Callum Downs, the nomad who’ll revolutionize our English written world
You’ll quickly guess it while reading this portrait, Callum and I are good friends. I’m the one who actually made him join StreetLib as I saw he’d be a good fit as our English native copywriting inspector. Most recent add in our tribe, Callum started full steam ahead to review all our English content, investing energy in our website and tools to make sure our messages are conveyed the best way possible and, of course, proofreading our emails, blog posts, presentations, etc. whenever possible.
“I was always intrigued by what [AC] did, and when she offered to work with the team, I jumped at the chance. In short, my job is to make sure all of StreetLib’s English content is faultless.”
When I’m not travelling here and there, I live in Lyon (France) and work in a coworking space where I first met Callum. Younger than everyone and with a foreign accent, he is kind of a mascot there (I know he’ll read this so I’m writing it mostly to tease him, although I believe he kind of likes it ;) ).
When asked where he’s from, Callum will answer “the United Kingdom”. There is a reason he won’t name a specific nation: he actually spent his childhood travelling from one city to another, was born in Wales, has a Scottish mother and an English father.
He didn’t stop his expeditions there and now is a nomad worker, juggling countries, jobs and languages like a modern Enrico Rastelli.
“ I would say that my life revolves around languages, music, travel and sport. I love learning new languages — I did a degree in Arabic and French — and want to learn lots more. Luckily, that means I will have to travel lots.”
Going freelance almost right from the start, Callum has been translating and copywriting — among other things — about tourism, web technologies, and diverse cultural topics. A perfect mix for our web oriented book project.
“I write copy that incorporates all the latest SEO best practices and is friendly to both humans and search engines.”
You’ll find out more about Callum’s professional profile on his website.
Darts player, field hockey player, pub-quiz enthusiast and music buff (no French pun intended), Callum manages to be the typical UK laid-back bloke and to combine it with a more international personality made of travels and professional adventures.
“My resolution this year was to spend more time travelling and working. I would like to visit more countries, making the most of freelance life to discover new cultures and meet new people. I think the next destinations will be in Eastern Europe.”
Bonus fun fact: Callum once played French Scrabble with his two French flatmates… and won. Respect.
