What Has Portland Taught You About Being a Creative Professional?

Amber James is a freelance copywriter and founder of the Copywriter Conclave of Portland, a collaborative organization of writers who share networking opportunities, client leads, and happy hours. She’s lived in Portland since 2008, but is departing for Minneapolis at the end of August.

When she first arrived, she didn’t consider herself a creative professional at all.

“I was still searching for what I wanted to do with my life,” she said. “What the passionate project was—what was the thing that was most interesting to me, and I discovered that here.”

Copywriting can be solitary work. You spend a lot of time communicating with clients, but for freelance writers, finding peers often requires a concerted effort. Amber said that finding these collaborators, with whom to share ideas and information, meant a great deal to her career.

“I can’t imagine having achieved this anywhere else.”

“Portland is teeming with creative professionals of all kinds,” she said, “and I’ve learned that whatever you want to do, or become, you can do it in Portland. You can achieve it in this city.”

Amber was struck by not only the volume of creative professionals that live here, but how many of them have a side project that they’re extremely passionate about. Regardless of that project’s scope, connecting with peers is key to figuring out how to bring these visions to fruition.

Of course, lots of cities foster creative communities like this, but for Amber, Portland has been the perfect incubator for her ideas.

“You can do it all here,” she said. “I can’t imagine having achieved this anywhere else.”

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