I’m Jo Redd — a Midwest-based freelance writer. I write sports commentary with an actual opinion, I run a newsletter people pay to read, and before any of that I spent over a decade keeping fleets, vendors, and customer service desks running on time. That combination is why clients hire me: I write like someone with a real audience, and I deliver like someone who used to get paged at 2 a.m. when a truck didn’t show up.
Sports Writing With a Point of View
I don’t hedge. I’ve been writing hot Yankees takes for years — when the front office blows a trade deadline, I say so, box score and all. Lately that’s stretched into basketball too: this season I broke down how Caitlin Clark has carried the Fever through a brutal injury stretch, backing the opinion with stats instead of vibes. That’s the tone I bring to sports content — informed, opinionated, and worth reading even if you don’t agree with me.
I’m done hedging on this one, same as I don’t hedge on my Yankees takes.
From Caitlin Clark Has Been the Best Player in Fever History This Season — Injuries and All
More examples: The Trade Deadline Ruined the Yankees and Caitlin Clark Has Been the Best Player in Fever History This Season.
A Newsletter Readers Actually Pay For
The Redd Blog Newsletter goes out on a regular schedule, splits free and paid content on purpose, and asks readers for $1.99 a month without apologizing for it. Three issues in, it already has a recurring Midwest Moment, an unhedged Hot Take, and a running Korean baseball update that readers expect every time. If you need someone who can plan a newsletter’s structure, write it in a real voice, and actually get people to open it, this is what that looks like in practice.
Read a sample: The Redd Blog Newsletter — Issue #1
The Other Half: Fiction
When I’m not writing about sports or putting out the newsletter, I write fiction. My novel Close to the Line is out now on Kindle — a story about the lines people carry around, the ones they won’t cross, and the ones they skirt long enough that crossing stops feeling like a choice. You can read more about it on the book page.
Operations Experience That Shows Up in the Work
Before freelancing, I coordinated fleets, vendors, routing, and after-hours emergencies at Tiger Truck Line, then moved through operations and customer service roles including Casey’s, plus multi-provider medical office administration. None of that shows up in a byline, but it shows up in how I work: I hit deadlines, I ask the right clarifying questions up front, and I don’t need hand-holding on a content calendar.
That operations instinct also shapes what I write about. I turned a $3,000 transmission repair into a researched argument for county liability — read it here: Should You Be Able to Sue the County for Road Damage? I Think Yes.
Where I Can Help
- Sports writing & commentary — features, recaps, hot takes, analysis
- Newsletter strategy & writing — structure, voice, growth, monetization
- Operations-minded content — process writing, small business and logistics topics
- Editing & proofreading — tightening other people’s copy without losing their voice
Let’s Work Together
Tell me about the project — sports content, a newsletter, or something in between — and I’ll get back to you within a couple of days.