The Boss, the Book Whisperer, and the Power of a Second Chance

There are moments when a conversation becomes more than an exchange of words—when it turns into a remembering. That’s what this experience became for me: a reflection on how music, story, and survival weave together into a life that keeps choosing meaning.

I am a writer, a book coach, a publisher, a mom, and a mimi. I have four kids and four grandkids, and I adore them all. I also carry a lifelong love of music—especially the kind that reminds us who we are and what we’re capable of becoming.

Growing Up Surrounded by Sound

I grew up in a home filled with music and contrast. My family originally comes from Detroit—Ford and Pontiac people, race car drivers and engineers—before my dad brought us out West for work on the Minuteman missile project. I was raised in a small Utah town in a wild Catholic family, and the soundtrack of my childhood depended on which sibling had control of the stereo.

My mom loved Neil Diamond and guitar-based Catholic music. My brothers introduced me to everything from the Beatles and Elton John to Alice Cooper. My older sister—six years ahead of me and absolutely idolized—brought disco into the house. I tried to love it, but when disco faded, and rock returned, I felt like I’d come home.

Rock and roll was the first thing I truly loved.

Concerts, Community, and Belonging

By high school, music wasn’t just something I listened to—it was where I found my people. I dove headfirst into concerts, especially the hard rock and metal scene. Def Leppard. Scorpions. ZZ Top. AC/DC. Sammy Hagar, flying across the stage like gravity didn’t apply to him.

I went to an astonishing number of concerts—well over two hundred during my high school years alone. Every weekend meant another trip to Salt Lake City, another crowd, another moment of shared energy and freedom. The artists let their hair down, and so did we. It felt alive.

Parental approval was… inconsistent. Let’s just say creativity was required.

A Reader Before Anything Else

Before I ever considered myself a writer, I was a reader. I read everything I could get my hands on. I read out the elementary school library. I read out the Bookmobile. I brought home stacks of books—fiction, nonfiction, stories that transported me to other worlds and expanded my sense of what was possible.

I dreamed about being a writer one day, living in the mountains with a cat and a dog, writing books. But I didn’t think I was “cool enough” for that life. I didn’t believe I belonged there.

Life had other plans.

The Experience That Changed Everything

In college, I was a classic overachiever—pushing hard, working constantly, trying to prove my worth through achievement. I worked three jobs while attending school full-time: construction, a gas station night shift, and waitressing. I was exhausted, depressed, failing classes, failing relationships, and quietly unraveling.

What I didn’t understand at the time was how deeply the stories we tell ourselves shape our bodies.

My body began to break down. I developed ulcers and fissures in my colon. Sepsis followed. I didn’t know what was happening—only that something was terribly wrong. After a rapid and terrifying decline, I collapsed and was rushed into emergency surgery. Doctors drained a massive infection from my body. Then, while trying to save me, an antibiotic I didn’t know I was allergic to began killing me.

I survived.

During that time, I experienced something that still defies language: overwhelming light and unconditional love. It was so complete it shattered the story I had been living inside—the story that said I was unworthy, broken, insignificant.

That moment rewrote my life.

Falling in Love with the Human Soul

After that, the way I saw people changed. I could see beyond circumstances, mistakes, and labels. I saw souls—brilliant, wounded, resilient, capable of transformation.

Not long after, I began working with young people through the YWCA and later with Community Learning Centers—many of them coming from generations of gang involvement. I listened to their stories. I treated them with respect. I wrote down their words.

When I was asked to write the stories of the kids who were doing well—who were breaking cycles and choosing something different—I fell in love with storytelling in a whole new way.

I had always loved stories as a reader. Now I loved them as a witness.

Watching someone realize they are the captain of their own soul—that they have agency, choice, and a future—is nothing short of miraculous.

Discovering Bruce Springsteen in Detroit

I didn’t grow up steeped in Bruce Springsteen’s music. I discovered him later, on a visit back to Detroit. I went to a concert not knowing what to expect—and left completely changed.

Even from the farthest seats, the energy was electric. Everyone knew every word. The crowd sang together as if it were sacred. At one point, Bruce invited everyone to sit down while he played quietly, only to bring the stadium back to its feet moments later.

He played for 4.5 hours.

It remains one of the most extraordinary live experiences of my life—a masterclass in presence, endurance, and connection.

Choosing the Sacred Yes—and the Sacred No

As my career unfolded, I became drawn to stories of darkness transformed into hope. I wrote about former extremists, about children of unimaginable circumstances, about people who refused to let their origins define their endings.

At one point, I was offered a project that promised money but glorified harm. I was a single mother trying to provide. The offer was tempting—and I said no.

Because by then, I knew my calling.

Days later, a different story arrived—one rooted in pain, yes, but also in healing and choice. That book went on to change lives, appear on Oprah, and remain meaningful for decades. Saying no made room for the work I was meant to do.

Creating Space for Others to Tell Their Stories

When hundreds of people began asking me to write their life stories, I realized something important: what they truly wanted was not just a book. They wanted to be heard. They wanted to understand their lives. They wanted meaning.

I couldn’t write every story—but I could create a place where people could learn to tell their own.

That realization led to the creation of the Inspired Writers Retreat—an immersive experience designed to help people uncover their voice, dismantle impostor syndrome, and finally believe that their story matters. In small groups, in a safe and playful environment, writers do the deep work of healing, craft, and courage.

Again and again, I watch people stop saying, “Who would want to read this?” and start saying, “This matters.”

What I Know for Sure

Every one of us is on an epic journey. We have crossed thresholds. We have faced dragons. We have survived things we once thought would end us.

Our mess can become our message.Our pain can become purpose.And our story—when shared—can become medicine.

We are not our circumstances. We are our choices.

And at any moment, we are allowed to write a new chapter.

We are never stuck.We are never unworthy.And it is never too late for something incredibly epic to begin.

Your Story Is Calling—Will You Answer?

If something in this story stirred you—if you felt that quiet nudge that says there’s more I want to say—that isn’t an accident.

The Inspired Writers Retreat is a sacred, immersive space created for people who know they have a story inside them but aren’t sure how to bring it to the page… or into the world. This isn’t about perfection, credentials, or having a “big enough” story. It’s about finally giving yourself permission to be heard.

For three and a half days, you’ll step away from the noise and into a supportive, intimate environment where your story is honored. You’ll receive guidance, powerful experiential exercises, and the kind of insight that unlocks both craft and courage. You’ll leave with clarity, momentum, and a deeper trust in your own voice.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign—this is it.

Come write with us. Come heal through story. Come remember who you are and what you’re here to share.

Your story matters. And the world is waiting for it.

Learn more at www.InspiredWritersRetreat.com.