Today we’d like to introduce you to Jodi Egerton.
Hi Jodi, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I thrive when I’m in the thick of a few big creative projects, and I’m often moving in five directions at once – writing, consulting, mentoring, performing, collaborating.
I moved to Austin back in 1998 for graduate school. After receiving my Ph.D. in English Literature at UT, I was initially headed down a pretty traditional academic journey. I held a tenure track Assistant Professor position for a few years but realized it was not the right path for me, and I have since crafted a pretty varied life for myself, always infused with a quest for new challenges, new adventures, and new knowledge.
While in grad school, I joined a local improv troupe, which is where I met my husband Owen. Owen and I connected through the world of improvisation—saying yes to and building on each other’s ideas, taking risks, and embracing a spirit of play. It’s how we work together still—whether writing a book, working through a parenting challenge, or attempting to fix the warped floorboards in our tiny Bouldin bungalow. Owen and I wrote and published This Word Now, a creativity and writing craft book which is inspired by our work together.
I love performing, and I’ve gotten to do some fun acting and voiceover work on different film, podcast, and livestream projects over the last few years. See if you can spot me as the creepy clown who gets axed in the head in the film Blood Fest, and listen for my voice in the upcoming Rooster Teeth podcast Beneath.
Then there’s Typewriter Rodeo, a group that I co-founded back in 2013. We create custom, on-the-spot poems on vintage typewriters. I’ve typed poems at all kinds of events–from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to the beach in Cabo San Lucas to Willie Nelson’s ranch in Luck, Texas. You can hear our poems on Typewriter Rodeo’s weekly segment on NPR’s Texas Standard. I love getting to write poems based on listener requests, and it’s always a blast when a friend hears me on the radio while driving to the H-E-B.
I also work as the Project Director for CreativePickle, a design and development creative agency here in Austin. My work focuses on organization and process efficiency and uses my creative strengths in communication and problem solving as I evolve and streamline our processes to keep our whole team thriving.
A typical day for me might include a series of client meetings to discuss website design updates, writing and recording a poem for KUT on my lunch break, and leading Theatre Club up at Headwaters, our kids’ school in downtown Austin, where our enthusiastic and hilarious troupe of middle schoolers play all our favorite improv games. Oh, and occasionally jumping into the background of one of Owen’s Master Pancake livestreams, usually dressed as a creepy clown.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Typewriter Rodeo was heavily impacted by covid. We had been booked solid with multiple events a week, so everything changed dramatically in March of 2020. Outside of the KUT Texas Standard radio poems, our work was entirely in person, usually at large packed events – weddings, book festivals, corporate parties. Everything on our upcoming calendar was canceled, and our creative work ground to a halt. But channeling the same improvisational nature and creative spirit that first launched our group – we pivoted. We discovered that there were ways to conduct events virtually. We specifically have loved the opportunity to visit with libraries, and being virtual has allowed us to visit way more libraries than would be possible in person. Our library visits are so fun – we share about our creative process, our work together, our thoughts on poetry, and some of our most memorable experiences, and then we’ll take a few requests and write a couple of poems on the spot from afar!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m known for bringing new creative perspectives to the table and having bold big ideas. I love taking leaps and moving forward with an eye towards change and evolution. I look at problems from new angles, find unique and interesting ways to approach challenges, and ultimately encourage enthusiasm from the people I work with and the people I share creative projects with. Also, I’m able to get fully into a clown costume, makeup and all, in about two and a half minutes flat.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I would love to share This Word Now with more readers. We have just released a very slightly updated version, inspired by our younger child’s gender identity journey – this new printing fixes some content to reflect her new name and pronouns. You can find This Word Now anywhere you buy books, both in paperback and digital versions. I would love anyone who feels inspired by our work to grab a copy, dive in, and let us know what you think.
I also would love to share Typewriter Rodeo with more people – we have a book out which is a really fun deep dive into a lot of our most memorable poem writing experiences, including my own personal scariest moment ever getting to type a poem for world-renowned poet Billy Collins. And talk to your favorite librarians about bringing us out for a virtual or (hopefully soon enough) in-person visit!
And if you’re looking for logos, branding, graphic design, or web design, come check out CreativePickle!
Contact Info:
- Email: https://creativepickle.com/
- Website: https://typewriterrodeo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jodiegerton/
- SoundCloud: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/categories/typewriter/
- Other: https://bookshop.org/books/this-word-now/9780692720486?aid=55009&listref=typewriter-rodeo-s-shelf
Image Credits
Devaki Jones Alexander Morozov and the team of Photography By Alexander: Phillips Collection
