My Mom raised my twin sister and me on the banks of the Youghiogheny River in Ohiopyle, Penn., shown in the photo above. Her uncle started one of the first rafting companies in the area in the 1960s. Her mother worked for him in the retail store in the summers. Ohiopyle is a tiny town, only a few blocks deep, with local business owners, outdoor enthusiasts, and wayward souls – all trying to live a nonconformist life.

It was like growing up in Neverland — an ideal island where lost souls escape their problems and hold onto childhood fantasies of play and wonder. It’s nearly impossible to escape once engulfed in the pleasures and wildness of the mountain air.

My Mom, Marci McGuinness, is the local historian and author, publishing books from old black and white photos, natural remedies, to a local guidebook on navigating the whitewater of the famous destination river, and many more.

For the first eight years of my life, we lived with my father near the West Virginia state line, deep in the mountains, surrounded by woods and creeks. My sister and I found our fantasy world, running in the wide-open spaces, creating stories, and acting out scenes. My sister wrote, and I drew pictures for her words.

My Mom gave our creative minds a chance to go wild.

When we moved to Ohiopyle after my parents’ divorce, it was the happiest day of my life. A vibrant community, outdoor recreation now surrounded us, and still, the wild mountain air prevailed. My Mom worked at home writing. We played outside.

We lived frugally in the house my grandmother inherited from her mother. We could see the river from the back porch before my great uncle built his hotel. Summers were booming with tourists, and winters were a ghost town. We didn’t shop at the mall or make the trek over the mountain for anything but necessities. It seems like a modern-day sport anymore — roaming around Walmart seeking out stuff to buy for no good reason. We didn’t have outfits for every day of the week or expensive toys or cars. We had each other, community, and Mother Nature.

Living frugally allowed us to live a life of freedom.

Since elementary school, my twin sister, Brynn Cunningham, has been writing and has a successful writing gig. She pursued writing in college, and I studied fashion. I found drawing, designing, and sewing as a creative outlet. But I lost my creative path after college. I worked as a raft guide and waitress in an attempt to avoid adulthood. I went back to school eight years later for guaranteed job placement in the allied health field.

Freedom at that point in my life meant structure and a steady income.

I began my career as a Registered Respiratory Therapist in 2013 in the largest hospital in the region. Over the years, I changed my place of employment a few times, searching for the right fit. During one of many meltdowns amidst the pandemic of 2020, I told my Mom, “I cannot do this anymore. I need to do something for myself.”

I never found a hospital meshed with my inherent need for freedom, let alone a healthy work-life balance. They expected a puppet at best. I felt like a dog chained to a box begging for someone to throw me a bone.

She said, “Honey, you’ve always been a good writer. Every business pays writers, and there are so many jobs online now.”

So I began. I started writing about my chronic injury and pain struggles, the hardships of a healthcare worker during a pandemic, outdoor adventuring, and how to stay healthy with an active lifestyle. I made a list of my education and experience. I figured out how I could help people with my words. I researched job postings, how to write online, questioned my Mom and sister.

I made an achievable action plan toward freedom.

As my mental and physical health deteriorated, I was determined to leave the disheartening career I had dedicated myself to over the years. It was toxic from the start. I was disappointed but persistent in building a happier life. My health depended on it.

My husband and I left for a van camping and biking trip to Florida late last fall after I had worked for three months outside swabbing noses for covid testing. It was grueling work. When we were packing, the stress of my body’s deteriorating condition had piled up. I had an anxiety attack and didn’t want to leave home. My Mom and husband knew they had to help me out of this battle.

The demands of my career had pushed me to my breaking point.

We went on our trip anyway. That trip changed my life. A few days before leaving, I had an appointment with my acupuncturist. He told me, “Vacation can be a perfect time to work on your backup plan rather than forget about your worries. Do the work for your future while you have the time.” I listened, brought my new book, Staring Down The Wolf by Mark Divine, and a notebook. I figured out what I already had to offer the world without spending money on any more education. I came up with a very long to-do list.

When we came home ten days later, I had a new perspective, felt a little freer, and a lot less lost. Although my struggle working in the hospital continued for 11 more months, I clung to hope for a brighter future. I saved money, applied and interviewed for jobs, started writing, and built a website.

I took action. It wasn’t easy — work got worse, and my health declined along with it. I kept telling myself, “Every step forward is progress.”

I resigned from my full-time hospital job as a Respiratory Therapist on October 3rd, 2021. My mental health reached rock bottom.

It was time. I had to let go.

My Mom taught my sister and me to be frugal, resourceful, and never sacrifice our well-being for anyone. She always made it clear to us why she worked for herself.

It’s about freedom. I get that now.

Since then, I’ve read a billion blogs about how to be a modern-day writer. I always smile and think of how different it is compared to how my Mom grew her business. My sister and I didn’t pay a lot of attention to what she was doing. We knew that Mom worked from home as a writer because that’s who she was and always will be. It was our norm. It’s not a coincidence that the three of us write. It’s in our creative genes.

My Mom taught my sister and me to be frugal, resourceful, and never sacrifice our well-being for anyone. She always made it clear to us why she worked for herself.

The Daughter-Mother Interview

In my constant quest to learn, I want to share an interview with my Mom about her career and unwavering commitment to freedom.

She’s an entrepreneur from the core.

When did you know you had writing talent?

1961 — I wrote my first story sixty years ago. I was six. It was called The Battle Between the Red Ants & the Black Ants. I was tickled with the thought process and developing the beginning, middle, and surprise ending.

1963 — It was in third grade when things shifted. Mrs. Swink asked our class of 31 students to write a Halloween story. The day after turning the assignment in, she asked me to read my work to the class. I stood in front of the room and acted out my tale, The Witch & I. Everyone clapped, I made an A+, and a writer was born.

What did your parents think of such an independent, vocal endeavor for a woman in the 1960s?

My parents felt it was a silly endeavor, and I ran away from home at 17 after butting heads with them about my creative needs for a decade.

How did you feel about the people close to you who didn’t support your dream?

Hurt, but I always knew that I had no choice but to write if I intended to be happy. I understood that they didn’t understand, and that was their problem, not mine.

Who was your biggest supporter?

1965–66 — In fifth and sixth grade, I had an eccentric and brilliant English teacher, Mrs. Grasso. I wrote a box of stories in her classes, and she took them home one summer to reread them. Unfortunately, she lost them in a flood at her home. I was heartbroken for several years and used to stop at her house each summer and ask if she found them!

Mrs. Grasso told me to keep writing, that creative writing is a rare gift. I believed her wholeheartedly.

Did you ever consider a different path?

A calling is not a job. It is impossible for me to do something else. I don’t care if it pays a million bucks an hour or nothing. Happiness is a lifestyle I treasure. I worked a few temporary part-time jobs while supporting myself and you girls, but that was just to make ends meet. There is always another writing project up my sleeve, always will be.

When I was fifteen, I sent for my worker’s permit. The day it arrived, I gathered several of my stories and walked to Mr. Ed Smith’s house. He was circulation manager at The Courier newspaper. I knocked on the door, and his wife went to get him. He listened, took my stories, and invited me to tour the Courier that Saturday.

I was out of my mind excited! Finally, an outlet for my writing! Mom took me on Saturday, and Mr. Smith said that I could start working as a runner there the following Saturday. Mom laughed. My heart sunk, and I was confused. When we got in the car, she turned to me and said, “You will work at the Tastee Freeze with your older siblings.”

At that moment, she lost me for years. We never had a conversation about it again. When I regained my emotional footing, I became strong, never spoke to either of my parents, and started planning my escape from that particular hell. Making me flip burgers in a truck stop was the worst parenting mistake she ever made. I quit and put an ad in the newspaper to sew clothes for people. They started coming to the house, which upset my parents. I laughed. Our test of wills was on.

“Making me flip burgers in a truck stop was the worst parenting mistake she ever made,” says Marci. “Our test of wills was on.”

How did you build a business without online exposure?

I published magazines and promoted myself and my books. There was an order form in the back of my magazine. My mail order business rocked through the 1990s. I sent out hundreds of press releases, did dozens of radio shows nationwide, local tv interviews, spoke at schools and clubs, did book signings, selling books at events, etc.

What kind of advanced writing education do you have?

I could have gone to college free but refused to sit through yet another class. Also, my friend Ed Cupp who taught English, said, “College can’t teach you to write. You already know how.”

1973 — I took a mail-order class on journalism and newspaper writing with the National Newspaper Institute.

1981 — I read everything I could find on self-publishing and wrote/produced my first booklet, What’s Happenin’ Around Ohiopyle?

1990s — I learned to lay out books and magazines for print, researched history, and interviewed countless people for stories. I bought my first computer and a good camera.

2014-2020 — ScreenwritingU. I took countless screenwriting workshops with ScreenwritingU before taking their 9-month Pros Series course, where I rewrote my script based on my books on the Uniontown Speedway. I then took a 21-month Master Screenwriter Certificate course, a Thriller class, a Horror class, and a Scene Mastery class.

Through the ScreenwritingU classes and alumni, I have become a screenwriter. I was paid to adapt a book to a script in 2019.

What was your first published piece of work that earned you money?

1973 — I went to Arizona with friends after graduation and wrote for an underground newspaper in Phoenix. The first story was based on a case in Connellsville, Penn., my hometown. Several cops had been arrested for robbing vacationers’ homes.

I made $25 and smiled all the way to the bank.

When did you know you had to work for yourself versus for a terrible boss? Could you give me a personal experience?

I always knew that. After living with Dad, a strict Catholic who thought making me walk on eggshells around him would dumb me down; no one was ever going to tell me what to do again. God help them if they try. Money is needed, but a secondary consideration. I do not have the ability to force myself to be unhappy just to pull in a check, pay bills, and be “secure.”

There is no such thing as security. Once you know that, you are free.

What has been your biggest challenge as a self-employed writer?

Hmmmmm. I am challenged to find one. It has been a great life filled with interesting projects, travel, and flexibility. I suppose financial stability is always a challenge, but that is the case for everyone on earth, rich and poor.

Sacrificing my soul for money will never happen.

What other jobs did you hold to support your writing career and feed your very hungry twins?

I did make money sewing in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. I made men’s shirts, mended clothes for men all over the mountain area, made velour tops for women. And I spent more than a few weekends tending bar or waiting tables for quick cash and a little entertainment.

Did you ever work for anyone who was not a terrible boss?

Definitely. When I moved to the Chesapeake Bay in 2002, I got a job in Annapolis overlooking the harbor. Spin Sheet Magazine was and is owned by Mary and Dave still today. They were the best employers a person could possibly have. I wrote a column for them, On the Shore with Marci McGuinness, and was a sales rep. Flip flops and sailboats. I only went to the office twice a week. We are still in contact.

How has your career changed with the advancements of technology?

In 1985, I wrote and published my first coffee table-sized book, Natural Remedies, Recipes & Realities, using a typewriter. I laid it out with my own photos on boards for the printer and drove it there. As I typed that book, you girls were three years old, hanging off of my sides, crying for whatever you needed at the moment, but I got it done. You modeled for the photos, eating carob powder and garlic capsules.

I laid out my magazines and hauled them to the printer, then went back and loaded my car with mags and distributed thousands of them. I also mailed them out to subscribers.

Over the last 13 years, I have used digital book printers. Amazon changed the landscape for small publishers. I know they are a monster, but they make publishing possible nowadays.

What advice would you give the generations building their businesses online, like your daughters?

I would say that you have choices that were impossible to imagine not long ago. Choose wisely, be cautious, but create the business that makes you the happiest.

Understand that everyone has an agenda. Do not allow anyone to steal your energy. You are way more than you know. Predators see your creativity and want it. Grow but protect yourself. See people. Be the strong warriors I raised you to be. Proceed and create.

Marci advises, “Choose wisely, be cautious, but create the business that makes you the happiest.”

What’s your favorite social media platform, and why?

LinkedIn. I have spent years building an enormous network. This is where I meet producers and entertainment industry pros.

What are you working on right now?

This year, I have written two feature screenplays. I have agents working to sell them. Right now, I am on a deadline to write my comedy memoir, In Case I Croak, The Life & Times of a Writer. I plan to publish it in February 2022.

The Lessons You Can Only Learn on Your Own

You always told Brynn and me to do something for ourselves, don’t work for anyone else, they won’t understand you. That’s been a hard lesson for me, and challenging for you to watch.

How do you feel knowing that I’ve finally learned my lesson?

I pride myself in allowing my daughters to live their journey and not interfere with their process if I can help it. I pray that they both have a grasp on how intelligent and gifted they are and that by going through hell, they will fight for their right to be themselves.

Put simply, you can’t shove a round peg into a square hole. And if I know anything, I know this.

When we go against our nature as creatives, God will torture us until we get back on the path we are born to live.

Thank you, Mom, for always staying true to you and teaching me how. I value the lessons I’ve learned the hard way. The harder the lesson, the more motivating to take action.

I recently landed a low-stress, part-time teaching position for Respiratory Therapy students, and I’m building a business of my own. The kind of business that will make me the happiest.

After all, a girl from Ohiopyle doesn’t know how to waste life on unfreedom.