Dear Reader,

When we started working together, my soul coach, Lianne, asked me the million dollar question:

If time and resources were not a concern, what are the things you long to do?

I promptly forgot my own answer.

But then yesterday, I called her with BIG news — the kind worth popping something bubbly for. As we talked, she flipped through her notebook... all the way back to our very first call. Five years ago to the day!

Here's what she read back to me:

Coaching. Writing to women I know and love through a regular newsletter. Rhythms like sabbatical. Retreats for women.

These are the rituals that once felt out of reach, and now fill my cup and my days.

I feel so tender toward the part of me that could already see it — could already feel it — long before there was a shred of evidence that making a living this way was even possible.

And guess what? I'd already been working toward that vision for five years before I ever met Lianne. (I just didn't have a soul coach yet — I had a university library card and a habit of signing up for one more training instead.)

Here's what made the difference: devotion.

Ten years, really, of small, iterative, two-steps-forward-three-steps-back moves. Devotion to taking my own desires and hunches seriously, long before I had proof they could add up to something concrete.

What I did not do was wait for time and money to line up. I kept showing up for what was emerging in me — full-time job, tight budget, babysitters who canceled at the worst possible moments, and an inner critic heckling the whole way, wondering if any of it would actually work.

Lianne kept my truth in her notebook. Someone has to keep the notebook.

To our second bite,
Brooke

I'm Brooke Hofsess.

I'm a Midlife Midwife for women who want to start their next chapter from soul, not fear or ego, so they can finally do the work they're meant to do — and actually enjoy it.

You'll find me in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where I live with my husband Dustin, our daughter Thea, two clever border collies, and an ever-growing collection of handmade mugs for Egyptian Licorice Mint tea.

You can read about my journey here.​