Kayla: Welcome back to the Designer Practice Podcast, and I'm your host, Kayla Das.
Are you an aspiring MSW student in Canada or the United States?
Along your search through MSW application resources, you may have heard about a company called MSW Helper, and wondered, what is it? And how does it help MSW applicants?
If you haven't heard of MSW Helper before, you absolutely should stay tuned because it's probably one of the most unique services that I've heard out there.
MSW Helper helps MSW applicants maximize their chances in getting accepted into competitive MSW programs. In fact, in 2024, 89 percent of their clients got accepted into at least one MSW program.
That's super, super cool.
So, without further ado, let me introduce today's guest, Michelle Bruxer, social worker, fellow MSW graduate, and owner of MSW Helper. And she is going to share what MSW Helper is and how it can help MSW applicants.
Hi Michelle, welcome to the show. I'm so glad to have you here today.
Michelle: Hey Kayla, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Kayla: M ichelle, before we dive into today's episode, please introduce yourself, where you're from, and tell us a little bit about your social work journey and MSW Helper.
Michelle: Yeah, so my name is Michelle, and I'm the founder of MSW Helper, which is a platform dedicated to helping aspiring social workers apply to Master of Social Work programs.
I started MSW Helper after going through the process of applying to MSW programs myself, and realizing how little support there was for me in that process. I remember, in particular, I went to my school's academic writing center for support with my applications. While it was helpful for basic grammar edits and principles, I had a lot of questions that were specific to social work that I wasn't able to get answers to.
And so, I applied feeling really not confident about the applications that I had submitted and if I was on the right track. So, after I got accepted to my Master of Social Work, I kind of started helping people behind me in school with their applications. And over the years, that was something that I did, on the side while I was in graduate school and while I was working as a social worker.
And every single year, MSW Helper grew and grew as people learned about the work that I was doing. And now six years later, we have a team of application advisors who offer personal statement editing services and application support, as well as an online community and a lot of free resources to help applicants. To date, we have helped over 1,500 applicants apply to the Master of Social Work programs.
Kayla: That is absolutely amazing. And I just need to tell listeners like how I come to meet you. So, as listeners know, I'm like a content creator through and through. So, between my podcast, my blogs, I'm always creating things. And I kept seeing your content really everywhere. Like you have really found a specific niche, that's very niched, yet so important.
And I just said to myself, I have to reach out to Michelle, she's in this space, like, she's doing such great work. And I'm so happy to have you here on the podcast because I just know when I went into my MSW program. Now I will give a disclaimer, I did only apply for one and I did get accepted on the first try. But the stress, the worry, the time I spent on my personal statement and my application was significant, and I'm sure any MSW applicant either will know or anyone that has went through the MSW process knows that you put a lot of work into it.
But you don't always know what people are expecting, like every university is a little different. And like you said, you could go to writing centers in the universities. But at the end of the day, MSW programs are looking for specific information, although grammar is important, they want to see what your writing style is. At the end of the day, it's more about critical analysis. It's more about reflexivity. It's more about social work-related aspects that a writing center is probably not going to know a whole lot about or at least consider when they're providing feedback to you.
Michelle: For sure. And that's really what we offer is having that really in-depth social work knowledge. And all of our application advisors have recently been through that exact same process. So, we totally understand that stress of managing different applications and trying to tell your story. Often the hardest part is like disseminating all the things that you know, and your different experiences into an often very short essay.
I remember when I applied, I had questions about am I allowed to talk about personal experiences that motivated me to pursue social work or is that inappropriate? and I had lots of questions like that where I didn't know if I was on the right track. And yeah, definitely content creation is a big part of what we do at MSW Helper.
The things that drives me is being that resource that I wish that I had when I applied. So even if somebody does not work with us directly, I really do create content with that person in mind and wanting to serve anybody who stumbles across MSW Helper to answer some of those questions that I had when I applied. And really to fill that gap that didn't exist.
Kayla: And that actually goes into one of my questions is how did you come up with such a brilliant business idea? I am curious, when you think about starting MSW Helper, like, how did it begin? I know why it began, but how did it begin?
Michelle: Yeah, so I always say I did not set out to start a business with MSW Helper. It truly just started with me seeing an opportunity to help people. And like I said, wanting to fill that gap. MSW Helper didn't even have a name for the first four years that I was technically doing it. It was purely just something I was doing as like a side hustle while I was in grad school and while I was working as a social worker.
I really just wanted to be that service that I needed when I applied. I've always been a very entrepreneurial person. So, I have tried many things over the years and the personal statement editing and that service is the one thing that just stuck, and people were continuously interested in so I just stuck with it over the years and it grew very organically.
Kayla: And this makes me think about just social work in general. Often, we hear this traditional view of social work and anything outside of that isn't social work. However, this podcast is all about designing a practice that you love. And I use the word practice because that, you know, feels right to most people, but really, it could be any business like MSW Helper. And you are a true example that social workers can be doing so many things.
Often people think, if I don't fall within this traditional social work model, then I'm not doing social work. However, I want to give you a definition, from the International Federation of Social Workers. And it's really interesting because again, it shows that we can be doing so many different things and we can have so many different business structures.
So according to the International Federation of Social Workers, social work is defined as an I quote, "a practice-based profession, and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people" (2014).
But many non-traditional practices or businesses like yours, are helping people get the education that they need to continue to build that social cohesion in whatever niche that is, right? And I think us talking on the podcast today is challenging social norms within social work itself.
In social work, that's a big part of it is challenging the social norms or status quo. And that's really why we're here today as well. Because when done through a social work lens, business practices, can empower others and liberates our clients, whether they be MSW applicants, therapists starting a private practice, or a client seeking a therapist.
Michelle: Yeah, so I totally agree. Actually, when I quit my job as a social worker and started doing MSW Helper full-time, I had a lot of mindset issues about I didn't feel that the work that I was doing was legitimate in the social work field. I don't think that the work that I'm doing fits nicely into a box that we're often encouraged to go into, right? We often view ourselves as like a micro level social worker or a macro level social worker.
And I found in the first couple months of doing my business full time that I felt that I had to find a way to stay in real social work. And even to this day, I get asked by people, are you planning to go back to a social work job, or questions about whether I'm going to continue to do this full time? And I totally understand why people ask that question, because I had kind of the same mindset myself.
And over time, I realized that, what I'm doing, although it doesn't fit into maybe some of the areas that we are trained to go into, I am using my social work degree in a way to help people. In particular, the work that we're doing is filling some of those gaps that exist that make it harder for some people to break into graduate school. A lot of our clients face barriers in academic settings, and so through our work, we're kind of bridging that gap for applicants.
And I think there are so many opportunities for social workers to start niche businesses like the one that I have. But we don't get a lot of education about what is possible. And I think because the world is changing so quickly, we don't really know what's possible yet. We're basically taught, you graduate, you get a job. Or if you want to go and do your own thing, you start a private practice.
But I think that there is so much untapped potential to use our degrees in very unique ways. Social workers are really, really good at finding gaps and different ways to help people, but we're not necessarily taught some of those business skills.
Kayla: I agree with you 100%, and I think that if I do one thing in this world, it's to advocate for social workers, for therapists, for our listeners, that you can do so many things. Now, not everyone wants to start a business, and that is totally fine, right? Like, it is okay, to be a therapist, or to be a crisis manager, or wherever it is you want to be as a social worker or a therapist.
However, you don't have to feel like just because there's these traditional routes that you have to stay within that parameter if that doesn't feel right to you. And I know when I first started doing business coaching and even like this podcast. Similar to you, I almost felt like, am I a social worker anymore? Is this going outside of social work? I even have some social work students starting with our agency. And I even had some questions when I was looking for social work students. Is this social work? Now, fortunately, their institutions understand that it is for so many reasons. But we as practitioners are looking at it from one lens, which isn't an incorrect lens, but it doesn't mean that outside of that lens, we can't be advocating, supporting, helping, even nurturing other people, within different contexts than what we traditionally know to be true within our programs and just from what society tells us.
Michelle: For sure. And one thing I didn't really get into is when I was working full time in my job, I was really going through a period of burnout, specifically because I was struggling with just the constraints of the 9 to 5 schedule. And I knew that entrepreneurship was probably going to be the better fit for me. And at the time I thought that private practice was pretty much the only option.
The other issue with private practice for me is that I am more of an introverted person and I really value time freedom. So, I knew that role wasn't going to be sustainable for me because I had worked in a therapeutic role before, and as much as I loved the work, it definitely drained me and took a lot out of me, which made it hard in my personal life to kind of have that balance.
So, by creating a business that leveraged my strengths, I was really able to carve out a path that really worked for my personality and for my lifestyle. So even with the services that I offer, I really designed it in a way that works for me and doesn't force me to be in calls or in meetings for many hours a week. Actually, for the first couple years before I hired a team, I didn't do any one-to-one calls as part of my service, everything was done asynchronously, people would send in their documents over email, and we would kind of coordinate that way. And that really gave me the ability to provide that support and help people, but doing it in a way that works well for me.
So, that's something that can be applied probably even in many other social work businesses. And you don't have to necessarily follow the blueprint that you see everybody else doing.
Kayla: And you're filling a gap. And I think that that's a huge piece. And this is where a lot of people develop businesses in general, whether it's social work or not. It's what is a gap that exists in this particular area and how can I fulfill it? And I know that's what you and I are both doing, right?
Like, I create free content that people can access, obviously I get paid from it, right? It's free, but I still get paid. In saying that. It's filling a gap that doesn't exist. And that's what MSW Helper does. Even to this day, you are still the only person that at least I've found in my research that you are the only one doing this. And it's absolutely amazing.
So, let's talk about, what does MSW Helper do and how does it help MSW applicants along the way?
Michelle: Yes, so our main service, kind of the bread and butter of what we do, is editing personal statements. The personal statement is a document that you need to complete as part of the MSW application process, and schools typically want to know about your motivation for pursuing social work.
That document is very challenging to write specifically because there's often a very small word count and you have to try to fit all of your experiences and insights in a cohesive way that really sells yourself. And I think it's really hard for us to talk about ourselves in a positive way.
And the other thing that I have noticed is that there's often a disconnect between what I see when I talk to people face to face versus what they actually write down on paper. When we're face to face, I can clearly see that this person is passionate for social work and would be an amazing social worker.
But then when they actually go to write their personal statement, it doesn't translate the same way. So, our goal is to bridge that gap and make sure that what you write reflects who you are as a person. I strongly believe that as important as the personal statement is, you do not need to be a strong writer to be an amazing social worker.
So, we help with making sure that your story is reflected in the personal statements and reflects who you are as a person. In addition to personal statement editing, we also meet with applicants one to one for application support. And then, we have a community and content to support people.
Kayla: Absolutely amazing. So, you kind of touched on some of the services, but can you list some of the options that people have? And we'll make sure to also link those in the show notes as well. So, what do you provide?
Michelle: Yeah, so we provide our personal statement editing service. We also offer resume editing because that's, usually part of it as well. And then we have one to one consultations where applicants can meet with us as well as a writing course, so I put together pretty much everything that I know about writing a personal statement and put it into a nice package. And then we also have options for applicants to bundle all of those services together if they're looking for more comprehensive support with the application process.
Kayla: Amazing. So, Michelle, do you have any additional advice, insights, or tips for listeners who may be interested in getting into a competitive MSW program, and they either may be taking the steps or maybe not yet taking the steps, but do you have any insights for them?
Michelle: For sure. So, my biggest tip when writing a personal statement is to start with your why. Why are you interested in becoming a social worker? One mistake that I often see in the application is applicants will say, I want to become a social worker because I want to help people. The problem with that response is that it's very generic and it doesn't tell the reader anything about what kind of work you want to do, who you want to work with, or even why you want to become a social worker.
I always say, if you want to help people, why are you becoming a social worker and not a teacher, or a nurse, or any other helping profession? So, you really want to, connect to why you are interested in pursuing social work and what your goal is.
My other big tip is to not regurgitate your resume. I often see people make the mistake of pretty much just writing out in paragraph form what they have done in the past and who they've worked with and what their accomplishments are. But the personal statement really wants you to go deeper than that, and really discuss your insights and why you are motivated to become a social worker and what gap you hope to fill.
Kayla: I love that, and I just think about when I applied, like I said in the beginning of this episode, I applied for one university, and I got in on first try. But my strategy was, how am I going to be different than everybody else? And like you said, if you're just saying, I want to help people, there's probably a thousand applications that say that. That's not going to have you stand out.
You want to be different than everyone else, not the same as everyone else, because you're one of a thousand, one of two thousand, versus one of two, one of five, one of whatever. And there are only so many spaces in any of these programs. And you want the admissions committee to be able to say, Oh! I got to put this one to the side here because this one is unique. This one's different. This one is going to bring something to this program that fulfills our program mandate. Or this person is going to be an amazing social worker for X, Y, and Z. Not that everyone isn't going to be an amazing social worker, but in this person's mind, or people's mind, depending on how many people are viewing it, you want to stand out. And it worked for me.
Michelle: For sure. And that's exactly the strategy you want to take it and you want to really get connected to your why and I guess find your niche, which is the same strategy that we have in our respective businesses, right? What's the reason that people work with MSW Helper? Because we work specifically with social work students and have that background. Same with you're a business coaching, right? Why would they go with you versus another business coach? Will you also bring that social work lens and can support them in their specific needs?
So, with the personal statement, you want to take that similar approach and really discuss what specifically you are hoping to do as a social worker and what gap you are hoping to fill.
Kayla: I love that. So, Michelle, I know you have a free resource that you would love to share with our MSW applicant listeners. Can you tell us what it is and how it can help them?
Michelle: Yeah, so I do have a personal statement template that I'm happy to share with anybody who is thinking about applying to Master of Social Work programs. It's a really simple tool, but it's a great place to start brainstorming some of your thoughts and start getting connected to that why and really putting your different experiences together. I would say if you are interested in applying to social work, that's a great place to start.
So, to sign up for Michelle's free personal statement template, check out kayladas.com/mswhelperpersonalstatementtemplate
Also, I'm going to link all of Michelle's services down in the show notes.
And if you buy any service from MSW helper, you can also use the coupon code KAYLADAS.
So that's KAYLADAS for $10 off any service that she provides.
Michelle, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today to share with us your social work journey, all about MSW Helper, and a few business tips along the way.
Michelle: Thank you so much, Kayla.
Kayla: And thank you everyone for tuning into today's episode. And I hope you join me again soon on the Designer Practice Podcast.
Until next time. Bye for now.
Source:
International Federation of Social Workers. (2014). Global definition of social work. Retrieved from https://www.ifsw.org/what-is-social-work/global-definition-of-social-work/
