The Work
A career built on one consistent capability – going deep enough into any subject, any audience, any brief to write something that actually lands.
I am trained in psychology, a dive instructor by passion, a lodge manager by experience, a journalist by practice, and a writer by nature. I have built a wellness company, managed a dive centre in Mozambique from the ground up, conducted guest relations at a luxury resort in the Philippines, and spent 12 years writing authoritatively across more industries than most writers visit once. The Essence Alchemist work is not a pivot. It is everything I have ever done, finally named correctly.
Strategic Work
Regulated Health Content & Audience Research Wellness technology company – anonymised
A wellness technology company needed a complete content ecosystem built from scratch – across email campaigns, landing pages, sales funnels, onboarding flows, video scripts, and audience-specific category pages. The product range operated in regulated health territory, making every word a potential compliance risk.
Before writing a single line, I studied FDA health claims regulations to understand precisely where the line sat between compelling wellness messaging and an illegal medical claim. Every asset had to persuade without overreaching – a constraint that required as much legal and strategic thinking as it did writing craft.
The most significant work happened before any copy was written. Deep research into patient communities – including extended time in online forums where real people discussed their experiences – revealed something the conventional marketing approach had missed entirely.
Breast cancer patients do not resonate with survivor or warrior language. They were diagnosed. They were told their options. They showed up. They didn’t choose a fight – they were handed one. Messaging built around strength, bravery, and survival felt alien to their actual experience.
This insight reshaped the entire approach to the cancer-specific category pages. Instead of the expected empowerment language, the copy met patients where they actually were – without the fight, without the scars, without the performance of resilience they never asked for.
30+ assets delivered across the full content operation – audience-segmented landing pages for 15 distinct wellness categories, cancer-specific category pages, full email campaign sequences, video scripts, FAQ content, Lead Magnets, White Papers, and website content. All copy FDA-compliant throughout.
Thought Leadership & Executive Positioning Available on request
Strategic positioning, LinkedIn profile development, and ghostwritten thought leadership content for executives and founders. Work includes excavating core narrative, defining key themes, and translating them into consistent, authoritative communication that sounds exactly like the person – because it is.
Engagements available for discussion under NDA.
Published Journalism
Capital Equipment News – Crown Publications 2024 — present
50+ published features interviewing C-suite and senior executives across transport, construction, mining, and industrial sectors. Each feature requires sourcing access to senior decision-makers, preparing strategically relevant questions, conducting live interviews, and translating complex technical and commercial conversations into readable, authoritative journalism – on deadline, every time.
Executives interviewed hold titles including Managing Director, VP Sales, CEO, and Executive Director at companies including Volvo Trucks, Daimler, Tata Motors, John Deere, Scania, Isuzu, and Barloworld.
Selected features:
- Driving Resilience, Delivering Solutions – MD, Volvo Trucks South Africa
- South Africa’s Truck Sector Navigates Cost, Competition, and a Cautious Electric Future
- Volvo EC300 Redefines Excavator Performance in Southern Africa – cover story
- Mafika Engineering is Powering Mining’s Circular Economy
- Inside Barloworld’s World-Class Rebuild Centre
View published work at crown.co.za
Travel, Hospitality & Dive 2013 — present
Travelogues and destination features for Remote Lands – ranked in the top 15 most-read travelogues in 2018. Dive and underwater travel features for Scuba Diver Life. Asia travel and lifestyle features for Zafigo. Outdoor and adventure content for Field Magazine, Go Nomad, and In The Know Traveller.
Written from lived experience – years as a PADI dive instructor across South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Zanzibar, and Mozambique, and time managing a lodge and dive centre in Mozambique.
Wellness & Lifestyle 2013 — present
Wellness, mental health, yoga, and lifestyle content for Yoga Warrior Life, Seeds of Wonder, KB Pure Essentials, H&E Naturist Magazine, and others. Written from practice – informed by a Psychology Honours degree, Hatha yoga teacher training, and the experience of founding Life @ 108, a wellness platform exploring the intersection of mind, body, and intentional living.
Content Operations
SaaS Content – BlooWatch
AI-assisted blog content, editorial refinement, image sourcing and optimisation, HubSpot publishing, accessibility and SEO alt text, and content translation across 5 languages.
Agency & Digital Publishing Investis Digital, Innovation Exchange, and independent clients — 2020–2023
Long-form SEO content across 20+ niches including health, wellness, cybersecurity, veterans affairs, real estate technology, outdoor, solar energy, and caregiving. 200+ articles delivered for US, UK, and global market clients. Research-intensive work requiring rapid subject matter expertise across radically different industries – consistently on brief, on time, and to publication standard.
Creative & Brand Content
Short stories, email campaigns, and web content for consumer brands – demonstrating range across creative, commercial, and brand voice work.
The Through Line
Every piece of work in this portfolio – regardless of topic, format, or industry – required the same core capability: understanding an audience well enough to write something that resonates with them specifically. Not generally. Not adequately. Specifically.
That is the Essence Alchemist at work.
Ready to talk about your project? Get in touch.