How I Started Over (and Got my First Clients) as a Bilingual Freelance Health Writer at 35+
In 2022, I was living in Hong Kong, working in a well-paid, full-time marketing role. I had stability, a routine, and a predictable career path. But deep down, I felt disconnected. Something wasn’t aligning with my values anymore.
Today, I’m a bilingual (French-English) freelance health writer and SEO mentor. I support health brands with credible, empathetic content, and I’m so proud to guide other writers on how to do the same. But this shift didn’t happen overnight. I had to start from scratch, learn fast, and stay committed even when things were pretty rough.
This is the story of how I made the leap.
Leaving “Home Kong” after 10 years: My Turning Point
After a decade in Hong Kong, the city no longer felt like home. I’ve been willing to leave for a while actually, but my ex-partner was not so keen, and I didn’t want to leave him behind. When my long-term relationship of 10 years finally ended, the long quarantine restrictions during the pandemic started, which pushed me to question everything. Grieving this relationship wasn’t the hardest (best decision ever), but as a woman being 35+, this also meant grieving children I would never have. That was the hardest, but that’s another story for another time. With hindsight, it would have been much harder to have children in Hong Kong, although I wanted to leave for so long (or be stuck with the wrong person). Everything happens for a reason!
On top of this grief and a new single life all happening during Covid, I hadn’t seen my family in nearly two years. I started asking myself what kind of life I truly wanted, and what kind of work would bring me purpose. How do you even know when you’ve never been single in 18 years? I only knew what I didn’t want: to keep travelling for work like crazy, and not realizing years passing by without really feeling like I was evolving.
I didn’t have kids and felt free to go. But where? I got stuck with this question for 3 years.
In October 2022, I finally packed my life into two backpacks and boarded a plane. The whole process of decluttering took me 3 years too. I didn’t know exactly what was next. I just knew I needed to try something different. I knew I didn’t belong anymore in the corporate world. I only climbed the ladder because there was nowhere else to go (and also, I enjoyed learning how to manage people). I’ve never been in it for the money anyway.
"I just let go of everything material and hoped I would figure something out. I had to."
I ended up travelling for 18 months as a digital nomad while setting up my SEO health blog writing services.
October 2022 - Leaving Hong Kong
I wrote more about this crazy period of my life here:
1 year, 2 backpacks: What was my experience of being a digital nomad in 2023?
Starting From Scratch - Again!
When I left Hong Kong, I had no clients, no portfolio, and no agency experience. I wasn’t completely new to this process: I went through a similar struggle when I left London without a job, but the difference was I had a partner supporting me back then. This time, I wasn’t sure how to begin, nor where to go, but I knew I had to take action. My savings were shrinking pretty fast anyway, as I had no one to rely on financially. To put it in other words: if I were to mess up financially, I would be on the streets pretty fast. That’s the kind of pressure I’m talking about, which I still have today.
I started experimenting on Upwork. My goal in those early months was simple: try different types of projects to discover what I enjoyed and to build credibility with social proof on my profile. I used recommendations from my 10+ years of corporate life to begin with, but I knew I needed more proof as a writer.
My proposals weren’t perfect. I didn’t have a niche yet. But I showed up every day and kept applying. I didn’t do any outreach, I focused on job applications (silly introvert me!).
My First SEO Client Almost Came as a Surprise
In August 2022, I landed a project on Upwork. It wasn’t SEO writing, it was a medical review job for a health agency. They needed someone to fact-check their blogs.
I sent a short proposal and quoted $100 per blog. They replied that I was too expensive. That was it. Or so I thought.
A few months later, in December, the same agency reached out again. This time, they needed blog writers. They asked to see my Master’s degree, but didn’t request a trial article.
I accepted the offer and got paid $0.05 per word to write a product review for a health supplement (in French). That blog became my first official piece of SEO content.
"I didn’t have a portfolio. I didn’t even think about blogging on my own. How silly is that?"
The platform that published it was later acquired, and most articles were removed. But interestingly, one of mine was the only one they kept. It’s still live on Connected Health (not my best work, but a cherished piece of my portfolio). It’s funny how when good things happen, like getting a new client, always appears as a surprise even today, although they’re not falling from the sky - I forget how I spent months applying, networking, prospecting or publishing on LinkedIn before that.
Lessons I Got From That First Client
A "no" doesn’t always mean forever. Sometimes, it’s just "not now." Getting a no also means that you tried!
You don’t need everything figured out to begin. Starting imperfectly is better than not starting at all. If you wait until you have things figured out, you’ll never start. I’m still figuring things out after many years.
Small projects build big momentum. That job taught me how to work with an SEO team and meet editorial guidelines. I still use some of those learnings today.
Always save your published work. I now use Authory to automatically back up my blogs.
Each blog is a learning step. Writing regularly helped me improve faster than any SEO course I attended. And I spent $2,000 on digital marketing trainings!
Value isn’t always about money at the start. That job gave me experience, feedback, and confidence. That’s what I needed the most.
"I will never blame any freelancer for accepting low-paid jobs. We all need to start somewhere and we’ve got bills to pay. The important thing is to prepare for the next steps and leverage what you’re getting from this experience into the next."
The Added Power of Being a Bilingual Freelance Health Writer
I learnt that in freelancing you’ve got to use what you’ve got, instead of focusing on what you do not have. I could think that I’m “only” a biomedical engineer, for instance, not a doctor, but another way to frame this is “I know the science and I spent years explaining medical concepts in English”.
I had to pick up a few languages to adapt as an expat. I actually speak 4 languages (French, English, Spanish and Chinese), but being able to write at a professional level in both French and English gave me a unique advantage. I could take on multilingual projects, serve more clients, and adapt my tone across different cultures. Clients would only need one freelancer to do the job of many.
It allowed me to:
Work on SEO content in both languages (doing SEO localization work from English to French)
Build trust with clients from different countries
Add nuance and empathy to health messaging, regardless of the countries I cover. I dealt with audiences from France, US, UK, Canada, Singapore and Australia so far.
If you’re multilingual too: leverage that. If not, what are the key strengths you could leverage?
Where I Am Today
Since that first blog, I’ve grown a steady client base in the health and wellness space, and even outside of it now, as I have ventured into writing about marketing topics (based on my background). Many of my leads now come through LinkedIn, where I share insights and tips on SEO health blog writing every day.
In 2024, I launched a mentorship program to help other writers learn SEO health writing in a practical way (we do a whole health blog post together from scratch). I find it very valuable to support others in taking the same leap I once did, and I also know what it’s like to not be able to afford resources when being a full-time freelancer.
Looking back, everything changed the day I chose to leave behind my comfort zone and take that first scary step.
"I had no plan. Just the will to try. And a bit of craziness."
Are you curious about becoming an SEO health (or medical) writer too?
Join my mailing list for free resources, SEO tips, and updates on upcoming courses. Whether you're starting fresh or shifting careers, there's room for you in this space. You only need to drop your details in the form below. 👇🏼
Your next chapter might start with one health blog, like mine!
Val ✍🏼
About the Author
Valérie Leroux, MSc, is a bilingual SEO health writer and founder of Bioty Healthcare since 2022, helping health brands and medical writers create high-ranking, trustworthy content backed by science and empathy.
