My Substack

I am going to go against what some pretty wise yogis and spiritual leaders teach about energy levels and positivity, and say this: You need to get mad about something. Really mad. Red-faced, sweaty, dripping-with-cortisol-and-adrenaline mad. Because…

I remember leaving an English class one afternoon, bounding down the concrete stairwell of Northern Kentucky University, and thinking: I am going to do big things. I am going to write things that matter. I have “the thing.” Not arrogance or…

I came of age in the 1980s, and although I wasn’t afraid of big hair, I was quite afraid of computers. Let me rephrase: I was afraid of looking stupid because I didn’t understand computers. One day in fourth grade, Ms. Topmiller told us we were so…

I’ve spent a pretty sizeable chunk of the last week inside a hospital room. My dad fell a few weeks ago (why do Kettelers keep falling?), which led to complications. There were some days of serious crankiness, but he’s doing well now and will…

I just spent two days with the most fantastic people—clients of mine I’m collaborating with on a project. I knew the shell of their story before I met them in person. But I didn’t know about the risk part (not really). You can’t get a sense of…