Mike Demilio
WRITER & COACH
ABOUT
Mike's writing journey began at Princeton University, where he completed a 120-page thesis on eighteenth-century piracy to earn a degree in History. This naturally led him to begin his career as a copywriter. Starting at The Godfrey Group in Chicago, then switching to the client side, Mike has filled many full-time and freelance writing roles since.
While living in San Francisco in the 90's, Mike wrote articles as a freelance stringer for I.D. Magazine. At the same time, working as a technical writer for K-Line America, Mike built one of the earliest intranet-based documentation systems. This innovation led to his founding Advent Inc, which specialized in online documentation and website development.
Over the next twenty years, Advent morphed into an intermodal solutions company and Mike exited the venture to work on his first novel. He returned periodically as a consultant to coordinate large writing projects. Working with stakeholders, designers and development teams on three continents, Mike ensured that all product requirements were clearly documented and approved. Since many of the government stakeholders were not technical, Mike wrote the documentation in language that was both comprehensive and easily accessible to all. In addition, he wrote product press releases and marketing pieces.
More recently, as the founder of GoDeep, a software venture in the professional and college football market, Mike's work on the client side of app development gave him an intimate knowledge of the pain points and success metrics of both marketing copy and technical specifications. He wrote and produced all public-facing content for the venture, whose users included The Dallas Cowboys and Princeton University Football.
On a project for LUMA Energy, Mike inherited a large volume of written material from power company engineers and on-site (Puerto Rico) project leaders, and was able to distill it into highly readable documentation. He translated dense technical jargon into executive-ready bullet points and blurbs for government and corporate leaders, and delivered against urgent, non-negotiable deadlines.
As a freelance writer, Mike has written on topics as diverse as sustainable home renovation, cinematic special effects and the Internet of Things. In each of Mike's entrepreneurial ventures, he has created all of the public-facing content, including a series of instructional videos for students interested in writing college essays. Mike has coached dozens of students through the process of writing their college admissions essays, many of whom he has worked with in a pro-bono capacity.
During the pandemic lockdown, Mike completed and published his second novel, and is currently collaborating on a book on organizational consulting. In his free time he enjoys reading, fitness training, debating the finer points of football, and spending time with his wife and two daughters.
