for people who run the whole business

You know your work. The words are the hard part.

I help solo business owners find language that actually sounds like them — so showing up online stops feeling like a performance and starts bringing in work.

25 minutes. Five exercises. No pitch.

Or, see The Show Up System

Mary standing in front of an office holding a laptop, embodying the essence of creating authentic, stress-free content that resonates with the target audience.

The Show Up System — founding cohort opens soon

Four weeks, live. 12 seats. Founding price $297, locked for life.

The Show Up System — founding cohort opens soon

Four weeks, live. 12 seats. Founding price $297, locked for life.

sound familiar?

The blank screen isn't a discipline problem.

You pour everything into running your business. Then it’s time to post, and the cursor just… blinks.

“I don't have a plan.”

You post when inspiration strikes, then feel guilty when it doesn’t. Every post starts from zero.

"It feels like bragging."

Promoting a company? Fine. Promoting yourself? Cringe. You hover over the button, then delete the draft.

"Is this even working?"

Likes come and go, but you honestly couldn’t say whether any of it has brought you business.

None of that is a willpower problem. It’s a missing system.

this isn’t guru advice

I spent a year researching exactly this.

My 2026 Texas Tech graduate study surveyed 97 and analyzed responses from 66 business users of social media. Solo owners told a different story than everyone else.

18%

post with a clear strategy tied to business goals. Everyone else is winging it.

34%

of independent professionals find self-promotion uncomfortable — against 13% of everyone else.

#1

most-wanted resource: a way to know whether the effort is actually working.

Everything I teach came out of those findings. Not out of a podcast.

where to start

Three ways in

Start free, join the cohort, or bring me in directly. All three begin in the same place: your own words.

Free · 25 minutes

Sound Like Yourself

A five-exercise journal that gets your own language onto paper — the words you already use when you’re not performing. The first roadblock, cleared.

FOUNDING COHORT · $297

The Show Up System

Four weeks, live, in a group of twelve. Know what to say, say it consistently, and know it’s working — and leave with a month of content already made.

ONE TO ONE

Work with me directly

Strategy, writing, and coaching for owners who’d rather hand it off or want help built around one specific launch, campaign, or rebuild.

from the pilot cohort

What the pilot cohort said.

“This course was exactly what I needed exactly when I needed it. Going from a corporate job to juggling all of these new goals and dreams comes with a lot of risk and unknowns.

I have all of the separate skills and experience to make great consistent content. I just didn’t have the experience of strategically connecting them and determining how they all fit together.”

Robert R. — pilot cohort

“Mary is a genius! She designed this course with all types of skill level, relating to social media, in mind. 
 
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting your online presence, she has created this course with the intent to get you up and running the second the class ends. Will always recommend!”
 

Kasey B. — pilot cohort

Mary, founder of Make Words Do Things, is wearing a black top smiling slightly while standing behind a wooden desk in a bright, modern office with a bookshelf, potted plants, and a laptop on the table.

hi, i’m mary

Twenty years of making words do things

I’ve spent 20+ years in hospitality sales, advertising, digital marketing, and PR — writing the words that get people to book, buy, show up, and come back.

In 2026 I finished my master’s at Texas Tech, where my research asked one question: why do smart, capable solo business owners go quiet online? The answer wasn’t “post more.” It was not knowing what to say, discomfort with self-promotion, and no way to tell whether any of it was worth the time. Everything on this site is what I built out of that.

start here

Find the words that are actually yours.

Sound Like Yourself is a 25-minute journal — five short exercises that pull out the language you already use when you’re not trying to sound impressive. It’s free, and it’s where the whole system starts.