#239 How a Former Actress Turned CEO Built Her Thriving Copywriting Business with Marisa Corcoran

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Is your business not growing as you expected? Are you feeling like you should pivot? Marisa Corcoran is a 7-figure business owner with a passion for helping entrepreneurs level up the copy in their business.

In this episode, Marisa shares her beginnings as an actress at Harvard, why she stopped pursuing acting to become an entrepreneur, and how she had a 6-figure launch with her popular program, The Copy Confident Society, without any paid advertising.

Listen now to learn why creating your own stage can help your business thrive, and how it’s never too late to pivot to your dream career!

Ina Coveney
Absolute pleasure of talking to Marisa Corcoran.

Marisa Corcoran
Thank you, Ina. I’m so glad to be here.

Ina Coveney
Oh, no, thank you! We have so much to cover. But first, can you please tell everybody what you do right now and who you serve?

Marisa Corcoran
Yeah, absolutely! So we serve our community in two ways. Number one, I always say that copy isn’t the icing on the cake—it is the cake. It’s the butter, the gluten-free flour if you’re gluten-free like me, and the eggs. It’s all these things that you need to make things happen in your business. If you want to sell in a way that feels good and call in the right people to sell to, then you have to know what to say and how to say it. That’s the first thing we do in our signature program, The Copy Confidence Society.
We help business owners create what we call their "uncopyable message" and the copy that supports it so they can make those other things happen in their business. Then, on the other end, I always say, once you can message it, you can market it.
From there, we help people create their own stage with a signature talk, so they can call in the right audience with that uncopyable message. We help them create a purchasing pathway to bring in their ideal clients with more ease—without paid advertising, relying on referrals, or being dependent on other people’s audiences.

Ina Coveney
It makes total sense because you've built an incredibly successful business doing just that—running your copy program and hosting summits. We’ll get there, but first, let’s go way back. Can you tell us where Marisa Corcoran was born and what it was like to be baby Marisa?

Marisa Corcoran
I grew up in Syracuse, New York. The interesting thing for me is that I always wanted to be a performer, to be an actor. From the time I was a little kid, I was singing—probably since I was about four or five years old.
Baby Marisa was performing in her room, walking around singing Madonna. I’d be in a slip and these red high heels that my Aunt Sharon used to have. I was singing "Like a Virgin," which my very Catholic grandmother wasn’t into, but my mom was cool with it. We always had music in the house, and I was always singing.
From a young age, I was doing community theater. I always knew I wanted to be an actor. That was it. I didn’t want to be anything else.

Ina Coveney
You’ve mentioned before that storytelling and humor were big in your family. Your grandfather could command the room with his stories, and your uncle was super funny. Can you tell us more about how that influenced you?

Marisa Corcoran
Absolutely! My uncle Mark could have been a very famous stand-up comic. My maternal grandfather was incredible at telling stories and commanding a room. He’d tell a joke with such detail and timing that it always landed perfectly.
In my family, we loved stand-up comedy and would often repeat jokes we heard. My uncle Mark, in particular, had a way of retelling jokes and making them his own. I think I learned a lot about commanding a room and timing from watching him and my grandfather.

Ina Coveney
How do you think losing your father when you were just two years old affected you growing up?

Marisa Corcoran
That’s such a good question. Losing a parent at that age is unique because you’re grieving someone you don’t really have conscious memories of. My dad became more of a storybook character to me.
I remember reading a book in my book club called Sick in the Head by Judd Apatow. There’s an interview with Albert Brooks where he talks about losing his father young. He described feeling like he understood the end of life before he truly understood the beginning. That really resonated with me.
From a young age, I’ve had this drive to make the most of my time. Losing my dad shaped that perspective.

Ina Coveney
How does your mom keep your father’s memory alive for you?

Marisa Corcoran
My mom talks about my dad all the time. She never remarried or even dated after he passed, which is remarkable. She came to one of my live events recently, and after watching me command the room, she said, “I wish your dad could have seen this. He’d be so proud.”
It’s moments like that where I feel connected to him, even though I didn’t get to know him personally.

Ina Coveney
That’s beautiful. Let’s shift gears a little. Why did you choose Harvard for your MFA?

Marisa Corcoran
When I decided to pursue acting, I applied to the top five MFA programs. The American Repertory Theater at Harvard was one of them, and something about walking around Cambridge on the day of my audition felt right. I just knew that was where I was meant to be.

Ina Coveney
Did you move to New York right after graduating?

Marisa Corcoran
I did. I had lived in New York before grad school and moved back after finishing in 2013.

Ina Coveney
At what point did you meet your husband, Eric?

Marisa Corcoran
We met at a wedding in 2011. My best friend from high school married his best friend from college, and we were paired together. He started visiting me in Boston every other weekend while I was at Harvard.

Ina Coveney
Let’s talk about your transition from acting to copywriting. You’ve shared the story of auditioning for Winnie the Pooh and realizing it wasn’t for you. What was happening around that time that led you to start your business?

Marisa Corcoran
I was done with other people having control over my fate. I had started doing copywriting work on the side, and in 2018, I launched The Copy Chat. Creating my own stage was the turning point for me.

Ina Coveney
What do you think is the biggest difference between 2018 Marisa and someone listening now who is struggling to get their business to stick?

Marisa Corcoran
The biggest difference is creating your own stage. For me, it was The Copy Chat. I stopped waiting for others to give me opportunities and built my own platform.

Ina Coveney
You’ve managed to build a six-figure business without using ads. What’s your secret?

Marisa Corcoran
It’s all about relationships. I invested in creating something meaningful, like The Copy Chat, and focused on connecting with people rather than just creating content or running ads.

Ina Coveney
If everyone listening had to take one action in the next 24 hours, what would it be?

Marisa Corcoran
Send a DM or email to someone you admire. Be specific about why you’re reaching out. Connection is everything.

Ina Coveney
Marisa, this has been amazing. Where can people find you?

Marisa Corcoran
Thank you, Ina! You can find me on Instagram at @MTony. And if you’re interested in my scroll-stopping subject lines, check out marisacorcoran.com/subjectlines.

Ina Coveney
Thank you so much, Marisa. This has been a pleasure.

Marisa Corcoran
Thank you, Ina. I’ve loved this conversation. Let’s hang out when I’m back in Boston!

Let the BINGE begin

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