When did you start your business?
I've been writing my whole life, but was first published by my then-local newspaper at the age of 16 in 2011. At 19, I began professionally freelancing as a journalist, and jumped into my copywriting full-time in July 2021 at the age of 27. Since then, my business has expanded into speaking, as well as lived experience advocacy and disability consultancy.

What was the inspiration behind your work/business?
I’ve always loved words—and I believe in the power of storytelling for creating change. I began freelancing as a journalist because I wanted to share stories that mattered: particularly perspectives that aren’t often heard. When I began developing chronic pain and chronic illness conditions, disability became one of my biggest passions: because the disabled community is the world’s largest minority group, and yet we are rarely thought of and included. As a journalist, copywriter, editor, author, speaker, lived experience advisor and disability advocate, my work is often varied. But at the end of the day, all I want to do is make a difference. I want to smash stigma, create change and help others going through the same thing to know they aren’t alone—and support businesses and organisations doing important work in the disability and mental health space. Words can change the world: or at least, someone's world. I want to be a part of that.

What are you most excited about in your work/business?
I am excited about the variety of work I get to do! While a lot of my work is based around disability, LGBTQIA+, health and mental health, I work with a lot of other industries too—and I enjoy learning about them. In terms of the type of work that I do, I love that one day I might be doing a keynote speech at a conference, and the next I’m writing a blog for a disability organisation—or helping a business write an engaging, SEO-friendly website. I also write and edit reports, brochures, product descriptions, award applications, social media posts, video scripts and more. Literally anything with words. It's led to a lot of cool opportunities, especially now my platform is growing. I'm excited to see where it goes! I’ve also started dabbling in TV, media advocacy, and presenting workshops, as well as poetry and book writing. I'm grateful my business gives me the space to explore both advocacy and my creativity--especially when it's such an exciting time because more people are becoming aware of the importance of disabled representation and genuine lived experience. It's really great to know our voices are creating change. I hope our work makes it easier for the next generation, particularly people who have multiple marginalised identities.

What has been the most challenging thing about starting your work/business?
Working with chronic pain, chronic fatigue, chronic illness, mental illness and autism can be pretty tricky. I'm always in pain. I'm always tired. And I have significantly less energy than non-disabled people without energy impairments. I'm incredibly ambitious, but I often don't have the capacity to work. Some days, I'm lucky if I can feed myself, let alone work. It can be really frustrating, especially when I know my work can make a difference. It means I often prioritise my work over everything: and even then, I can generally only manage a few hours of work a week. It makes running a business rather difficult, especially with the cost of my healthcare and the increased cost of living. I'm definitely grateful to my wonderful clients who are understanding and value my work, even if I don't have the ability to work as much as I did before I developed many of my disabilities.

What advice would you give to other women thinking about starting a work/business?
Prioritise your health. I never thought I'd develop an incurable nerve disorder in my early 20s; but I did. It's shown me how fragile our health is. You can become disabled at any moment, so it's important to look after yourself. Rest. Pace. Make time for you, and listen to your body. Don't run yourself into the ground for the sake of success--because there is a good chance it can cost you your health.

Why did you enter the Women Changing the World Awards?
I have a lot of imposter syndrome, but I entered the awards because there is a significant lack of disabled representation in the business space: and I wanted to raise awareness of the issues that face the disabled community, in general, as well in the business space.

What did you enjoy the most about being part of the awards?
Winning multiple awards? Haha. Just kidding. I mean, that was great and super affirming, but I think there is a lot of value in taking the time to stop and reflect on your work and the impact it has. We all make a difference in our own ways, but we often get caught up in the hustle, jumping from one thing to the next, without considering the good we've done. Since I often struggle with depression and rejection sensitivity, it's been an important thing for me to take a closer look at the impact of my work.

What surprised you most about the awards?
It honestly surprised me that I won! I certainly didn't expect it.

How did the awards help you in your work/business?
Awards are great for showing your clients and audience the value of your work. It also introduced new audiences to my work, which is good! I'm hoping it will lead to further opportunities--and a general awareness of disability and the importance of accessibility.

What advice would you give to other women thinking about entering the awards?
Don't discount the value of your work. We all get imposter syndrome and think we aren't good enough. But you can't win if you don't enter. Give it a go--you might surprise yourself! At the very least, it will feel good to take the time to look through all your achievements. You've probably done more than you realise.
Remember to show examples and facts to back up your claims! Quotes from clients and testimonials can also be a handy tool.
It's also okay if you don't feel confident writing it yourself. It can be so hard to write about yourself, especially in a positive way. It's okay to hire a copywriter or an editor to help you. I'd be happy to help if you'd like a hand! I won my awards, so I can't be too bad haha.

What has been the best thing about starting your own work/business?
It's allowed me to expand my career so much more than if I'd stayed working for someone else--and it's given me the flexibility to be able to prioritise my health and attend medical appointments, and take as much rest as I need, which is significantly more than non-disabled people. I love how I've grown with my business. It feels like a great privilege to be running a business at 28--and to have people lining up to work with me. I'm so glad I took the leap, and backed myself. Even if it's hard and stressful, it's been an amazing journey and I've learned so much. It's also been awesome working with so many amazing businesses, organisations and people.

What’s happening next in your work/business?
I'm looking forward to working with more organisations to create content, especially in the disability space, as well as getting more speaking, media and advocacy opportunities. It would be really cool to eventually expand into other creative areas, like TV writing and writing for video games.

What are your big plans for the future?
Part of me isn't always sure I will be around for the future, because the truth is: in Australia the average life expectancy for autistic people is 35. And I'm not that far from that. Autistic people are nine times more likely to take our lives. And as someone who also has complex mental illnesses and other disabilities, things are more complicated. I don't take the future for granted. I am grateful for everything I have been able to do. I hope I am able to get more opportunities in the writing, speaking and advocacy space--and help others get more opportunities, too: especially people who are multiply marginalised.
My dream would be to be able to publish books someday and be in the media more. Writing for TV, movies and games would also be really cool!
I just want to know my work helps people; that because I have lived, someone else has breathed easier.

How can we connect with you?

My website is www.zoesimmons.com.au, and you can find me on pretty much all social media sites at @SomethingBeginningWithZ or @ItBeginsWithZ. But here are my links! I'd love to connect with more people, and certainly appreciate the support. https://www.facebook.com/ZoeSimmonsJournalist
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/zoe-simmons-7119a994
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ItbeginswithZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somethingbeginningwithz/?hl=en
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@somethingbeginningwithz