Madeline: Hello,
Gwen Valentino: hello, and welcome to Grant Writing and Funding podcast, a YouTube channel. I'm Gwen Valentino, and I'm a guest host today. We're here today to because we're doing a case study. And today, I'm with Madeline Ward from Madeline Grant Writing. And Madeline joined the Academy ten months ago and has had some pretty great results.
Welcome to the show, and
Madeline: I'm glad you're here. Thanks, Gwen. Happy to be here.
Gwen Valentino: K. We're gonna just jump right into the questions. So, Madeline, tell me, what were you doing before you joined the academy, and why were you interested in joining?
Madeline: Great question. So I was actually in marketing. I studied marketing, and I was doing some freelance web design and marketing work. I have experience in a lot of copywriting and technical writing. But honestly, marketing is very saturated and it's very competitive.
And had I've been doing that for about twelve months and just I was ready for something new. Was ready for a change. So I stumbled upon Holly and yeah, the rest is kind of history.
Gwen Valentino: That's awesome. And was there anything you were on the fence about before joining the academy? And what made you, like, get off the fence?
Madeline: Yes. Because I had no grant writing experience, I was I was nervous. I thought, okay, this has to be for people who have more experience. I had watched a lot of Holly's podcasts and a lot of the people that she had on had previous grant writing experience. So that was something I was worried about.
And I did actually end up emailing someone from the team and Holly was the one that actually responded to me and was like, Hey, it's okay. Some of our people in our academy have no prior experience that's okay. So that definitely was a vote of confidence that not only was Holly the one to directly respond to me, but also that she just made me feel like, okay, there's enough resources in here that you can figure it out even as a total beginner.
Gwen Valentino: That's great. What are some specific results you got from joining?
Madeline: Yes. Well, the big ones are within my first, let's see, five, I think months of joining the academy, I got two retainer clients, which was amazing. And then within my first month with one of those clients, we actually won his first grant. So that was really exciting. And he has like a very small nonprofit.
So this grant run was huge for him and it was huge for me too, right? Like my first win. So that was really exciting.
Gwen Valentino: That's so cool. Since joining, what's changed in your business and in your life because of those results?
Madeline: So much. I will say having consistent monthly recurring revenue from my clients has been such a game changer. I feel like I feel so much more confident not only in myself, but also in my abilities and my service. Previous freelance work that I did in marketing, it was project based, So it was very high stress and I don't feel like I had that comfort of knowing that, okay, I have consistent income. Also because of that, I'm able to deliver consistent results for my clients.
So that's been super nice and definitely, like, give me a ton of confidence as a person and also as a business owner. I know.
Gwen Valentino: It doesn't feel so amazing. Like, I love it so much when you're able to be
Madeline: like, yes, I've got you. It's good. Yes. Yes. It's so nice.
Gwen Valentino: And what are the top one to three features of the program that you found the most helpful?
Madeline: The first thing that comes to mind is the weekly coaching calls. Because as a beginner, I was a little bit overwhelmed with not only the amount of curriculum in the program, but also just like, wow, where do I start? I'm brand new. And going to those calls and being able to ask my own questions and hear from the other beginners in the course was super helpful. And it still is helpful for me now that I am getting clients.
You know, I've with every stage of my business, I've gone into the calls like, okay. I got my first client. Now what do I do? Or like, okay. I am not doing what my sales calls.
What do I do? So that's been really helpful. And then the next thing would probably be the grant reviews from you and coach d. Again, just having that vote of confidence that, okay, this was good to start, but you need to tweak these before you send them to your client. That's really helpful for me every single month that I'm uploading my clients' work to you guys.
So I was like, okay. It's it's coach approved. Like, it's okay. So, yeah, those have been my I'd say my top two most useful features of the program.
Gwen Valentino: That's awesome. I know. I love the coaching call. I love the coaching calls. I love the reviews.
It just gives you that, like, support that, like, yeah, I'm on the right track. Totally.
Madeline: Yes. And also seeing hearing from so many people in the community in different areas or aspects of their business. Right? I'm like, okay. Not only is this, like, proven that it's working, but also I can, hear from other people's experiences and their successes, which is which is great.
So yeah. Love it.
Gwen Valentino: Awesome. And has anything surprised you in the program at all?
Madeline: I would say maybe this isn't program specific, but I am surprised at the amount of work that still goes into like starting this business, right? Like you and Holly and the coaches provide me with so much, but I think it surprised me like, okay, this is still on At the end of the day, it's still on me, you know, like I still I get out what I put in. So I would say that surprised me, but maybe that's not necessarily this program, but
Gwen Valentino: any program. Right? Yeah. Yeah. I would say that's probably pretty like a lateral statement, but, like, you've put in so much work.
I've watched you I've watched you grow from like the very beginning, like ten months ago to where you were like, I don't know if I can do this. You're like, oh my gosh. I could totally do this. You're like, I'm winning grants. I'm winning clients.
I And love then what would you say to somebody who was like you in the same position you were before you joined? Like, what would you say to, like, past you to, like, get you off the fence?
Madeline: I would say, yeah, just just work hard and know that you've got a whole community behind you now that will help you with not only the, I don't wanna say physical challenges, but like your sales challenges and your business challenges, but also like your emotional and your mental challenges, you know? And I think that that's something that's been really powerful for me is when I'm in those valleys and those lows of knowing that my my whole community supports me. So I would say that alone is valuable enough to join the program and and get off the fence about it. Like, just do it. Just jump in.
Gwen Valentino: That's awesome. Okay. And so, Madeline, where can people find you? Are you on LinkedIn? Do you have a website?
Madeline: Yes. Of course. So I have website, madelinegrantwriting.com. I'm also on LinkedIn. My name is Madeline Ward on LinkedIn.
And then I'm also on Instagram at Madeline Grant Writing. So love for you to check me out, book a call, learn more.
Gwen Valentino: That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming into our little ecosystem. And I think
Madeline: that's all I have. Amazing. Thanks, Gwen. I just have to stop the recording. I have to figure out how to stop the recording.