Meet Christine Wolf | Writing Coach & Founder of The Write-to-Heal Retreat

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christine Wolf and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christine, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’ve lived my entire life in the Chicagoland area, so my appreciation for the Arizona weather runs DEEP. Winters near Lake Michigan are definitely not easy, so when I realized that not everyone has to endure them, I wanted to cry a little bit! Still, they prepared me for a lot of who I am today.

My earliest family years were also quite trying, but just like Chicago winters, those tough experiences steeled me for many of life’s challenges, strengthening my resolve to advocate for and empower women. For anyone who’s experienced trauma like I have, you know how different the world can look in its aftermath. I’ve tried to take my perspective and use it to help others, validating the pain left in the wake of their own traumatic experiences and helping them reframe it. I’ve found that doing so leads them to feel a greater sense of agency, purpose, and connection with others.

I started my career in advertising, but I’d always been a writer at heart. After earning a Master of Arts in Teaching and working in classrooms and curriculum planning for a decade, I took a year off to write a children’s book and never looked back. Since then, I’ve written another book (a political biography coming out in 2023) and became a writing coach. These days, I help writers of all genres and levels of experience bring their stories to the page, and I love it. Every day is unique, and every client has a unique set of hurdles and blocks to work through.

I’ve always been someone who loves to untie knots — especially the tight and complicated ones — so it just seems fitting that I now help others to unravel and deconstruct their stories before helping to weave them back together.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Since writing has always been my refuge, it made perfect sense to call my business Writers’ Haven LLC.

I offer 1:1 in-person and online writing coaching for memoirists and non-fiction writers (personal essays, op-eds, columns and blogs, speeches, dissertations, and the like) as well as writing space rentals for writers in the Chicagoland area. I also run Write To Heal Retreats, including our next one in Carefree, Arizona May 9-13, 2023 (www.WriteToHealRetreats.com).

During the retreat, we’ll spend 5 Days and 4 Nights at the incredible Civana Wellness Resort & Spa in Carefree, Arizona. We’ll offer 2 daily wellness classes from a class schedule of 100+ weekly options and a focus on writing and wellness workshops that lift blocks and create space for increased physical, mental, and interpersonal health.

Unlike my earlier career moves in marketing and teaching that followed prescribed paths, every step of my writing career has been driven by instinct. And, by following my heart, I’ve found more personal and financial success than anything I’ve ever done. My daily work is enjoyable and rewarding, and I rise to challenges now, rather than dreading them.

It wasn’t easy to find such a satisfying career, but the best thing I did was notice what I liked about my earlier jobs, rather than focus on what I didn’t. For example, the best parts of my positions in advertising and teaching were the stories I heard and the people I met. Now, when I work with people and their stories all day, my career as a writing coach makes perfect sense. I’d have never figured out the highlights, though, without “trying on” different roles and seeing what felt right.

I’ve known people who hate their jobs but don’t shift to something different. To be sure, in some situations, they may not have the option to make a change, but for many, fear is the only thing holding them back. For these people, it often feels easier to complain than to risk making a shift. But to them, I offer this: What would you rather do — 1) stick with the misery and hope someone else changes things, or 2) be your own agent of change? How empowering would it feel to improve your own life? Do you think waiting for someone else to create the life you yearn for is worth the emptiness you currently feel? Is this much unhappiness worth staying for?

If you’re unhappy in what you’re currently doing, welcome that knowledge and listen to it, rather than fight it. Write about it for 20 minutes a day for a few days, offering yourself the kind of advice a friend might suggest and offering yourself the compassion and understanding you deserve. Then, make a list of the things (if any) you DO like about your job. Finally, take a small step toward something that sounds more like the kind of thing you’d want to do every day. Pretty soon, those small steps lead to big, strong strides toward a satisfying career.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d book a week at Civana Wellness Resort & Spa for SURE. We’d pick 2 wellness classes every day (included in our stay) and maybe treat one another to a spa treatment after hiking nearby Pinnacle Peak. We’d swing through nearby Cave Creek for a change of scenery, then head back to the sanctuary of the resort for some delicious, healthy dining and the most peaceful, healing, and compassionate atmosphere I’ve ever known.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ll never know who handed me a journal when I was 7 years old (a parent? grandparent? friend? aunt? uncle?) but I want to thank them for giving me a tool I could use to document hope, opportunities, and belief in myself. My earliest journal entry was at 7 years old, and I’ve never stopped writing since. I took to the practice naturally and eventually became a journalist, but even if I hadn’t been inclined to be a writer, what I most appreciated about that journal was the tangible space to dump my feelings — particularly the tough ones. What a gift it was to unburden myself and put my challenging thoughts onto a page that I could “put away” if needed. That journal was the first of many I’ve used to process and celebrate the moments of my life, documenting my experiences and finding a safe place to reflect on them. So, thank you to the generous soul who handed me that journal. It’s physical evidence of my existence, my views on life, and my growth as a writer and a human.

Website: http://christinewolf.com/write-to-heal-retreats

Instagram: @tinywolf1

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinewolfwriter/

Twitter: @tinywolf1

Facebook: @christinewolfwriter

Youtube: @christinewolf

Other: www.christinewolf.com

Image Credits
Lynn Trautmann, Christine Wolf, and Civana Wellness Resort & Spa