In a previous post titled 2021: A Team Exercise in Flexibility, we teased that Scriptorium made a big change in late 2021. We are happy to share that we’ve welcomed another writer to our team, Felicia Mason! We wanted you to get to know Felicia and why we think she is a valuable addition to Scriptorium.
My journey toward my current writing career has been a long and winding one. But most importantly, it’s been a testament to goal setting, asking for what you want, and making yourself open and available to change – something I know we all struggle with.
When I entered university as a mature student, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I had been out of school for 5 years and the thought of jumping into a bachelor’s degree was overwhelming and intimidating (hello imposter syndrome!). I knew I wanted to find something that would give me purpose, a good income, flexibility, and the possibility of remote work. At that time, I had heard of people working remotely, but it wasn’t clear what I needed to study. Frankly, remote work was somewhat of a ‘unicorn’ ideal at that time, but I knew I wanted it. So, I decided to study professional communications. I had always enjoyed journaling and creative writing and I really hate math. To me, it seemed like a good choice that might give me an opportunity to work remotely. Luckily, that chance paid off and I absolutely fell in love with post-secondary education, the field of communications, and everything it entails.
Fast forward to the final years of my undergraduate degree at MacEwan University where I ended up taking a technical communications class taught by Scriptorium’s own Annette Wierstra. I enjoyed that class so much that I immediately signed up for every tech comm class I could. Unfortunately, tech comm isn’t always the most popular and I was unable to take them, but that class really impacted me, and I kept thinking about tech comm.
At the end of my degree, I was thinking about a career in public service and the job security it would provide. I attended a Government of Alberta career fair. I talked to so many people, asked lots of questions, and received invaluable resume feedback. I believe asking people ‘What do I need to do to get a job here?’ was what secured my interview and eventually my position as a communications advisor for Justice and Solicitor General. This was a job that I had included on my goal board years prior. I enjoyed my time in the public service, and it gave me the opportunity to discover my love and talent for web writing, working with Subject Matter Experts, and translating complex processes into information maps and plain language for a variety of audiences (skills that we use in technical writing daily!).
From there, I became a freelance web writer and then a first-time mom in 2019, six months before the world went crazy with the COVID-19 pandemic. So, I took a career pause, joined a professional moms group, and started making plans for my re-entry into the career field. I decided I wanted to work in technical communications and would take my master’s degree online if I couldn’t secure a job right away. Then in the fall of 2021, I reached out to Annette through LinkedIn. It had been nearly six years since I was her student and I wasn’t sure if she would remember me, but she was the only person I knew working in tech comm; so, I pushed myself to get over my nervousness and reach out. Thank goodness she remembered me! We had a great chat and she welcomed me into her tech comm world and wanted to introduce me to her coworkers. I thought she was doing this to be kind and help me feel confident as I worked towards my master's, but the Scriptorium team was secretly interviewing me!
Needless to say, I was beyond excited when they asked me if I wanted to join their team. Before Scriptorium was on my radar, I knew that I wanted to work for a company that: valued remote work so I could lessen my carbon footprint; prioritized a work-life balance; embodied gender equality and workplace diversity; and encouraged personal development, reflection, and growth.
I am so fortunate that I’ve found all of those qualities here at Scriptorium and I look forward to making meaningful contributions to the team and growing my technical communications expertise through continued work and education.
I’d like to end with this piece of advice: don’t be afraid to network and push yourself out of your comfort zone. Ask everyone questions (no one is actually gatekeeping). Take the advice that best serves your goals and communicate what your goals are to everyone when you reach out; you never know who might be able to help you achieve them.
Learn more about Felicia and the rest of the team on our About Us page.
Growing our team increases our capacity for our clients. We believe that each of our writers brings an important set of skills that work together to make us a diverse and capable team. This gives us the flexibility to support a variety of projects by assigning the right writer or team to support your project needs. Contact us to book one of our team members to work with you on your writing and instructional projects.
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