As an Author Coach, I bring to life the stories my clients want to tell. While I do enjoy fiction, helping someone recount and artistically express their own personal stories provides much more satisfaction. Essentially, clients get to be heard in such a permanent way. Once it is published, it is real. The moment Kawaya Haynes, fitness influencer and first-time author, held her book for the first time, her story became legendary. Her life was now a physical, tangible item to be shared and learned from. This is something that could live on well beyond her natural life and through someone somewhere be remembered.

The road to publishing can seem daunting to new authors and I dare not say that it is easy. Everyone’s journey is different and each one has different obstacles to overcome. Kawaya was great to work with and very coachable, even while reliving traumatic experiences. To conquer the battles we faced, it took life coaching, interviewing, and organizational skills that not every author coach or co-author possesses. When assisting anyone writing a memoir or biography, there’s some coaxing, counseling, and emotional intelligence that gets to be involved so that the client feels understood. In our review sessions, Kawaya would often feel as if she was in a surreal time warp where she was listening to herself tell her own story. I aim for all of my clients to experience their stories this way.

To all reading, know that someone somewhere needs to hear your story the way you tell it. I encourage you to share it.

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