About

Hey hey, friend!

I make life a little bit easier for female entrepreneurs by editing their writing to make it shine…

But what I’d really rather say is…

I can’t get enough of the Harry Potter series, I will never not cry when I hear “Carmen, Ohio” (Ohio State University’s alma mater), and I slurp up information about how to be successfully self-employed because I believe that the freedom of being your own boss is larger than making up your own schedule: You have the opportunity to change your life for the better.

I’m Leslie Auman Hirgelt, and I’m an early 30s solopreneur who still isn’t toooootally sure how she ended up as a “solopreneur!” It’s a pretty cool title to have. (I’m not that cool.)

Female entrepreneurs come to me when their writing is good, but they want to take it to awesome. I get it: It’s hard to evaluate your own writing! You can proof it yourself 10 times and still miss errors. That’s why I’m here! Pass your writing off to me — I’m happy to edit a variety of different types of documents! — and I’ll analyze its syntax, diction, and more to clean it up and make it sparkle.

I have a professional background in education. I was a 6th and 7th grade teacher for three years, following one year of student teaching and three years in after-school tutoring and summer programs during college and graduate school. My specializations were in English Language Arts and Social Studies, and I have always loooooved editing. I’m one of those “I’m silently correcting your grammar” people. 😉

Starting in the fall of 2015, I became self-employed as a virtual assistant. When I started, I had literally just learned what virtual assistance was — I had no idea that it was even a job people could have! Since then, I’ve successfully grown my business and client list to the point where I can work from home full time on a totally livable income — in fact, it’s more than what I was making at the full-time job that I held while I grew my business — and more than the last teaching salary I was earning! In early 2019, I transitioned from being what I liked to call a “Jill-of-all-trades” virtual assistant to being kick-ass editor.

When I’m not editing or improving my own Teachers Pay Teachers store, I’m eating some of the ridiculously great food that Austin has to offer, baby-talking to my adorable dog (and sometimes to my sassy cat), or getting outside for some movement and vitamin D.

And there you have it.

Still curious about me?

…or maybe you’re just procrastinating on the next product you reeeeeaaaaally need to revamp and update in your Teachers Pay Teachers store. Here are 10 fun facts about me:

1. I was born and raised in northeastern Ohio. When I was in high school, I desperately wanted to go to college out-of-state. To my own surprise, I ended up only applying to colleges in-state and attended The Ohio State University. I loved my time there.
2. My sister was born on February 19th, and my brother was born on June 19th. I was supposed to be born on November 19th, but I arrived a day late. I just had to ruin the trend–or maybe I was an early-adopting trendsetter.
3. I grew up trail riding horses with my family and joined 4-H in 5th grade. I participated in 4-H and competitive horse showing for the next several years, until I was about 16. I’ve fallen off of horses many times, even landing on rocks once. Hmm…maybe that’s what’s wrong with me! 😉
4. During college I held a second part-time job at a nice banquet hall (my first part-time job was in an after-school tutoring program). I’ve seen more weddings (and the…interesting…behavior that weddings bring out in people) than I care to count. But, I got to hear Bill Clinton speak and was at least in the same building as President Obama (the staff wasn’t allowed in the banquet room while he gave his speech)…so that’s pretty cool, I guess.
5. Friends have started tagging me in any and all Facebook posts about Harry Potter because they know I love it that much.
6. I have an autoimmune thyroid disease called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Teaching exacerbated many of the symptoms I experience, which was one of the main reasons I chose to leave my teaching career.
7. During the summer of 2014, my now-husband and I moved across the country, from central Ohio to central Texas. Why? We hate winter. (Seriously!)
8. I’m very interested in living a holistic lifestyle and adopting a real food diet. I’ve experienced some fantastic improvements in my health and overall well-being since adopting these habits.
9. Contrary to what it may seem, my personality tends toward being very serious, mature, and professional. I have to work at being lighthearted and funny in professional situations (like here on my website).
10. I participated in People to People Student Ambassador Programs the summer before my senior year of high school. I was fortunate enough to spend three weeks traveling around Europe, and I fundraised most of the cost of the tuition myself so that I could go.

Want to keep up with me?