Mads’ letter.
I received this letter from author Mads Hennen, which delighted me to no end! After all, it’s not every day that I’m called a lion tamer! It was gifted to me so that I could share with you.
THIS IS THE POWER OF COACHING.
Thank you, Mads, for making my day with this.
“Kristi Amdahl isn’t a life coach, she’s a lion tamer.”
I had a lion inside, prowling, ferocious, and daunting; I wrote my first novel amid the throes of brutal insomnia, the story very much storm born, and time stamped my state of mind as I explored the complexity of captivity through my main characters. I became a very proud creative parent as soon as I held the finished manuscript in my hands. Mine was a Pandemic baby, and the themes expressed in my prose reflected what I knew resonated with us all, during such a drastic time—but marketing my book? Marketing of any kind?
I felt that I had stumbled into authorhood after publishing my novel and when I faced the reality that I would have to market advertise tell the world about my book? That is when the lion entered the ring, chuffing with intimidating self-doubt and questions like, ‘is my work good enough?’ ‘Can I do this myself?’ ‘How do I even do this?’
The stereotypical lion tamer wields a wooden chair and a cracking, cruel whip. It seems only fair, the lion is bigger, stronger, and deadly! But Kristi leaped into the ring, dismissing the old lion tamer who would have yelled at and whipped the beast with judgment, ridicule, or even shame! Kristi offered not just a hand for the lion made of self-doubt to smell, but an ear. Kristi showed me that my lion was not the king of the savannah, but instead it was an itty bitty kitten that I could—and should—easily scoop up and nurture. My insecurities and resistance weren’t the formidable forces I had built them up to be; with the help of Kristi’s keen clarity, I realized that the mental roadblocks by which I had felt so confined were ones I had built myself, so I can take them down!
I considered myself to be allergic to the very prospect of promotion until my coaching session with Kristi. I can only commend her perspective and wisdom. In a world full of ‘influencers’ and ‘content creators’, Kristi Amdahl is the real deal. You will not have a more valuable 90 minutes this year!