I write, obsess about dogs, and tell personal stories on stage. At 56 years old I decided to go back to school and get a master’s degree in nonfiction writing, pursuing a lifelong dream of becoming an author. Five years later, I got up on stage and told my first true and personal story to an audience of 500. It was time I confronted the shame of my stutter.

I’ve been teaching The Heart of Story for 10 years to anyone interested in making meaning out of their personal stories. It’s what we do as human beings. We need our stories to make sense. I also teach memoir, focusing on the lens through which we tell our stories.