Lauren Carter: The Plain English Nerd

Who I am

Oh hey there! My name’s Lauren Carter, and I live in regional Victoria with my beautiful husband, son, and cattle dog. I’m a total language and linguistics nerd who gets annoyed when I read something that’s overly convoluted and difficult to understand. Coincidentally, I’ve got a knack for turning complex ideas into simple terms that anyone can understand (okay, by “knack” I mean I studied linguistics at uni for three years, so I know the ins and outs of grammar and linguistic theory).

In my spare time, I enjoy listening to podcasts, playing board games, lifting weights at the gym, and spending time playing with (and feeding!) my newborn son.

What I do

I help small business owners in regional Australia communicate better with their customers, employees, and contractors. This translates into more money coming into their business and more time to spend doing what they love (or working more in their business — whatever floats your boat!).

I get these results by writing blog posts, website copy, marketing material, documentation, how-to guides, and other texts in plain English.

Who I help

There are three types of people I help:

I help small business owners in regional Australia who are stuck trying to write their own content but have no idea what they’re doing. You know you need a website and a blog, but you’re completely winging it and failing at bringing in more clients. To top it off, you’re also wasting a tonne of time in the process.

I help small business owners in regional Australia who are awesome at writing their own content, but just can’t find the time to sit down and actually do it. If you’re being honest, you’d rather be working with clients providing your service than typing away on your keyboard for hours on end.

I help small business owners in regional Australia who have outsourced tasks to contractors, but they keep mucking things up and you don’t have time to hold their hand while they work it out. You thought you’d save a bunch of time hiring someone else, but it’s been a nightmare! What’s actually happening is that you don’t have clear instructions written out, but you don’t have time to churn out some how-to guides to fix the situation.

My philosophy

I believe in five core values:

Family comes first.
Peanut butter comes second.
The Oxford comma exists for a reason. Use it.
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
Just because there’s a specific word for something doesn’t mean you should use it, especially if your audience doesn’t know it. People like simplicity, not show offs.

Fun facts about me

I speak Mandarin and did a student exchange at a Chinese university for 2 months.
I can solve a Rubik’s cube in under two minutes.
I’m really good at cooking coconut rice (ask me for the recipe — it’s super simple).
I taught myself how to juggle from reading a library book when I was 12 (and I’m surprised how well I can still do it after not practicing in years!).
I got really good at playing Rummikub and started winning 90% of the games I played, so everyone stopped playing with me and I haven’t played in years (#sorelosers).

Think I’m cool quirky enough to work with?

If you wanna work together, just fill out my contact form. I’ll respond to you as soon as I can.