#BEYOUROWN MEETS DIANA MARTINEZ

Meet Diana Martinez, founder and lead writer at intentional and intimate copywriting studio Required Reading, who develop brand voices and write copy to give your business the distinction it deserves.

When it comes to brand messaging, Diana’s keen eye for brevity, tone and reverence whilst putting purpose at the forefront of her work is her direct approach that delivers an impressive clear result that makes a real connection with your audience.

Before starting Required Reading, Diana worked as an advertising copywriter, working with local, regional and national brands to create human-centric campaigns, website copy, video and radio scripts that spanned the real and online world. We chat to the wannabe minimalist, on her interest in crafting a life that blends work, faith, community, culture, relationships, and art with balance and focus.

Great to have you, Diana, can you introduce yourself to us as the founder of Required Reading?

Thanks for having me! I’m the founder and writer of Required Reading, where I work with brand designers to create distinct brand voices and copywriting for their clients.

As a trained journalist and lover of creative writing, can you tell us about where you studied and what you studied that propelled your writing success and career?

I graduated from Arizona State University, and am an Arizona native. My time there at the journalism school was great, it was back in in the early 2010s, when Twitter was king and Instagram was just barely starting to gain some traction. It was such a different world, media-wise, but it shaped my style as a writer to tell human truths, ask the right questions, and learn how to write clean and brief.

Can you tell us about your writing style and tone of you as the author?

It definitely depends on the medium. As a copywriter, I like to keep things refined, clean, and clear while taking on the proposed brand personality and voice for my clients. It’s kind of like acting. I create these characters and write through their voices.

For non-fiction writing, which I don’t do professionally, just for fun, I think I’m more serious. Extremely self-reflective and observant.

Who is the most influential female powerhouse that you admire and why?

I will say that I admire and am constantly inspired by so many women and women of colour out in the entrepreneurial space who work for themselves and see their online businesses flourish. It’s all done with our passions, our minds, and our computers. And I’d say that’s pretty powerful given that we have long been quieted in not just the professional world, but in the entrepreneurial world as well.

What support networks/channels do you personally love and can recommend to other aspiring female writers out there to become part of?

Though I’m not an avid user, I think small and intentional Facebook groups can be helpful! Anytime and anywhere you can get around a group of women with a common interest, dive in. It’s often hard to find niche groups for writing, so I’d say join groups with just a bigger circle of focus. For example I’m mostly working with designers, so I tend to join groups focused around branding and web design/business owners.

How are you working on your own personal development?

I think learning how to rest and take care of myself has been a constant struggle. But that kind of diligent self-care will help me develop in the ways I want to in my business. Courses, personal projects, and reading all the resources I can to be a better writer and business owner also help.

The best lesson learnt throughout building Required Reading?

Mistakes will happen, and the only way to learn and improve is to just simply DO. When I started forming the ideas for this business in a coffee shop two years ago, I had no idea the clients I’d eventually end up working with, or how I would learn how to run this thing. But you learn by doing, so that’s been a huge lesson for me.

In which areas are you looking to grow and expand Required Reading within the next 3-5 years?

I’d say first things first are implementing some more systems to keep things organized and project expectations in place. That’s more so for my own sanity and process, but it’s proven to be pretty crucial. After that, I plan on working on some resources such as guides, how-to’s, and checklists.

I’ve thought about doing an online course, a line of paper goods, or even a podcast as well, but those would be far down the line. Who knows! I’ve learned to remind myself that anything is possible.