Overture
Hey! I’m Grace.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved musicals. The stories, the emotions, the costumes, the sets – they bring me so much joy. I’ve even performed on stage myself many times – don’t miss my photos at the bottom!
I also love learning about the human body, teaching others, and I have an obsessive talent for spotting typos on menus and birthday cards (my family aren’t best pleased by this)! So, when I came across medical writing, it seemed like the perfect fit.
I’d like to tell you about my journey into MedComms, whilst sharing some poignant lyrics from some of my favourite musicals.
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Act 1, Scene 1
Inspired by an amazing teacher, I discovered my love for science in middle school. I marvelled at the creative projects set for homework (my papier mâché ovum was legendary) and opportunities to teach lower school children. Looking back, I can really see my love for engaging education – making difficult, ‘academic’ topics easy to understand and fun to learn!
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Opening Number
I moved to Leeds in 2019 to pursue a degree in Microbiology. Unfortunately, things didn’t exactly go to plan. My dreams of making life-long friends and amazing memories, were pretty shattered when the Covid-19 pandemic decided to rock up in my first year. Quite ironically, a virus was stopping me from studying viruses.
Despite this, being shipped back home gave me the opportunity to start an educational YouTube channel and website, teaching GCSE and A-Level biology. I also landed a remote part-time role as a Student Engagement Intern for my faculty, writing newsletters, running events, and creating social media content.
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Interval
In 2021, I moved to Manchester with my boyfriend for my placement year and jumped into the world of MedComms, working for a healthcare marketing company. Part of their strategic consultancy agency, I created visual slide decks and videos for competitor simulation workshops, championed the team’s LinkedIn content, and worked with high-profile pharmaceutical clients worldwide.
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Reprise
In my final year, I worked part-time supporting the employability team, strategically setting up a ‘linktree’ to house all the resource links, managing social media marketing for events, and providing career support to students. As if that wasn’t enough, I also produced videos showcasing university fellowship projects for the Leeds Institute of Teaching Excellence, joined a street dance class, and attended the ‘Working in and around #MedComms’ conference in London.
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Act 2, Sc 1
In April 2023, a few months before I graduated, I started a full-time role as a medical copywriter at a health-tech start-up. I developed tone of voice, wrote the style guide and content creation process, and championed engaging and accessible educational content for paediatric patients, caregivers, families, and healthcare professionals.
By this point, through my various ventures, I had learnt a lot about employability and built up a solid network, so I set up my own organisation called ‘Write in the Loop‘. My mission was to support other young people looking to get into MedComms through a writing club and free resources, and following hundreds of sign-ups and appearances on podcasts, I returned to the ‘Working in and around #MedComms’ conference…this time as a panel member!
Longing for more green space and countryside walks, me and my boyfriend moved out of our city centre flat and bought our first house in Cheshire. Luckily, I was able to find a new local dance school, doing contemporary and FitSteps!
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Finale
At the beginning of 2025, the start-up I’d been working for unfortunately had to make some roles redundant to fit their new strategy, and this sadly included mine. Whilst unexpected and upsetting, as redundancies often are, I had learnt so much and it felt like the right time to move on. It really felt like a ‘when one door closes, another one opens’ kind of moment, and even though the uncertainty was scary, it felt like an exciting opportunity to try something new.
Alongside my pursuit to find a new role, which I shared about on LinkedIn, I was lucky enough to have a few people reach out to me asking if I was interested in supporting their organisations as a freelancer, including Kelly from RubyDuke. I set up my own business and started working on exciting materials and content. In the meantime, I was still applying for full-time positions and networking to keep my options open. I can’t lie – it was a very busy time and definitely an emotional rollercoaster ride.
A few weeks after I started freelancing for RubyDuke, they asked if I’d be interested in a full-time creative medical copywriter role in their Brand Comms Hub. I had loved working with the team as a freelancer; there was such a positive, warm, and down-to-earth culture, and I had already learnt so much from helpful and supportive feedback. It really felt like the right move to make and after completing a writing test, interview, and chat with the wider team, I found out that I’d got the job! I was over the moon and it was really crazy to see how the dots had joined up!
Since joining RubyDuke, I have performed in a dance show – my first time back on stage for 10 years – and we’ve also got a golden retriever puppy, called Timmy!
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Curtain Call
So, if you’re ever in a difficult position where something hasn’t quite gone your way, I’d encourage you to take the opportunity to learn from this and try something new. Don’t be afraid to feel your feelings too – we’re only human! Put yourself out there, let the musicals’ music move you, and things may just work out even better than before.
