Hiya. Welcome to Hurdling.
Hello hello. This is the newsletter that looks at how we manage to get over the things that stand in our way. These hurdles might be found in work, love, friendship, families, life admin, bad luck, good luck, self-inflicted self-sabotage, in people who choose to be dickheads or just in the small moments of simply trying to get by (like when you're hungover and they’ve run out of salt & vinegar hula hoops at the corner shop, ffs).
I started this newsletter back in 2022 because I got so tired of hearing people’s success stories, where they only really talked about what happened after they cleared their hurdles – glossing over the blood, sweat and tears that actually got them over the hurdle in the first place. As a chronic overthinking and oversharer, I wanted to create a space where I could take a good look at, (and even celebrate) the hurdles that so many of us face in all corners of our lives – plus share my own, too.
This is a place to peek behind the scenes of the highlights reel we all produce for our lives. It’s a place to reflect on the messy bits, the things gone wrong, the lessons we’ve learned and share real stories, honest thoughts and unfiltered reflections.
I hope it becomes a place that can help you to navigate through the tough, and feel better equipped, less alone and ready for what comes next. You’re free to share your own personal hurdles, stories, thoughts, confessions, hopes, dreams, feelings, realisations, frustrations in the comments sections – or anything else you need to get out.
So welcome to Hurdling, hurdler. I hope you stick around.
So, how does it all work around here?
What a great question. Lucky for you, I have three great answers.
IF YOU’RE A FREE SUBSCRIBER
This means you get things for free. Isn’t that nice? You can expect regular(ish) doses of:
ESSAYS: honest thoughts and unfiltered reflections on the things I’m interested in and curious about, that all revolve around getting over life's various hurdles – big and small. Some of these things are serious. Many of them are not.
VIBE CHECKS: a dose of joy and motivation to get you through the week, with quick roundups of good things to read, listen to, watch or shop – plus a snapshot of all the things I’m saving and enjoying on the internet.
INTERVIEWS: real stories from real people with confessions of things gone wrong, with emphasis on the messy bits and lessons learned along the way.
You’ll also get free previews to anything else that’s just for paid subscribers, too.
IF YOU’RE A PAID SUBSCRIBER (£5 a month, or £50 a year)
If you’re a paid subscriber, you essentially make this newsletter possible (so thank you so much if that’s you!). All the writing that shows up on this newsletter takes place outside of my day job, in pockets of time that I steal from other things and people. By paying for it, you’ll probably feel really good about yourself for supporting independent writing. But if that’s not enough, you’ll also get access to my more personal essays, the interviews that live behind the paywall, the full archive, plus:
ESSAYS (the more personal ones): more oversharing on the personal hurdles I’m facing at any given time.
FRANTICALLY ASKED QUESTIONS: a sort of ask me anything / advice column, with answers to frequently and frantically asked questions on work, life and anything else you fancy asking about. You just need to reply to the previous column with your question, and I’ll try my best to answer it.
OUT OF OFFICE: travel guides and inspiration for your annual leave, from weekend breaks and big road trips to local pub recommendations. This includes my full, meticulously researched and annotated Google Maps lists, too.
WRITING CLUB: thoughts and advice on all things writing, creativity, advertising, careers and the world of brands.
WRITING CLUB EVENTS: access to Writing Club Events, both online & IRL, to help you get over your own writing hurdles. Plus access to the subscriber-only chat, too.
As a paying member, you’ll also get access to the full archive of posts, live (or online) events, Q+As, competitions + giveaways and probably some other future things I just haven’t thought of yet. It’s £5 a month, which is a lot less than a small glass of house wine at most London pubs, but enough to go towards supporting this newsletter and keeping my writing (and motivation) alive.
IF YOU’RE A FOUNDING SUBSCRIBER (£80 a year)
If you’re a founding subscriber, you essentially make this newsletter even more possible. And as such, you’re able to interact with it on a more personal level. You’ll get all the benefits of being a paid subscriber, but you’ll also get the option to get an hour of my time to ask me anything you like. It could be about writing, advertising, moving abroad, negotiating a pay rise, travelling, planning a wedding, the perfect crisp sandwich recipe, mentoring – anything you like.
You’ll also have my undying gratitude and appreciation, too.
Who is Emily Ash Powell, anyway? (Ew.)
Emily Ash Powell is a Welsh writer who finds it a lot easier to write bios like this one in third person. By day, she is the Global Head of Copy & Editorial at Bumble, where she looks after all the writers and their words. By later in the day, she is the author of this newsletter and a writer for places like Refinery29, Huffpost, Stylist, Cosmopolitan, the iPaper, Metro, Campaign Magazine and more, on the topics of work, love, women, dogs and life.
As a creative lead, copywriter and brand consultant, Emily has worked with some of the UK's fastest-growing DTC startups and scaleups. She loves the ones with big missions and great personalities – especially if they're subscription. Emily has told stories and shaped brands for people who change the world of relationships (Bumble), chocolate (Tony's Chocolonely), pet food (tails.com), flowers (Freddie's Flowers) and skincare (Skin + Me). In 2022, she won the Women In Marketing Highly Commended Copywriting award for her tone of voice work for Skin + Me.
Emily also likes big brands (and she cannot lie). She’s written words and had ideas for brilliant brands like IKEA, Virgin Voyages, Disney, John Lewis, Marvel, Virgin Holidays, ASDA, P&G, Bacardi, Volkswagen and more.
In 2020, Emily was named as a Pitch Superwoman – among 99 others who spend their days championing creativity and diversity across the creative industries, making it a place that as many people want to, and are able to, work in. In 2022, she was named as Campaign Magazine’s Future Leaders ‘One To Watch’. She cares deeply about company culture, and believes that the best brands are the ones that truly live and breathe the values that they project out into the world.
Emily is a mentor, an awards judge, a speaker and a certified yapper. If you want to chat to her or pick her brain, you can do so by becoming a Founding Member.
