My Story

I’m a freelance writer from West Sussex and I love working with brands that are doing good in the world. Whether you run a small sustainable business with a focus on protecting the planet, or you’ve founded a charity making an impact on the most vulnerable in the community, I want to help you tell your story.

Woman working on a laptop at a coffee shop
Bex Bastable News Graphic

Storytelling in Sussex

There’s nothing I love more than a good natter, which came in handy during my 11-year career as a newspaper editor and journalist. I worked on news brands across Sussex including my hometown paper the Chichester Observer and its website SussexWorld. One of the things I loved most about the job was talking to people – interviewing 100-year-olds on their birthdays and hearing about their lives was just fascinating. Connecting with people and asking the right questions is so important when crafting meaningful, authentic content.

Everyone has a story to tell and a reason they are driven to do the work they do, and it’s my job to tease that out to help you create compelling and authentic copy that resonates with your audience.

People are at the heart of my work. I love writing human interest stories with people at the heart of them. Everyone has a story to tell and I believe these stories can help others resonate with your organisation through case studies and carefully-crafted features.

Media partnerships

In my local news career, I spent two years as commercial editor for Sussex, which gave me valuable experience in sales and brand partnerships. I worked with dozens of organisations on boosting their brands in the local area, through sponsored content, print and digital adverts and organic press, by identifying great news stories and human-interest features.

If a media partnership is something your brand is looking to explore but you don’t know where to start, I’d be happy to talk through some ideas with you and help you craft a proposal that will enhance your visibility.

Helping women to be heard

Speaking of visibility, elevating women’s voices is something I’m passionate about which is why I co-founded a website called The Women’s Work Collective. The site is founded on the premise that “you can’t be what you can’t see”, so we share inspiring career and business stories across many different industries including STEM, trades, the media and many more, to show women and girls that they belong in these fields.

We speak to women about how they got into their jobs, what attracted them to their particular industry, some of the challenges and their advice for those wanting to follow in their footsteps. We’ve spoken to scientists, firefighters, plumbers, detectives, engineers, footballers, barristers, the list goes on. And nearly all of these women share one thing in common – they’ve all overcome imposter syndrome to make their dreams a reality.

My co-founder Charlotte and I hope that the more stories we share, the more visible women will become in these industries, and those coming up into the workplace will feel confidence and a sense that they deserve to be there.

Woman on the beach looking at the sea

Championing those most in need

Doing meaningful work is important to me, and that’s why I help the Journalism Diversity Fund to shortlist candidates from minority and marginalised backgrounds to get their courses funded. I also love spending time each year as a judge for the Hall & Woodhouse Community Chest, which hands out funds to worthy causes in the South.

Seeing the wonderful work of local charities and the impact they have on people’s lives is what made me want to work with purposeful and sustainable organisations. If I’ve got a choice on who I want to work with – you bet it’s those who are working to protect people and the planet.

The best job of all

As well as all of the above, I’m a mum of two brilliant boys, which is the most important job of all. The reason I’ve gone freelance, apart from the wonderful freedom to choose who I work with, is so I can spend as much time as possible with my little ones while they’re still small and want to spend time with me!

Newsletter and Media Graphic

Still here?

Well done if you got this far! If all this sounds good and you want to turbocharge your brand’s storytelling, reach out and let’s see how we can work together.