Meet Jeffrey Wade Wright | Entrepreneur & Marketer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeffrey Wade Wright and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeffrey Wade, other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?
It’s tough to say, but I would have to say that it was the decision to take a leap of faith. I think so many people are so scared to fail that they freak out and kind of give up on their dreams. Breaking that sense of perfectionism is hard and it took a global pandemic for me to actually do that. I watched my best-laid plans fall apart and had to pick myself up and say “Ok, but what now?” Giving up is easy. But making the decision to do what you love and to unconditionally commit yourself to the people around you… that’s hard. It takes a certain type of bravery and craziness, I think. But if you take that leap and stop caring about making everything “perfect” you’ll start to see opportunities everywhere.

What should our readers know about your business?
2020 really pressed on me just how important it is to be there for people. The work that I’ve done with nonprofit organizations has prompted me to rebuild my entire focus around that. There’s something awesome about seeing these kinds of organizations start to actually get the kind of donations and funding that they need to do some real good in the world. That’s why I’ve branded my business Copy By Candlelight. We all need some help seeing in these times and one candle can easily light a thousand more. If my writing is able to make that kind of difference in their organization’s mission, I consider it an honor to help. The road to where I am now was not easy by any stretch. I “officially” started in November of 2019 and could never have expected the coronavirus pandemic or just how much it would affect. 2020 has been a year of learning to adapt and to band together (in a socially-distant way) with our respective tribes. I think that the best part of my story is yet to be told. 2020 was all about taking that leap and trusting that keeping one’s heart in the right place will lead to success. So far, that’s been nothing but true. I think Copy By Candlelight is going into 2021 with the ability to really help make a difference in our city, country, and world.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d definitely have to take them to take in some of Houston’s Art. Museum of Fine Arts, The Menil Collection, and the Rothko Chapel are definite musts. Of course, I couldn’t forget taking a tour of St. Arnold’s brewery! Houston’s nightlife is one of my favorite things about the city. I have a deep love for dancing to 80’s hits at Classic Numbers, but we would also have to hit up Montrose favorites like JR’s or Michael’s Outpost. I’ve recently found myself with a bit of an addiction Katz’s Deli, so that’s high on the list for restaurants to visit. I couldn’t let my friend leave Houston without also trying Nancy’s Hustle or Pizaro’s Pizza.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Where do I begin? The friends who bought my first book? My first client, Mike Decker from Decker’s Carpet Cleaning? The mentorship and support that I’ve received from SO MANY friends? If I had to choose only one person, it would be Monica. I had just gotten let go from an IT job (that I realized I hated) and was desperately looking for work. She ended up hiring me when I mentioned that I enjoy writing in my spare time. That day, I started doing technical writing for her company and a few marketing odds and ends. I’ll never forget a conversation we had nearly a year later. She asked what I actually want to do in my career. I told her that I just really want to start learning some kind of skill. She laughed a little bit and said “you’re a writer.” Before that, I didn’t even think of writing as a skill. She did a lot to keep me motivated in those early days of learning to trust my own abilities. Before I knew it, I was doing writing for all kinds of awesome organizations like nonprofits and even writing the majority of the fundraising copy for a 2020 Presidential campaign. If I had to pick just one person, it would HAVE to be Monica for giving me the courage to take this wonderful, crazy journey.

Website: copybycandlelight.com
Instagram: @thejwwright
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreywwright/

Image Credits
Photo Credits (all photos with the white background) are T.C. Anderson