A Writer With A Lens

UnTethered

Creative Expression Distilled Into Words—Capturing Imagination in Prose.

I am more than a passenger of the past, though my therapist might disagree—and I'm paying her $200 an hour to disagree with me professionally. People sometimes ask if I look back too much. Of course I look back! I also look forward, to the left, to the right, up and down, in between; which explains why I'm perpetually disoriented and walk into at least one lamppost every other week. Near and far—I'm basically a human periscope who’s quite introverted. And for the first time, I'm also really looking inside, which is terrifying because what if there's nothing in there? Or worse, what if it's just a smaller version of me looking back, equally confused?

My Manifesto

"Born from chaos. Forged in fire. Built for impact."

  • Agility over rigidity
    We move like rivers, not statues. Bend, flex, flow.

  • Iteration over perfection
    We build, break, rebuild — each round sharper than the last.

  • Luck over control
    We leave space for accidents, miracles, and all the messy beauty in between.

  • Thinking like an artist; building like a craftsman
    Heart in the brushstroke. Hands in the mud.

  • Curiosity over ego
    We ask more than we tell. We wonder more than we assume.

  • Momentum over hesitation
    A bad start beats a perfect delay. We jump, we swim, we figure it out midair.

  • Marks over trophies
    We care less about awards and more about the scars we earn along the way.

  • Soul over polish
    The work should ‘feel’ something before it ‘sells’ something.

The Founder’s File

A Note From The Wordsmith-In-Chief

“Written in the shadows; meant to leave a mark“

I was born in the Philippines and raised in the States—somewhere between island rhythm and American grit.

My first hustle wasn’t writing. It was surviving. Learning how to listen sharp, speak clear, and write just enough to stay dangerous.

Eventually, I found my weapon: words.

I’ve written for enterprise software giants and ghostwritten for founders who’ll never say my name—but who cashed in off every sentence I spun. I’ve drafted cybersecurity decks by day and poetic manifestos by night. Crafted copy for wellness brands, tech upstarts, and people chasing revolutions in pixels and prose.

Storytelling is my way in. Strategy is the getaway car.

These days, I run Black Ink Ops—a covert crew of wordsmiths, creatives, and clarity junkies. We work in the shadows to shape messaging, write like we mean it, and help bold brands say what matters before the competition figures out how.

This isn’t marketing. This is literary warfare.

Welcome to the first Ink Brief. Come for the insight. Stay for the subtext.

In precision and poetry,

Allen Salazar
Wordsmith-In-Chief, Black Ink Ops

My Workflow

"The way we work is as important as the work we do." —Unknown

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do." —Steve Jobs

How We Work Together

“Every mark we make is a scar; a spark; a story…“


Mark 1: The Huddle

We jump on a call.

You tell me what’s keeping you up at night.

I listen. I dig. I ask the kind of questions you don’t expect.

We figure out if we’re building a paper airplane or a battleship.

If it feels right, we shake hands (the virtual kind) and get to work.

Mark 2: The First Fire

I disappear for a bit.

Not because I’m ghosting you — because I’m building the first fire.

Sketching, scribbling, wrecking, rebuilding.

This is messy work. Good work.

Ideas come hot, raw, wrong, right.

The first draft is a little wild. That’s the point.

Mark 3: Show & Tell w/ Style

We jump back on a call.

I show you what’s cooking — the good, the great, the still-figuring-it-out.

I walk you through the thinking behind it all.

You don’t just see the work; you feel it.

We talk, poke, prod, pull it apart together.

Mark 4: The Refinery

You circle up your team.

You throw tomatoes, roses, or both.

You tell me what’s landing and what’s falling flat.

I head back to the shop, sleeves rolled up,

and hammer the damn thing into something even sharper.

Agility.

Iterative.

Alive.

Mark 5: The Big Send

We button it up.

You get the final draft, pressed and polished but never overcooked.

It still has a heartbeat.

You launch it into the world — knowing it was shaped with sharp

eyes, steady hands, and a spark you can’t fake.

Then? We grab a drink. Or start the next big thing.