Meet Gail Baker Nelson | Writer & Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gail Baker Nelson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gail Baker, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
When I was young, the comfort of a set schedule made things easy because I knew where work started and my personal life begain. It was easy! Go to work and go home — I never had to think about work on the weekends.

In contrast, my freelancing business is a natural outgrowth of my hobbies: writing, art, and music. So work-life balance is a bit of a myth…and possibly overrated. The cliche, “if you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life” applies here!

Even with all my deadlines and clients to help, it doesn’t feel like work.

The ideal mix of work and play is different for everyone, but I think if you’re happy, can pay your bills, and have enough time to do other things you love — then it’s perfect.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I avoided this career path like the plague. I wanted to be different than everyone else in my family.

It wasn’t untl I had been working on a children’s animal book that the universe put a firm boot in my rear end. During research for the book, I saw that an online animal encyclopedia had outdated and some wrong factoids on the king cobra. So, I reached out and offered the correct information. One of the owners responded by asking if I was looking for work.

Writing about animals seemed like fun, so I bit. I ended up writing about 200 articles for them and fact-checking about 1,000 more. The rest of my freelancing business grew from there and I now have several writing clients, create the concert materials for the Northeast Orchestra, and am also finishing the illustrations and book design for a client’s picture book, “Willow’s Good Knght Lights.” It’s due out in early June.

None of it was easy.

Work finds me, so I’m usually pretty busy, but developing the skills? That takes work—and it’s not all fun. I watch videos on drawing techniques, take classes for writing, and practice a lot.

I can write about anything, because I think at the core, I am intensely curious about the world.

Art was harder for me. Five years ago, I was still drawing stick figures. I only started drawing because I wanted to write an animal book for my grandchildren. It’s stll not finished, but it’ll get there.

Time management is the biggest challenge, because there are only so many hours in the day and always something more I can do. But, sleep is necessary—even if my brain never really shuts off.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m a big nature lover, so I find trails to hike whenever I can. I love the Fort Worth Nature Center and seeing bison up close, while safely on the other side of a fence, is amazing.

The Fort Worth Zoo is a must-see, along with the stockyards when the Fort Worth Herd is out for its walk. And staying at Miss Molly’s is a must.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m surrounded by inspiration! My husband is my biggest fan and is at every concert I play in with the Northeast Orchestra and Texas Chamber Music Project. He’s really supportive and I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without him.

My family is full of artists and engineers (and everything in between) so we’re a unique bunch and really supportive of each other.

Website: https://gailbakernelson.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gailbakernelson/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gail-baker-nelson-copywriter

Image Credits
Art by Gail Baker Nelson