I finished my keynote and relaxed into the audience Q&A that the organizers asked me to do. An audience member in the back raised his hand and asked, “Who is a CEO I particularly admire for their storytelling skills?” 

My phone rang at 10:36 am PT last Wednesday. It was my husband, Patrick, from inside the house. I answered, wondering if he had fallen and couldn’t get up.

Listen to the blog here. In my early 30s, I lived in Seattle, had a good job, a great social circle of friends, and owned a condo. Generally, things were excellent. But I was restless and really wanted to be back in the mountains. (You can read the full, not very long story here.) The short version […]

Listen to the blog here. A question I’m often asked is how to know how much detail is too much in your story. Of course, the answer is “that depends,” which is my least favorite answer, so let’s explore this. Stories hinge on moments. It’s a helpful lens to keep in mind when crafting your […]

Are you skilled at handling tough conversations, or do you tend to avoid them? I prefer to avoid them altogether. I’m tough conversation-avoidant. Some are tough conversation-relishers. (It’s my article, and I can make up words if I want to.) I dread conversations like when you have to address someone about subpar performance; you need […]

Listen to the blog here. I want to talk about summer reads, guilty pleasures, and the community that is built from “easter eggs.” Let’s start with one of my guilty pleasures: Following Instagram influencers for fashion, wellness, and generally to keep up with the “kids.” One of those is Taylor Owen (and her now-fiancé James Neal), who […]

I wrote an article about AI and it needed editing. I felt lazy. So I decided to ask Claude to edit it then I had a better idea. I had a conversation with Claude about authenticity, creativity, and why your stories make you irreplaceable.   Me: Claude, I’ve been avoiding writing about AI. The whole AI conversation felt like […]

My newsletter is late, and my inspiration is absent. So here I sit in the student union on a college campus in between meetings, fingers poised over my laptop keyboard, waiting for the muse to arrive. Supposedly, the muses don’t show up unless you do the work of showing up first.  I pause, fingers hovering […]

 “Where there is no thought, there is no problem.” – Byron Katie, Loving What Is

In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield shines a light on what he calls “resistance.” It’s the thing that keeps us from doing what we dream of doing.