Not enough hours in the day? It’s time to get some help!
Hi I’m Zöe Foster a web first copywriter, adept at creating SEO and “click worthy” content.
I find that most clients find it very hard to write their own copy for their business, as they are too close to the project.
I have worked for B2B and B2C companies over the years, plus writing for magazines and PR. I have been privileged to have had the experience of writing blogs for:
I enjoy the mix of projects and place equal emphasis on all, whether they are for corporate companies or small businesses starting up.
Career
My initial career path was as a fashion designer/pattern cutter and I feel this is a good indicator for people to get to know me. I have a highly developed “designer” creative side, but the pattern cutter in me is accurate and methodical. When I start a project I collect all the facts first and then I read and digest before beginning writing.
The move to Graphics marketing & copywriting came about when I became a mum and moved back to Shropshire, where fashion design projects were sparse. I am now in my middle years and continuously expand my knowledge and stay up-to-date with the latest best practices for digital marketing.
A woman of many hats
I have worn many hats in my life, and I have done many things for both work and play - as I’m 55 years young.
My biggest pleasure is living in Shropshire and my motto when I out exploring the hills is “Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam”, which is attributed to Hannibal, and means “find a way or make one”. There are many dead-ends in life but you have to push through as there are so many good things to explore.
I’ve added a few “me” stories as I think you’ll see how I view life - glass half full!
Growing up | 1970’s
Myself and my two brothers were “free-range” kids from a very early age, and realistically we only came home if we had hurt ourselves or were hungry.
Growing up in Shropshire in the 1970’s was idilic as we felt safe to roam where-ever we wanted, which for us, was mostly into Mortimer’s forest on bikes - where we built trails and climbed trees.
The trail riding has continued to this day, and now there are purpose built mountain bikes, which seem a luxury to me, as we took whichever bike was available out of the garage...
By available I mean, which ever bike didn’t have a puncture!
We rode trails on drop handlebar bikes, and I did even venture out once on my mums Shopper. Turns out you can do an “endo” on a Shopper! (It didn’t end well though, and I have the scars to prove it.)
Fashion Design | Age 6
I guess from the above you might well deduce that I was a tom boy, which was probably always going to be the case as I was dressed mainly in my brothers hand-me-downs and we spent hours watching spy or war movies then we reenacted them in the garden.
My mum was a rather victorian lady, and it was an eternal disappointment to her that I wasn’t “girly”. I pointed out many times, that making me wear Nic’s clothes, and then forcing me into a dress a few times a year for a party - did have an impact on my behaviour.
It didn’t help that I always attempted to do something like climb a tree in my dress, and consequently ruined it and I got told off.
The positive influence of mum however, was that she encouraged me to learn sewing and designing clothes at a very young age. She bought me a few toy sewing machines, that were seriously crap, and then when she realised that I was genuinely interested, she let me have the Singer - hand crank machine.
I recon I was about 6 years old when I started using the Singer, and mum really had no idea of the mechanics of the machine, so when it un-threaded or broke I I’d happily look at the handbook diagrams, as there was:
1. No internet in 1973
2. I really wasn’t that great at reading at age 6.
Fashion Design | Motorcycle Wear Design
I started working for motorcycle wear company when GoreTex© had just become mega for outdoor clothing, and they had just decided to create a waterproofs range.
However, they decided to go the cheap route, and use 200 denier polyester for the outer layer as they felt it would be more hard wearing. It wasn’t waterproof though, so they used coated nylon lining as a waterproof membrane.
Did it work?… That’s debatable. We had to put eyelets in the hem otherwise the water pooled inside making the riders look like they had goitre, and the nylon membrane did not have the luxury of breathability - so riders cooked in their own juices!
Although I don’t design as much these days I am a fabric nerd, so can be seen in Outdoor wear shops checking and reading the labels to see the properties.
Clothing Writer | Sports & Outdoor Magazine
I thoroughly enjoyed writing for Sports & Outdoor magazine, as I could bring together my fashion design career and my love of sport. I have written product reviews and articles about innovation in design, my favourite being a Sports Bras article where I was able to access research conducted by Southampton University on the affects of the movement caused by sporting activities on breast tissue.
Fashion Design | Wedding Dresses
My interest in designing has maintained even as my career changed from fashion to graphics. I have “scratched the fashion itch” over the years by designing and making many wedding dresses.
It could not be anymore far removed from motorcycle wear design, which is function driven, but the textures of fabrics and gaining a bespoke fit, plus working with some wonderful clients is very fulfilling.
Having produced many beautiful dresses over the years for many brides, I however, got married in Vegas wearing jeans and a T-shirt with “Bride” printed on it!
Health & Parenting | Live and learn
I am very passionate about health, and healthy eating and use many alternate remedies. My daughter often phones me when she, or her friends have used an ineffective medicine, to ask if there is an alternative remedy. They laugh at me, as I’m considered the “hippy” mum, but she admits that the alternative route has worked many times.
From the moment my daughter was born I have never fed her convenience foods, as most contain too much salt, sugar and preservatives. When she started University and got her first grant/loan she came home, very proudly, with a jar of pasta sauce. She said, “Hey Mum this could be usefully to you to save time”. “Oh wow”, I said, “let’s try it then and see if it’s any good”.
We cooked the sauce and poured it over the pasta and it looked and smelt right. My daughter then tasted it, she said, “it tastes like sugar”!
Bringing her up eating meals made with natural ingredients meant that she had no idea what processed food tasted like. She persevered however, in the first year of University the whole of her year group hit the “take-aways” so hard that they all put on weight and most had stomach issues. She’s now big into cooking, and health eating too.
Sports Massage
I have enjoyed mountain biking for many years, and have endeavoured to keep my body going, rehabbing after accidents using yoga stretches and reiki.
When my daughter left home in 2014 I decided to take a Sports Massage course, as I was fascinated with how the body copes with ailments and recovery.
I particularly liked Anatomy and Physiology, although never understood why we had to learn about reproduction in a sports massage course! I have built up a small practice in Shropshire, and I find it very gratifying that my sports massages, and the chats I have with clients about health, have meant that my clients keep coming back to see me.
Summation
My brain is 50/50, technical/creative and both avenues fuel my interest. My daughters first words were, “what’s that?” and I had great pleasure in explaining so many things to her from the age of two onwards, and I feel she has the same tendency towards creating something amazing and innovative (she’s a graphic designer), because she has understood the history, the technology or the mechanics behind things.
When I design a garment, I’m equally looking forward to cutting a pattern, using all my technical know-how and I can now create graphic design in my head, and write the copy straight into the page so it’s concise as well as visually stimulating.
Copywriting is my happy place now as I get to extrapolate all sorts of amazing facts that are part of the different industries I work for and make them work for blogs, white papers, listicles, etc..
Talk soon