, whenever as we know creativity can’t just switch itself on and off like a light – you’re either in the mood and headspace to work on creative projects, or you’re not. There’s no in-between. And knowing that I hated micromanagement and being forced to sit at a desk between certain hours of the day? I wanted to ensure I created a business that allowed me the freedom I knew I loved, while providing that same freedom to other creatives, too.
The result? A client portfolio that’s pretty darn impressive for a 2.5 year old studio, and a freelance database of writers and graphic designers who have worked with some of Australia’s biggest brands (like Grill’d, and Frank Body, and Fashion Journal, and Broadsheet, and like, a million others).
I love what I’ve created, and I love where it’s heading.
