Me, myself and I.
The Write Path is me, Jo Mills. I established The Write Path in 2022 as a contract communications company, helping organisations tell their stories, engage with their consumers and target audiences and, of course, sell their brand. I live, work and write in Wānaka on the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Words have always fascinated me. I have been writing for as long as I could string a sentence together (possibly even longer as my father always reminds me how long it took for me to begin to talk). On take-your-daughter- to-work days, I would sit in my mother’s lab writing pseudo medical briefs. At home, I would pen newspapers, write atrocious poetry and prank friends with letters from celebrities and agents, purportedly eager to work with them. It’s fair to say that the quality of writing has (mercifully) improved and the love of language and its power to persuade and inspire has only grown stronger.
Having finished my degree in English at Oxford University, I entered the wonderful world of wine, working for a small business in London while studying for my wine trade exams. This would lead me to Aotearoa New Zealand where, for fifteen years, I helped grow, make and sell premium wine; my words were my tools and, when needs be, my weapons. Brand collateral, communications and marketing strategies, EDMs, newsletters, web content and market-specific material: I did it all and I loved it!
When our family life prompted me to move away from wine, the urge to write grew ever stronger and I decided to go it alone and, just like that, The Write Path was born.
That’s me then, how about you?
Get in touch, I’d love to talk; it’s what we humans are good at.
The Write Path
While working on The Write Path’s branding, conversations that I had with my wonderful designer helped me understood clearly what it was that I wanted to achieve. I could have done my branding on Canva or any number of online design platforms but it would have lacked the feeling that came with working with an actual human. I would have launched The Write Path without actually knowing what TWP *was*. Having real-time discussions with a fellow human, however, put me on, well, the right path to where I wanted to be and, in turn, this informed how I viewed my new business and how I wanted to work.
Since launching The Write Path, my contracts have been wonderfully varied with local and international clients alike. I have worked as the publicist for an arts festival, responsible for all media communications and releases and fast-turn around, frequent EDMs to the festival database. I have written email response copy for a bespoke catering company, composed blog pieces for travel and regional tourism organisations, created social media strategies for local businesses and events, and written EDMs and web content for luxury lifestyle brands. I work with an amazing communications team at a zero waste social enterprise and I’ve even proofed a dystopian novel of epic proportions. It’s varied work, it’s creative work and it’s exactly what suits me. Being able to communicate with my clients in real-time is vital for me; if it doesn’t feel right, I won’t do it as the connection has to be there. It’s the luxury of being a one-woman show.
Why me?
For a start, I’m fast. I write well and quickly. I’m a parrot: I have a good ear for mimicry and can pick up a brand’s voice easily, as easily as I can create and shape that voice from scratch. Just as I love nothing more than retreating into a gripping book, I love immersing myself in a story, especially when it’s not my own, bringing it to life and seeing the tangible results. Plus, I’m a living, breathing human which, in this day and age, is not something that one can always take as read.
As a one-woman-band, I commit entirely to my clients and know exactly how much time I have to do that, neither over-promising nor under-delivering. Working alone, there’s a consistency to the writing; nothing is being bandied around to anyone else: when you know how I write, you know what you’ll get. I won’t shy from hyperbole when it’s warranted, but I’ll just as readily get straight to the point in clear terms.
So, if this sounds what you’re after, let’s get chatting.