Writing and Inspiration
An Interview with Author, Raymond M.E. Aguirre
Raymond is a health advocate, experienced nurse, published author, top writer, and YouTuber.
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Dear Reader,
One of my writing goals on this platform is to introduce leading and influential writers to my readers by conducting interviews with them. I have introduced many writers since 2019. Readers might gain insights and inspiration from each interview reflecting these leaders’ tacit knowledge and experience.
In this post, I’d like to share a recent interview with Raymond M.E. Aguirre, whom I met after discovering his unique, creative, engaging, and informative stories on Medium and his educative books. He has an impressive background in healthcare, with a decade of experience as a qualified nurse.
As a registered nurse, Raymond has worked in various settings, including long-term care, rehabilitation, home health, hospice, and wound management. He still works as a nurse but dedicates time to content creation and freelance writing, empowering his clients.
Raymond regularly writes on Medium and shares content on social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn. He also releases informative and engaging videos on YouTube.
Raymond’s background as a nurse drives his desire to nurture and support new creators, as he understands the challenges they face. He wants to help new creators grow and succeed in the world of content creation. Therefore, he joined my writing and reading community offering his service as an editor to support writers and readers.
And as a consulting and publishing editor, he is committed to ensuring that this sense of belonging on Medium remains vital for all writers now and in the future.
From my observations and interactions with him, Raymond has a deep passion for the creator economy and sees it as a massively untapped opportunity for writers.
Raymond believes that the creator economy has the potential to positively impact our lives and that success in this field can be achieved with the right mindset and support.
Raymond is a mentor to reach out to if you are a new creator facing difficulties or a seasoned one seeking to connect with a like-minded leader. He welcomes the opportunity to connect with anyone who shares his passion for expressing creativity online.
Please enjoy this interview and explore Raymond’s life journey.
Thank you for your time, Raymond. Please tell us a bit about your background.
Thank you for the opportunity, Dr. Yildiz.
I am a registered nurse with over a decade of experience in healthcare. But while I’ve had some great times in my career, I felt I needed a change.
I’ve been a writer since I was around eight years old, and I just wanted to give that inner child a chance to come out into the open again. And so, in April 2022, I leaped into the world of content creation.
I didn’t know how to get started or what I would achieve, but I had this strong sense that I wanted to do something creative.
Although I still work in the healthcare industry today, I spent more time building my online presence and sharing my work as a creator.
I made many mistakes when I started as a creator, but I don’t regret any of them. I’m better not only because of what I’ve achieved but also because of the times I tripped and fell.
Could you please describe a typical day at your work?
I currently work as a home health nurse and wound care consultant, in addition to being a creator.
As a nurse, I care for patients in their homes. Some live in their houses or apartments, while others live in assisted living facilities or nursing homes.
Every patient has different needs, though most of what I do revolves around providing bedside care and educating patients and their families.
As a creator, my workdays are spread out throughout the week. They also aren’t full days. The most I spend per day on content creation is 4 to 5 hours.
Each day is devoted to a set of tasks, and I like to combine “heavy tasks” and “light tasks.”
Things that involve a lot of thinking and planning, such as writing, fall under heavy tasks. Light tasks include responding to comments and engaging with people on social media.
Creating my system took me a while, but it’s worth the effort.
Content creation is a long game, so it’s important to pace oneself. Having a system is what helps creators maximize their output and minimize burnout.
I noticed that you are an author. Could you please briefly introduce your books?
I have three books to date and another in production.
The most recent is a short non-fiction e-book describing how online writers can set up a simple but fully functional creator business. It’s free to download for anyone who wants it.
My two other books are works of fiction. They are stories that reflect some of my experiences as an immigrant to the United States.
The more recent book, Caregivers and Other Stories was published under my imprint, Circa Sunshine Press. It’s a short story collection that includes the content of the first book, The Hill: A Novelette. You’ll find them on Amazon.
What is your approach to writing a book, and what are your suggestions to aspiring authors?
My approach to book writing has evolved over the years.
When I wrote my fiction books, I had no strategic approach. I wrote based on emotion. Those intense emotions buoyed me from start to finish.
But while I was able to get the job done, I don’t recommend anyone emulate my approach. Relying on your muse can be unreliable.
My current approach is more systematic and designed for faster production.
Let me give a summary of my book-writing process now.
- Commit to a deadline and announce it. In my case, I posted a tweet stating exactly when I’ll publish my book. Doing this gives me a sense of accountability.
- Begin with an end in mind. Know where you’re going instead of drifting from one concept to another.
- Create an outline.
- If you’ve done some writing online, look through your content and see what might make sense to add to your book. In my case, I was able to pull several Medium articles together and use them as the foundation of some of my book’s chapters.
- Write your first draft without judgment. Forget that there’s a backspace or delete button on your keyboard. The point of a first draft is to get your ideas out. This approach helped
- Read through your entire manuscript in its entirety. Take notes along the way about points for improvement.
- Go back to those parts of your book that need to be improved.
- Re-read the whole manuscript again the same way you did in step #5.
- Clean up your manuscript. Run a grammar and spelling check. I don’t believe in being a perfectionist, but with tools like Grammarly, there’s no excuse not to proofread your work.
- As you’re writing your book, share snippets of it on social media. Doing this helps you validate content.
Tell us about your reputable YouTube channel that you closed with lessons learned.
I have two YouTube channels. Both are currently inactive. One is a personal channel where I talk about business and content creation. I’ll use that channel soon once I have more time.
The other channel, which was supposed to be a history channel, has a bit more of an interesting backstory. You can read the full story here, but the short version is that I spent $7500 for a YouTube automation consulting program.
For those unfamiliar, YouTube automation is a business model where video production is outsourced to freelancers. The role of the channel owner is to act as a project manager and to come up with video ideas.
YouTube automation is a great idea, and for the right people, it can work. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of those people. I jumped on the bandwagon too fast.
Hiring freelancers to automate a YouTube channel costs money (in addition to what I paid for the consulting program), and it was money I didn’t have.
When I decided to become a content creator, I cut my work hours and, therefore, my income. I had enough to meet the family budget, but that was it.
I couldn’t pay several hundred to a thousand per month for freelancers. My only other option was to take over the whole production myself, which I didn’t have the time to do.
It was my fault that my YouTube automation project didn’t work out. I don’t want people to think YouTube automation is a scam. It isn’t.
But my experience shows the pitfalls of shiny object syndrome. There are countless ways to make money on the internet. And countless ways to lose it if people aren’t careful.
In my case, my biggest mistake was not knowing the kind of creator I wanted to be. Yes, you’ll see successful creators make multimedia content, but usually not when they started out.
I HIGHLY recommend beginner creators pick one of three content creation categories — writing, video creation, or podcasting. When I dabbled with YouTube automation, I was also writing. It was too much.
I had to pick one. And because writing creates less internal friction, I decided to double down on being a writer.
Why did you join Medium?
I joined Medium many years ago.
I was introduced to it by a former college professor. At the time, she handled the college magazine’s operations, and I was a part of that publication. She decided to transition the magazine to Medium at some point.
I wrote a few times on Medium for years but wasn’t too active.
It wasn’t until I decided to take content creation seriously in 2022 that I began to become active on Medium.
At first, I was posting an article a week. As time passed, I discovered how much I enjoyed writing here and the community of like-minded writers producing content here.
I may have joined Medium by accident many years ago, but I’m staying here because this platform has been a critical component in my growth as a creator.
What are your core values as a writer?
I have three core values as a writer, and they are:
Get started.
Get started.
Get started.
That’s it.
To be a writer, you have to start being one. No matter your background or skill level, the only way to hone your writing skills is by doing.
Writers are always work-in-progress. Even legendary writers have opportunities to improve.
But improvement doesn’t come from thinking about ways to improve. It comes from constant practice and an openness to change.
How do you connect with your readers?
The most direct way I connect with readers is through the comments on my stories.
I engage with my readers because I want them to know how much I appreciate their decision to read my work when there are millions of other media they can consume.
I also run a newsletter called The Creator Headspace, where I share my thoughts on the personal, creative, and business aspects of being a creator.
Lastly, when I write stories, I ensure they are relevant to other people. My job as a writer is not to please my ego but to give value to others. And by having that mindset, I feel more connected with readers.
What are three books affecting your Life?
Three favorite books impacted me more than others. Let me briefly introduce them.
1 — The first one is Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
Catcher in the Rye changed what I thought was possible when it came to creative writing. J.D.’s writing style introduced me to a voice that felt so raw and real. I’ve written two books of fiction, and I don’t think I would’ve done it if Catcher in the Rye didn’t give me the creative license to write in the style that I’ve written.
2 — The second one is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age novel. I read it just a few months after I migrated to the United States at 17. It was an emotionally rough period, and I found comfort in reading this story about a young boy trying to find himself in the world.
3 — The third one is The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss.
Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek redefined what was possible in terms of the way people lived. Before I read this book, entrepreneurship was something I had never considered. This book opened up a new option for me. One that I am now pursuing as a creator.
Please tell us about your hobbies, Raymond.
I love expressing myself in creative ways. Writing is the primary way I do this, but I sometimes dabble with the guitar and the drums.
I also love traveling with my family. We’ve only been able to do this in the past year or so, but we’re planning to go to more places in the coming years.
Why did you join ILLUMINATION, and how did you find it so far?
I joined Illumination because I wanted to be part of a respected publication on Medium and the engaging and supportive community you created.
I’m glad I did because Illumination, and its family of publications, have been instrumental in my growth here at Medium. Without Illumination, I don’t think I would have had the confidence to share more of my work online.
I am now an editor for Illumination, and I volunteered for the position primarily because I want to repay what it’s done for me.
Illumination empowers writers at all levels, but it supports especially those who are just starting their journey. I want to support other writers like Illumination helped me when I started.
Please tell me what your five most loved stories published on ILLUMINATION are.
Yes, here are five stories that I’ve published through Illumination:
I Lost $7500 This Summer To Start A YouTube Channel. Hear My Story, So You Don’t Repeat My Mistake.
Four Lessons I Learned After Having My First $100 Month on Medium
Three Life Lessons I Learned From Losing Nearly 60 Pounds In Eight Months
Four Lessons I Learned From Author Nicolas Cole About The Fastest Way You Can Write Your Next Book
And finally, tell us about what your plans are as a creator
My goal in the next few months is to publish my book. It’s still in the editing stage at the moment.
I want to get that book out because it reflects what I want to do most as a creator: to support those who are starting their journey. The book is written in a way that addresses the mental roadblocks of being a digital creator and the business side of things.
I used to think that being a nurse and being a creator were mutually exclusive.
However, the more I reflect upon my experience as a healthcare provider, the more I realize how much it aligns with being a creator.
Most of my experience in healthcare is in transitional settings (home health/hospice), and I’ve held the title of a case manager.
There’s a wide range of case management specialties. Still, they all do one thing in common: navigate patients and families through the complexities of disease and the American healthcare system.
As a creator, I see myself the same way I saw myself as a case manager. I create content for beginner creators so that they can get past the confusion and move forward in their journey.
My forthcoming book will cover many topics, but I only have one purpose for writing it: to provide clarity. With so much information, it’s often hard to make sense of everything.
My goal is to create a resource for creators, especially writers, that will help them weed through the noise and avoid tripping and falling before they can even get started.
In addition to this book, I want to coach other creators. I’m already doing this to some extent by answering questions at no cost through direct messages in writing communities and social media.
So if anyone has any questions, they can reach out to me. And for those considering becoming creators or just starting their journey, know I am here to support you.
Thank you, Dr. Yildiz, for offering me this interview opportunity. It’s been a great pleasure publishing and working with your eclectic publication Illumination and others. I wish your publication more success.
Thank you for allocating your precious time to introduce yourself in this interview, Raymond. How can your readers and other writers contact you and collaborate with you?
In addition to your Slack workspace, the best way to reach me is through Twitter or email.
My newsletter is also great for learning more about being a content creator.
If you enjoyed this story, you might also check out other remarkable writers, such as Yogesh Haribhau Kulkarni (PhD), Dr. ADAM TABRIZ, Mark Sanford, Ph.D., Keri Mangis, and Ayodeji Awosika, whom I featured recently. These top writers produce outstanding and authentic content informing their readers.
You might find more interviews I conducted with other great writers in this collection and explore their inspiring and engaging content on Medium.
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