Today we’d like to introduce you to Anne McAuley Lopez.
Hi Anne, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My entrepreneurial journey started the way a lot of people’s do: not by design, but by disruption. In 2010, I was laid off from my corporate job, and instead of looking for another position that would put me right back in the same situation, I decided to bet on myself. I had always been a writer at heart, and I figured there were businesses and leaders out there who needed the words but didn’t have the time or the inclination to write them. That hunch turned into Agency Content Writer.
What started in 2010 as social media posts and blogging from my home office in Mesa, Arizona, has evolved into ghostwriting, book coaching, and a blog-to-book program currently in development — all from my office in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has been quite the journey, professionally and personally. While I still love to blog, I discovered somewhere along the way that my real passion is helping women tell their stories of going through the hard stuff and coming out on the other side. That realization led me to combine my two loves, and I’ll soon launch a blog-to-book program designed specifically for mid-career professional women ready to turn their lived experiences into books that inspire others.
One of the threads that runs through everything I do is authenticity. I’m deliberate about the fact that the content I create for clients is human-crafted. In an era when AI-generated content is everywhere, I believe there’s real power in words that carry someone’s actual voice and lived experience. That’s not just my brand positioning; it’s a conviction I’ve built a business around.
Along the way, I’ve had some experiences that shaped the work in unexpected ways. I authored a book about my own health journey, became an award-winning Toastmaster, and have had the privilege of speaking for organizations such as Blood Cancer United, formerly the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The writing work and the storytelling work have always been connected for me.
Today, my favorite part of my work is still sitting down with a client who has something important to say and helping them say it in a way that sounds like them, only clearer, more confident, and ready for the world to read.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth? Not exactly. The bumps in the road made me a better writer and a more grounded one. The most significant turning point came in July 2016, four months after getting married. I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), a blood cancer. To say it rocked my world is an understatement.
I was newly married, running a business I had built from scratch, and suddenly navigating a diagnosis that changed everything about how I thought about time, purpose, and the stories we leave behind. That experience lit a fire in me around blood cancer awareness, and I’ve been raising my voice about research and treatment advancements ever since.
Today, I speak at Blood Cancer United events, and that work is meaningful to me because I get to tell my story and, more importantly, spread the word that the work being done helps not only blood cancer patients but all cancer patients. Blood Cancer United doesn’t keep its research in a silo, and that is one of the things I love most about the organization. That journey also led me to write We Don’t Get to Ring the Bell, a book born out of my own experience with CML. It was one of the most personal things I’ve ever written, and one of the most important.
Then came 2022. My husband Eddie and I packed up our lives in Arizona and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.
People assume that running a digital business means you can move anywhere without missing a beat. And technically, that’s true. In reality, relocating across the country while keeping clients happy, maintaining momentum, and building a new life in a new city was a lot to carry all at once. It took real intention to rebuild my rhythm and re-establish my footing, but Charlotte has been worth every bit of the adjustment.
The road has had some serious bumps. I’m grateful for all of them.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in ghostwriting, book coaching, and a blog-to-book program currently in development, with a focus on serving mid-career professional women who have a story worth telling but aren’t sure how to tell it. My clients are writers and nonwriters alike, and my job is to support them through the process of getting their stories out of their heads and onto the page.
I’ve been doing this work since 2010, and one thing that has stayed consistent is my belief that the writing has to sound like the person, not like a template. That matters more now than ever. I use AI ethically as a content creator — to generate ideas, build outlines, and spark inspiration — but the writing is still human, and so are the stories. That’s a line I don’t cross, and my clients know it.
As for what I’m most proud of — honestly, it’s the relationships. The clients who come back. The women who finally finish the book they’ve been sitting on for years. The moments when someone reads what I’ve written for them and says, “That sounds exactly like me.” Those moments never get old.
What sets me apart? Nearly 16 years of experience, my own journey as a published author, and a genuine love for this work that shows up in every project. Also, if you’ve ever been in the same room with me, you’ve probably heard my laugh before you saw my face. I’ve been told it’s loud and infectious, and I’ve decided to take that as a compliment.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Many people deserve credit, and I don’t take that lightly.
My husband Eddie is my biggest cheerleader. He supports my writing, my events, my projects, and most of my crazy ideas without hesitation. I genuinely could not do this without him. And then there’s Stanley, our dog and the world’s worst intern. He has never once met a deadline, but I could never fire him.
My former boss, Heather Parker of The Parker Law Office in Mesa, Arizona deserves a special mention. Working for Heather as her firm grew gave me the opportunity to let my project and office management skills shine. More than that, it taught me the value of focus, networking, and relationship building, and the importance of having processes and procedures in place — even as a one-person show. Those lessons have stayed with me every single day of running my own business.
Christine Leninger of LUPI Docs came into my life as my editor and book coach when I was writing We Don’t Get to Ring the Bell. We had so much fun working together that we decided to become collaborators, and now we work with clients together to help them tell their stories. She is the kind of creative partner you don’t take for granted.
To the writing groups, fellow writers, authors, and clients who have shown up, cheered me on, and trusted me with their stories — I couldn’t do this without you.
Pricing:
- Book Coaching and Ghostwriting Projects start at $8,000
- Blog-to-Book Program is in development
Contact Info:
- Website: https://agencycontentwriter.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agencycontentwriter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/agencycontentwriter
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcauleylopez/
