#GirlsRock: An interview with author, freelance writer, and editor Crystal Schwanke 🍳

It’s iconic.

Do you know what it means to be a writer?

I’ve known kindergarteners who make a claim on it and grown people who are reluctant to articulate it. They both do the work. But what it boils down to is how you feel when you’re doing the actual writing.

Meet Crystal Schwanke — editor, freelancer, and writer.

Crystal and I struck up a conversation on LinkedIn a good while back and stuck with it for this interview. It’s aged well! Please give her a warm JAD welcome. You’ll enjoy learning about her journey as much as I have.

#GirlsRock: An interview with fiction book editor Kristen Hamilton 📚

I have a book in the works.

Okay. Four books. If one can get through to see daylight, it’ll be a miracle. (Baby sea turtles face a similar fate.)

#AtoZChallenge: M is for MBA: A #GirlsRock interview with RN, BSN, MBA Lauren Boldizar

Photo by Liam Tucker on Unsplash

When I first met Lauren Boldizar, she was a writer.

But she evolved. She was also a runner (still is) and adds aspects to her life the way I add toppings to my tacos — with careful consideration, yet unyielding enthusiasm. One day, after she checked in to say happy birthday on LinkedIn, I asked what she’d been up to.

Oh, just went back to school for my MBA, she said, as nonchalant as I would announced I’d gone back to the taco buffet while you blinked. She’s today’s interview for #GirlsRock, and I think you’ll like her. She tells her story much better than I do, so check it out. Give her a warm JAD welcome.

#AtoZChallenge: K is for Katherine Ward, copywriter and grief and loss blogger — a #GirlsRock interview 💔

Just reflecting over here …

I love a story in which our hero not only navigates adversity but also discovers ways to make the world better.

Katherine Ward is such a hero. This talented blogger and copywriter’s life changed when her father died in 2017. Losing a parent, I contend, is one of the most permanent events in a person’s life, having lost my father in 2000.

Katherine turned her own grief into a forum to help others who’d suffered losses, too.

I’m proud to introduce Katherine Ward to you today in #GirlsRock. Please give her a warm JAD welcome! She’s an inspiration of strength and kindness.

#AtoZChallenge: J is for Johnston – an interview with writer Kate Johnston ✍️

So, I’m a little behind.

I’ll keep the pace in this #AtoZChallenge, without shortchanging any posts. I want to make sure to give this one especially it’s due. Today’s post is an interview with writer and writing coach Kate Johnston.

She’s a published author who devotes time to making scribes like you and me even better.

She believes in a principle I’d love to make a staple in my life. That if we make a daily practice of positive thinking, we can enhance our creativity and lessen the weight of obstacles that have held us back. (Writing #GratitudeAndShit every Friday is a good start!)

#AtoZChallenge: E is for Energy, Facets of: An interview with crystal healer and healing jewelry maker Amanda Fitzsimmons, for #GirlsRock 💎

It all started with a book for Amanda Fitzsimmons.

That book led her to her first crystal. Let’s pause here. How many of us have hit an intersection in life at which we know we’re not in the right spot but we’re open to avenues to get there?

That’s where Amanda found herself, and the book, and the crystal.

That turned into more books, more crystals, and a realization of her healing power. Today’s #GirlsRock interview is of a different sort. She went from rock-star dreams as a little one to rocks that hold power.

#AtoZChallege: C is for Cassie Klein, actress and model; an interview for #GirlsRock

Don’t merely project the fruit. BE the fruit.

I don’t remember how I met Cassie Klein.

Suddenly, we were friends on social media. Just a dad, with a blog. Just a woman, with a budding modeling career.

And a background in the National Guard. What’s more — what makes her an incredible choice for #GirlsRock and a perfect voice to support — is wisdom and drive that defy her age. No, that’s not right … drive and wisdom aren’t exclusive to the aged.

Rather, it’s for those who both have it within them, and seek to discover where the combination can lead them in life.

🌲 #GirlsRock: An interview with educator/organizer/naturalist/graduate degree candidate Chelsea Sloggy

Photo by Hayden Pacheco

I met Chelsea Sloggy in a coffee shop.

That might sound odd to those who know me and my Coke Zero ways, but I’ve been in a lot of coffee shops in the past year or so. That’s where realtors like to meet, and I meet realtors to write freelance stories for a local magazine.

I’d just wrapped up an interview and stopped to sugar up my cup – and 30 minutes later, I had a new friend after an intriguing conversation.

Chelsea is an enthusiastic environmental educator, community organizer, and naturalist. I stole that from her LinkedIn profile because I struggled to categorize her with any semblance of brevity. She cares a lot, she does a lot, and she teaches.

👩‍🏫 #GirlsRock: An interview with publisher Elizabeth Denham

How many ideas – GREAT ideas – are milling around in your head?

I’ll wait … okay, so it’s not important to count them. But, why are they still ideas? I’m not passing judgment. I’ve got many crammed in my cranium too (and some aren’t so great.) When you can put an idea into motion, though …

That’s exactly what today’s guest on #GirlsRock did.

Meet Elizabeth Denham. Life has taken her on quite a ride, from the classroom and a first marriage to rediscovery, a second marriage and a new career. but it’s all led to her role as publisher of Franchise Woman magazine. Please give her a warm CD welcome.

⚽ #AtoZChallenge: W is for Carra Wheat, director of ticket operations for Charlotte Independence soccer (for #GirlsRock)

photo credit: icedsoul photography .:teymur madjderey via photopin cc

Soccer, like lots of stuff, is at a standstill.

One thing I look forward to: Getting back to the sidelines this fall to coach the boys at Liberty Prep. Also, to see Hayden play at Piedmont International University. One more thing to fit in the schedule: Watching Camdyn play with Charlotte Independence.

It’s a new club formed when three organizations – Lake Norman Soccer Club, where two of my girls played, included – merged into a super club. It’s been fun so far, and Camdyn will play at a high level in the fall – hopefully. Lots of home for lots of things right now, right?