Be Bold, Be Magical with Michelle Garside

In this episode, Chief Marketing Officer ⁠Lauren Porté Schwarzfeld⁠ sits down with brand architect and debut author ⁠Michelle Garside⁠ to discuss the magic of making bold moves while writing and promoting your book. If you want some guidance as to how to create an experience that brings your book to life and lights you up, this is the episode for you!

Automatically Transcribed Transcript

Welcome to Write Now, a podcast from Rise Literary about what it takes to write the good fight.

Hi friends, welcome back to season two of Write Now. Today, you get chief marketing officer, me, Lauren Porté Schwarzfeld joined by Michelle Garside. Michelle is a visionary brand architect who has spent the last 15 years transforming personal and corporate identities, crafting brands that resonate at the deepest level.

After leaving a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry, where she built powerhouse brands, she decided to dedicate herself to a more profound mission, helping individuals uncover the soul of their own brand. With a gift for seeing the through line that connects a person's story, purpose, and impact, Michelle has created thousands of personal brands that embody authenticity and alignment. Her debut book comes out in 2027, titled Not Awakened, and we will be shouting from the rooftops all the places where you can order it and see her in person.

Welcome, Michelle. I'm so excited. Michelle also happens to be one of my most favorite people on this wild little planet we're living on.

So I'm so excited that you're here to talk about all things making a book.

Yes, yes. I love it. And Lauren, thank you so much for having me.

I love you so much, and I love all things Rise Books. So what an honor to be on this pod with you, with your community, a community that I adore. So thank you for having me.

I'm so glad you're here. So I think before we get into this, I'll give people a little bit of a background on how we met because I think it kind of paints the picture. I think it's like good to have context on who you're getting information and advice from.

So Michelle and I met at Omega Institute, which is this like magical little slice of heaven in upstate New York. And we were at a retreat that a mutual friend of ours was hosting, and we were going around doing introductions, and we realized, I was there with Kristin, we realized that we had some mutual friends. And like from across the room, we were kind of like, oh, we're supposed to be friends.

And it's now like two and a half years later. But that entire weekend, people kept asking, oh, how'd you guys meet? And we were like, in the introductions, you saw it.

Like that was how we met 10 minutes ago. And so I think there's something inherently sort of outgoing about your personality that makes you really kind of seize a moment.

I do. I seize the moment.

You came over and you were like, hi, we're going to be friends. And I'm so happy you did. I don't know that I always seize a moment like that.

So I just want to preface that in part because I love that story. Thank you very so much and I will literally tell it to every single person we meet together. But I think that it really builds the foundation of, I think, why you're setting yourself up for a really fantastic book launch.

Not just in terms of book sales, because it's literally the one part of the process you actually can't control, but in terms of having fun and feeling good about it.

Yeah. I mean, I can't believe that I got a book deal and I'm writing a book. And I'm an author and there's so much joy and there's so much confidence that I just even get to do this.

It's so abundantly amazing to me that every single thing feels exciting. I am so grateful that I'm not tied up in what it's supposed to look like, or the numbers or anything, even though I have a whole career in that. But for me, I'm like, oh my god, can you believe I'm telling the story about me as an alcoholic?

It's so amazing to me. And literally, I taught a class this morning to the University of Colorado, and one of the students asked me, how do you stay so motivated in your career? How do you keep going?

And I was like, well, I spent so much of my life just binging and purging alone in a room. And so the fact that I'm not that, every day is amazing. Like, truly though, like the fact that I'm not alone in a room, ordering in food and watching Bravo, like still amazes me.

Like, I can't believe that I have this whole life. And so now, like that I get to write my stories and help people through this book, that it's going to be like a big ass book. And I believe it's going to be a big ass book.

So I'm fueled by excitement, truly.

I mean, we talk about that a lot. We talk about, I think a lot of times, people think that writing the book is the hard part. And I'm not going to say that writing a book is easy.

But very often, I think once people finish writing the book, is the time when they're like, okay, I did the hard part and now I would like to hide under the covers.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's interesting writing the book.

So the way that I got this book deal was so magical and like ridiculous, like how it just like does not normally happen. And again, I work with people like helping them get a book deal. And this is not the norm.

And so the way that it started was magical and I was just like surrounded by people that I loved. Like truly an agent asked me, do you want to write a book? Like, can I be your agent?

I like, I love you. I'm like, okay. Like the editor who, you know, became my editor, like we became friends first and I became her coach.

And like, it's just, we loved each other. So all, everything around this was just like amazing and fun from the get. And then writing the book, I wrote the book in our friend Molly's house.

I like huddled there and it's interesting. I wrote the book and I just like got it out of me. And then I like put it down and I was like, okay, I wrote the book.

And then months went by because I wrote it within like, I probably four months I wrote the book. And then months went by and it was getting closer and closer to February, 2026, i.e. last month, when I had to hand the book over.

And Molly asked me, she's like, as you know, after months went by, she's like, how are you feeling about the book? And I just was like, I think I have to rewrite the whole thing. That like came out of my mouth.

And I was like, shit, because I hadn't picked up the book, I hadn't sent it to anyone. Like there was something that like, like I knew it wasn't the final version, but I was like scared to do it. And Molly, who's so, so wonderful, Her magical friend.

Magical friend. Michelle, clear your calendar. You have to clear your calendar for a week and you have to rewrite the book.

And you come to my house and you sleep over my house and you fucking rewrite it. And I did. And after, and I didn't have to rewrite the whole thing.

It wasn't like, my stories didn't need to be rewritten, but a lot of the self-help, personal development aspects of it needed to be rewritten. And once I did, I loved it. I was like, wait a minute, this is the best book I've ever read.

Like it was, I loved it. And I was like, oh my God, I hated this book before. I can't believe it.

No wonder I haven't-

No wonder you put it down. Right.

Yeah. And so I rewrote it. And suddenly it was just like all in my voice.

And I think that like, I just needed those six months of becoming more and more myself, truly, to then come back to it and be like, no, I don't need to pretend to sound like a self-help person. Like, I'm fine. Like, I can really just, all of it can just be, sound like me.

It doesn't need to be like, my stories and then self-help Michelle. Like, nope, it's just me. And so I re-approached it.

And then once I rewrote it, which was literally just like a month ago, the last month has been insane because suddenly I am fueled by so much excitement because I think it's awesome. And like it's a book that I would really like want to read. And it's funny and heartbreaking and raw and says like the real shit and is actually helpful.

And so then I had absolutely no qualms about telling everyone about it because I was like, it's really great. You know, like, because I knew. And so the last month has just been like the best month of my whole life.

By my will, but also like the will of the universe, been placed in front of people and with people that I just like admire so much who are reading my book and are like, Michelle, this is amazing. Are you like, what? And I'm like, wait, right?

It is. It is amazing. So like every single thing that keeps happening, I'm like, like, like having huge New York Times bestselling authors million to million to million times over, like I have sold millions.

Who you drove very far to go and see.

Oh, well, that's a crazy story. I'm not even talking about him. I'm not even talking about Augustine, my new best friend, who got me this little present.

He gave me a bug encased in plastic. So no, our friend Nicola Krauss, who wrote The Nanny Diaries, asked, she said she would read my book and blurb my book, and she voice memoed me, and she's like, Michelle, are you kidding with this book? Like, this is gonna be a huge book.

And I was like, it is? And so the things that just like kept happening, kept getting me more and more excited, and more and more audacious, truly. Like being like, all right, like, let's fucking go.

And so just I'll tell the quick story really quick about Augustine. Do you want me to?

Yes. Okay. I want you to tell everybody all of the big, wild, audacious things that you were doing.

Okay. I love it. So I have no, like, I get emails in my inbox about like, do you wanna be a USA best seller?

Here's how. And I'm like, wanna vomit. Like, that is just so not how I want to do this.

Like, not how I want to go about this. Everything needs to be exciting and joyful, otherwise I'm gonna hate it. And then I'm gonna not wanna do it.

And then I'm gonna like, hate the process, and like, look back on this and be like, oh, I'm never writing another book. And like, I wanna write a million books. I love writing.

It's so easy for me and fun. And so I want to enjoy the process because I want this to be my whole life. And so everything needs to feel, for me, the feeling of excitement is my motivator.

So I always have something personally, like we're going to Disney World, or we're going here, we're doing this, or like I'm getting that croissant from that place I love. Like no matter if it's little or big, there's always needs to be something exciting me because I'm fueled by that. Like I need that.

That's what keeps me going, going, going. And so for me, everything has to be exciting. So even right now, like when I first wrote the proposal, before I got the book deal, I wrote the proposal and I was like, oh my God, I'm going to get a book deal.

So like all of a sudden I was excited about like, I'm going to get a book deal. It's happening. And then, then in that, you know, what I preach and what I believe and what I know to be true is you live into the vision of yourself that you want.

Like you don't just like say, oh, I hope this happened, but you declare this is happening. And so once I got the proposal, once I wrote the proposal, I told everyone, I'm getting a book deal. And like people would be like, oh, with who?

And I'm like, oh no, not yet. I don't know yet.

But like- I'm waiting for the universe to tell me.

But I literally, I didn't phrase it like, I'm writing a book. I didn't even phrase it like I'm writing a book or like-

My books out to agents.

My books out to agents. The way that I framed it was just, I'm getting a book deal. Like I'd be like, hi, I'm getting a book deals soon.

And like without any proof of getting book deal, but like I kept saying it. And so, and then I began to just and assume that it's definitely gonna happen. And I didn't know when, and I had no timetable on it.

It was not like this needs to happen in six months. I was like, whenever it happens, but it's happening, like for sure. And so with that confidence of like, it's for sure happening again, no timetable on it, but like it's obviously happening.

I would approach things like, I have a client who was one of the founders of the Museum of Broadway. Again, this is like well before I had a book deal. I said to her, again, this is now years ago.

I would say, I said to her, when I get a book deal and when I have a book and when I have a book launch party, can I have it at the Museum of Broadway? And she was like, of course. Fast forward, two years later, literally having a call with them tomorrow to go through logistics about like the when and the where and the how about having the book party at the Museum of Broadway.

It's not like abracadabra magic. I declare it before it happens. And then I let go of like when and how and whatever.

But it's like, this is happening. And so the same thing with Augustine. So my favorite author of all time, his name is Augustine Burroughs.

He's most well known for his book Running with Scissors. That got turned into like a big movie and was a big thing. But the book that changed my life was called Dry about alcoholism.

And he had other books, Cellavision, and he had a bunch of books. And the way that he wrote, and I read his books in middle school and high school, the way that he wrote was he wrote about brokenness and mental illness and family dynamics and addiction, not in a way that was like, and here's how to fix it. Or like, and here's the pretty, it was just like, nope, here it is.

And it's funny. And then years later, I found myself in 12-step meetings where I learned to laugh, just like Augustine, right? Like I learned to laugh at like the crazy things I was doing or the dysfunction.

There was a humor and a levity to it, right? And so he's just been this person in my mind of like a pillar of what I see as an author. When I think of an author, I think of him.

Like that's what an author is, because he showed me something that did not exist before, which was it could be possible to talk about brokenness without having to try to fix it, and that'd be enough. And so, like, when, again, this is like the magic and the gumption, when I was, and I'll just tell this story really quick, I put myself, and again, part of this is strategy and part of this is magic. I became doing programming at the Women in Media Group in New York City, which is stock full of agents and publishers and people in the literary world.

I became, like, their programming, helping, like, talk about purpose and finding your purpose and your mission, like programming that they did not have. And I found myself going to this big gala, this open bar gala, and I'm an alcoholic, I'm sober. And so going to an big open bar thing, especially going alone, is like, I still have anxiety about it because it's like, oh, everyone.

And so I was in an elevator going up, and there were these two women in the elevator who I felt just like when I saw Lauren across the room, and I felt connected. I felt connected. And I was like, hi, my name is Michelle.

I don't drink. I'm so nervous. Like, is everyone going to be so drink?

Like, will you be my friend, basically? Like, same thing that I said to Lauren. And they took me under their wing and their heart, and I was with them all night long.

And then we just became friends. And I knew that they were in the publishing world. They were like publicists, but like, you know.

Oh, I know them, yes. I didn't know that's how you met them.

That's how I met them, in an elevator. And so then I went to dinner with them. I started like having dinners in the city.

I invited them like, and I was out to dinner with them. And this is before I got the book deal. And I was telling them, like I was saying to everyone, I'm going to get a book deal.

And they were like, oh, well, what's the book about? And I told them, you know, it's about mental illness and it's about addiction. And it's about finding humor in the brokenness.

And they were like, oh my gosh, you should meet our client, Augustin Burroughs. And I was like, shut the fuck up. And they're like, yeah.

I was like, Augustin Burroughs is, I was like, a legend. I was like, iconic, amazing. And then I was like, do you think like he would, I don't know, like want to read the book?

And they're like, yeah, maybe. When you write the book, let us know. And so fast forward, wrote the book and it went out, the first version of it, and he never read it, the version that I hated, right?

The version that I hated, and he never read it. And I would keep asking them, hey, did he read any? No, he hasn't answered yet.

He hasn't answered yet. And then when I rewrote it last month, I sent it to them again. And I said, hey, this is updated, like, you know, can you send it back to him?

It would be amazing. And they wrote back, and they said, he's gonna read it. He's gonna read it.

And I was like, oh my fucking God. And I follow him on Instagram, like, obviously, like he's... And so I know he has an antique store in Northampton, Massachusetts, which is like an hour and 20 minutes for me.

And so I was like, would it be crazy if I like went and delivered a gift? My love languages gifts, I love giving gifts. I was like, would it be crazy if I like went and like delivered flowers or like something to him?

Would that be like crazy and stalkerish? Or would that be like so nice? I don't know.

And I decided...

Let's find out.

Let's find out. I decided it would be nice. And so I did a little research.

I know he's sober. So like, I'm not going to get him booze. And he said in an interview once like his favorite candy was peanut M&Ms.

And so I ordered this huge ass peanut M&M bouquet. And so I have this huge bouquet in my house, and I'm like, all right, I'm going to drive to Northampton, and I'm going to go to his antique shop. My mom was like, do you know that he's going to be there?

And I was like, no, I don't know. I don't know if he's there day to day, but I'm just going to go. And if one of his employees is there, that's fine too.

And I'll just like leave a note and he'll know that I came, you know, like regardless, he'll know that I came. And so I was very much expecting that he might not be there, but I drove. And my husband was like, Michelle, this is a little crazy.

If you just show up with a big M&M bouquet, he's going to think you like stocked him down. I'm like, you know what? That's a risk.

I mean, it's not his house. It's a business. The idea of it is that people show up.

Exactly. That's what I thought too. And I was like, that's the risk I'm taking here.

Right. And so I drove and I was nervous. I was a little nervous, but I pumped myself up.

I was listening to The Greatest Showman. I was singing like, this is the greatest show driving the whole way. And I get out with my big-ass Eminem bouquet and I walk up those stairs and I walk into his store and I'm like, Augustine?

And from the moment our eyes met, that was it. It was just like, oh, we're best friends. Clearly, we sat for two and a half hours sharing stories, shit talking about everything, talking about our parents, our siblings, ourselves.

And I had to keep reminding myself, wait, I'm sitting with my favorite author of all time. Throughout the conversation, I kept being like, wait, I love you. I kept being like, you have to know, I love you.

And he's like, okay. That's when it got, oh, all right.

You're like, now it's weird.

Now it's weird. But it was just so immediately like, oh, we're just this. And in front of me, he read my book, literally sitting in front of me.

And I was like, you don't need to do this here. But he's like, no, I'm going to do it right here. And he read the overview, and he read the first chapter, and he's like, got it.

And he wrote me the most amazing blurb. Like, one of the lines is like, this blows every other self-help book off the shelf. Like that, like, put that fucking line on the cover, Augustin Burroughs.

And I said to him, I was like, you know, it was my dream that you would blurb it. And like, I knew that you would. Like I, and I just said, like, I knew it.

I knew it. I knew that you would because I knew you would get it. Because I write like him because he showed me how to write.

Like he showed me 25 years ago what it could look like. And now we're friends. We text.

We've been texting. And like, it's just so crazy. Like, I just, I didn't go in there like, hi, I'm a scared little bird.

Like I went in there audacious and full of excitement and like full of love and appreciation. And again, without expectation, like it wasn't like, he's gonna be there.

He's not here. It's gonna be a waste of my time or whatever it is.

I was like, even if it's closed, I kept being like, well, if it's closed, I'll just like leave it by the door. Like I was like, I had no expectation. And so if you were to tell me that I was going to be sitting with this man for two and a half hours, inviting him to my Halloween party, him inviting me and my husband to dinner with like, forget it, I would never have imagined that.

But like, that's what happened. And then he wrote the blurb. So that's like how it's been going.

I mean, there's so many things I want to say. The first is, I mean, you're just fucking amazing. There's a Picasso quote that I say a lot.

And I think it's really important because I think there's part of it that people miss. And it's inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. Because I think people often like sit around like, oh, I'm just waiting to be inspired.

I'm just waiting to be inspired. And I think magic works the same way.

Yeah.

And I think that that's like your, what you're talking about is like, even when you say like, oh, I was so lucky, I had an agent just kind of approach me. But you didn't have an agent approach you in the dark days when you were locked alone in your apartment watching Bravo. Like, you had somebody approach you when you were in the creator builder mode.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

And being willing to put yourself out there, being willing to do the work is, I mean, I think it's the thing that makes the difference. There are a million reasons why you could have been like, why am I going to drive an hour and a half? Like, what if he's not there?

What if it's an employee? What if he thinks it's weird? What if?

All of these things. There's so many different ways that it can go. And at the end of the day, you just have to do the thing.

And that's where, I think, the without expectation is also like, you know, we sometimes go through these lists of like podcasts that people might want to be on or, you know, media pitches that we might want to do. And it's like, sometimes it's the right thing, even if the numbers don't make it seem like it's the right thing. But it's like, you just have to keep doing it because maybe it'll be fun.

We also operate a business very much from the place of like, well, let's talk about how this is going to be fun. Like, we were talking about, I think our PR team had talked to us maybe about somebody who like, could be a potential speaker. Like, have you thought of this person?

And we're like, sometimes they're kind of difficult to work with. And we're like, oh, god, that's a hard pass. Like, no.

It's this idea of like understanding what you're trying to get out of the experience. And I think going into it with this like, I'm going to make this fun. And that is very much the place where I come in.

Particularly with our authors who don't necessarily have as much experience in the like putting themselves out there is like, what is an element of that promotional stuff that would make it fun for you? Is it like having your mom in the front row? Is it not inviting your mom?

Is it having a restaurant? Is it like wherever I go, there has to be cupcakes being served? Whatever it is, is it like, is there a thing that makes it feel good and fun?

That makes it like, you know, Kristin and I were just doing research on a whole bunch of stuff for this, for these business coaches we're working with. And one of the things that we came across was about how, like being out in the public isn't necessarily a skill gap. It's a nervous system event.

And so like figuring out how to kind of wrap your head around this like nervous system thing. Not like, oh, I need to get media training or I need to like practice my answers or I need to, you know, hone this skill, this skill, this skill. It's like, I need to figure out how to manage this nervous system event.

And for me, it's been like, I need to be so accepting of exactly who I am and who I'm not. Like, and like exactly what I bring and what I don't. And be okay with not everyone liking me, which like has been like the task of my life, right?

Like as someone who wants everyone to love them, to know that like I'm polarizing in the way that I speak and like talk about myself and talk about things. And to just be able to own that fully and know that like the people who are meant to find me, the experiences that I'm meant to have, they're going to recognize it in me. Like they're going to recognize, oh, like we want that, whatever that is, right?

Without me needing to push or try or convince or like prove in any way. It's just like, literally, I was listening to The Greatest Showman yesterday at all, like over and over and over again. I was like, this is me.

Like it was like screaming. Like this is like that song, this is me.

That's our like, that used to be our sound track, I Found the Way to Dance Competitions.

Like it's-

Lose Yourself by Eminem and The Greatest Showman.

To love, I love, love. But like, truly, it was like to just own that like my, I'm not gonna be perfectly perfect. And like, that's great, that's me, that's my brand, right?

Like if I'm looking for, as a brand strategist, great, I'm totally on brand. Like me cursing, being like, like literally, I was speaking, where was I? I was speaking at this class, and I was like, I have dry mouth.

Like, I just, I, in the past, I would have been like trying to pretend that I didn't.

So the people don't know that it's not perfect.

But my brand is not perfect. And so like for me, I just have, I feel there's so much levity and like allowance and permission to show up exactly as I am and as exactly as I'm not, which is a gift and took time. But I love what you said around, you know, my friend Erin used to say, you can't sit on your couch and manifest.

So like if you're using words like manifest, you have to like combine that with action and movement. And you can't just sit and wait. You have to wait and do.

And it's even, I forget to talk about that because, yeah, I work my ass off, but it doesn't feel like work because I love it so much and it excites me. If I'm starting to do things that don't feel exciting, that feels like work to me. And then I start to hate my life.

So everything that I'm doing needs to have some element of that feeling that I crave as an addict, which is excitement. So it's like if I'm going on shows or if I'm doing podcasts or if I'm selling a new client or if I'm writing up her thing, oh my god, I hope she likes it. It's always there for me and everything that I do.

And when I find that it's not, that's my, just like you and Kristen are like, oh, we don't want to work with them if they're hard to work with. If I'm not excited about this, I'm going to resent it. And then I'm not going to like working my ass off on it.

And it's like I'm non-stop. People think I'm crazy. But because everything that I do, I'm like, I can't believe I get to do.

I'm still in that. Like I went from, again, sitting in a room, bravo, both bulimia to like working in pharma on drugs and like, you know, creating brands for insulin to now the fact that like I get to do this kind of work, especially do it about myself and about shame and forget it.

I can't believe it.

And so there is so much actual joy and like actual awe and wonder and excitement that goes in, that is going into this launch, that is going into this book. And I think that everyone, I'm really getting clear that like everyone who encounters me feels that and they want to be part of that. So it's like, they want to be part of this too.

And that's why I'm like, oh my God, this book might actually really be bigger than I thought it was going to be. And it's because the energy of the book is like this, like, come on in, like togetherness, like energy that people are like, I want to be part of that too, because that's the energy that I'm bringing to everything around it.

And I think that that's also the energy you brought in to writing it. And I think that that's a really important piece too, like feeling so deeply connected to it. Wait, are you reading the audiobook?

Wait, it's so funny that you said that because people, someone emailed me yesterday and said, I pre-ordered your audiobook. I was like, is it? Where?

So I think yes. I think yes.

That's so fun.

I cannot wait for that.

Yes. Oh my gosh, that'll be great. I mean, I love, that was just sort of a little side note.

I love an audiobook so much, so, so much. And having the author read the audiobook, it's like you get all the feel. I mean, I'm like, obviously I listen to you talk a lot because we spend a decent amount of time together.

But the idea of like the way your energy and excitement will come through in the way you would read it is really amazing. And I think that that's palpable in listening to you talk about it now. But I think that if you don't have that initial connection to the book, there's no way to then walk around into the world and be like, this is it.

Everybody needs to read it. Because as it is, it's a hard thing. As just a baseline.

Yeah.

I think you've worked really hard to be able to put yourself out there, maybe more than some other people are. But wherever you are on that spectrum of introvert, extrovert, whatever, if you don't feel that deep, deep connection to the words that you have written, the ability to go out and be like, everybody should read this book.

Totally. And that's how I even talk about when you're creating a business or you're creating a brand.

Totally.

People ask me a lot, like, how did you get started? Like, how did you create your first agency? Like, how did you get it off the ground?

And I always say that, you know, the same thing, which is I talked about it like it was the greatest party in town, right? Like, it was like, oh my, like everywhere I went, I was like, the company was called I Am Creative. And it was just like, I started a company, it's called I Am Creative.

Like, it was like, I couldn't, it was like, it's the best. And like, it was, people were like, oh, I don't even know what you do, but like, tell me more. How do I become involved?

Because like people wanted to feel that too. And this has the same energy. I haven't had that in a while.

It's been a little while since I've felt that. You know, I had that when I started Soul Camp, Adult Sleepaway Camps all over, I had that. But that was 10 years ago, 11 years ago now.

So the fact that I feel this again is like so exciting. And I just want to keep reiterating, like, I believe, this is my own personal belief, so take this as you will. But like, I believe for me, I wouldn't be able to have this level of joy and excitement without the flip side of, without having gone through the flip side of that, of like deep, deep darkness and like deep, deep loneliness and not excitedness, the opposite of.

And so anyone who's like listening, if you find yourself like, wow, she's so excited, fuck her. Like, but like, and you're not there. You, I so believe, like you have to be, experience the mud in order to experience the magic.

It's not like in spite of, or it's because of. It's one leads to the other, right? Like we, I always say, my kids are like obsessed all of a sudden after a very long trip in Florida of like, we need to move to Florida.

And I keep being like, you guys, you don't understand. You wouldn't appreciate the sun in the same way if you didn't have the snow. It would just become just like, okay, it's so amazing because you experienced the snow and the cold and the ice and the, it's like 45 snow days in a lot.

I mean, I don't even want to talk about the snow. My whole personality has turned into complaining about the snow.

No, it's crazy. They had a, even today, I was in the city with Riker and like got a notification, two hour delay. I was like, oh man, Riker, you're not even going to be late to school today.

Yeah, no, it's crazy. But then I, when I get to go to Florida, I'm like so happy. Like when the sun comes out, I'm so happy.

And I wouldn't feel that way if I didn't, if I wasn't living in a country. Shut in for 45 days. So like, I just believe truly, like if you are going through the mud or you keep getting nos or you're stuck writing your book, like this is part of, like you have to go through this part.

In order to experience the other part, I had to, I mean, I'm such an extreme case, but like I had to have 15 years of like sitting in a room eating alone in order for the rest of my life to be like, oh my God, my life's amazing.

I mean, you do in fact, yes, I feel like thinking of like the time we walked into like a goofy event and you were like, oh my God, this is the best day ever. And she's like, we're actually at a grief event.

I will never forget that.

But you, I mean, the people were happy too.

Anyway, so that is a beautiful example of me, like truly because, but it is, it's like, I can't believe I have friends like you, Lauren. Like I can't believe that I have children. Like I can't believe I have a house.

Like these things, these like real thing for so much of my life. Like I didn't have myself.

I think you walk around with a unique amount of awe, which is amazing. And I enjoy, enjoy all of it.

Fifteen years of galemia. Thank you, thank you.

So I think there's something also really interesting in what you're saying about the excitement that you talk about in your book, in your business, in all of it, which is if you get to the point where you're turning your book in. So like our process within Rise Literary is kind of like we start, we have a couple of like preliminary marketing type calls to talk about like, you know, where you think you want to have your launch event, like sort of like high level strategy type things. And then we really start to dive into some things with more detail, typically at about the one year mark when like an initial draft has been turned in.

Yeah.

And I think what you're saying is really interesting because it almost feels like if you're not coming to that meeting after you've turned in your, that draft with this like blow the top off kind of excitement, like maybe it's not a marketing thing, maybe it's a content thing, maybe it's like, am I feeling connected enough? Am I feeling like, have I left it all on the page? Am I, is it all the way there?

Yeah. No, like I message my editor, like I like voice memo her throughout the week, being like, hey, have you read any more? Do you think it's amazing?

Cause I'm like, and I like say to her, I'm like, not even from an editorial standpoint, just like from a person, like, do you think it's amazing? Because I think it's amazing. And like, I trust myself and I don't like many things.

Like truly, even though I seem like I would, like I don't, I don't like many authors. I don't read many things. Like, I have a very, very particular taste.

And so for me, this is a book that I would pick up. And so I'm just like, oh my god, I cannot believe I wrote a book that like, I would actually read. Like, I can't believe it, but I can.

But yeah, I'm so, I'm so grateful to also, again, this is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. I'm so grateful to have had the experience of not talking about it and not wanting to go out and like tell everyone about it. And not because now I'm like, oh my god, this is what it feels like.

Got it. Wow. That was not what it was supposed to feel like.

So tell me a little bit about the things that you're doing. I mean, I know, so just to give people a little bit of background, you do speaking engagements on a regular basis, anyway, as part of your brand architect work.

So yeah, so I do like branding talks, like how to create a personal brand, how to create a brand that's authentically you, how to create messaging and all that. So I've been doing that. What is a new rodeo is I have launched these quote unquote, the book is called Not Awakened and I've launched the Not Awakened Experience.

And so I pitched the Not Awakened Experience at different places around the country, leading up to and right after the book launch. And I know just because I'm in this industry, you need to do it months and months and months in advance in order to be set up appropriately. So I have October 22nd through 25th, I'm going to have the official Not Awakened Experience at Omega Institute, which is so full circle where we met.

And now it's my first solo four day, three night, four day experience where I'm really going to be going through this stuff that we talked through in the book and the exercises. And it's going to be amazing and fun. And like, it's going to be everything I would want a workshop to be like in this space.

And then I'm doing that again at this place, 1440 Multiversity, right after the book is out. So that's like my West Coast launch. I'm talking to the moth.

I'm reading essays, like even as soon as on stage next week on Tuesday, March 10th at Joe's Pub. At Joe's Pub, I'm just like, and I say yes to like everything. Like I'm just a yes, if it excites me, not to everything, everything.

I was going to ask, do you say no to things?

Yeah, I do. So like, I, for instance, like I was like, I was asked to do a speaking engagement in California in next month. It was like right before I'm leaving for Greece, I'm doing this retreat in Greece.

And it just like felt like a lot. And I thought to myself, well, what would make me excited about it? Like what would I feel excited about?

And I was like, if I got paid, like if I got paid and if I got like fancy plane tickets, and so I asked for it. I was like, listen, I really want to do this. But like the only way I can do this is if you give me this amount of money and like you fly me out in this way and like, oh, and I plan and I was like, and I'll see my best friend, like my friends who live in California and they'll stay with me at the hotel.

Yes, yes, yes, across the board. Amazing, I'm doing it. Great.

So, but that would have been a no if like, if it didn't meet my excitement parameters. But no, I love even just like this morning at the University of Colorado, I gave everyone free 30-minute sessions with me. Like I also believe in giving.

I believe in what you give is what you get. And so I'm a huge giver. I'm like really, really generous with my expertise and my energy.

And like, because it feels good, I'm also people pleaser. So like, I mean, I feel so good with everyone feeling good. So it's not just selfless.

I get off on it too. But I'm a big giver and I get a lot. And so I just, I like to live in that space of saying yes, as much as possible, because I believe I'll get a lot of yeses too.

And I have been getting a lot of yeses.

I love that. I just want to ask how you do this without, I mean, I want to say just falling down. I think it's like a how do you protect your nervous system while you're doing all of these things?

Yeah. So what I'll do, and this has taken me time to learn this, like truly, and still is, like this, I am a work in progress here. But like, for instance, this event in California, they wanted me to do like a speak to 100 people, and then immediately after that, have a meet and greet, like in the main area, like of the expo where anyone can come.

And like, that doesn't feel good anymore. Like, after I give a talk to 100 people and I'm answering questions, I'm talking to everyone after, I'm done. I need to shut down for a little bit and like go to my room, scroll on Instagram, have a snack, watch Bravo.

Like, I need to like shut down my brain and like shut down my energy source. Because if it's just too, I need to take a break after I do a thing. So like, that's like a new thing that I'm learning.

Also, I'm learning that like I don't need to go to everything. Like, for instance, I went to this conference in Florida a few months ago, and I felt like I don't want to go to the actual conference. Like, I don't want to go to the actual conference.

I want to go to the dinner, and I want to go to the party, but I don't want to go to the actual conference.

And I want to go to the pool during the day.

And I want to go to the pool during the day. And I want to get a massage. And because I'm still learning, the first day I went to the conference, and I hated it.

So like coming out of my skin, like I hate, like everyone I met, I felt awkward. Like, it was like, duh, I'm not supposed to be there. I just was supposed to be there for the party and the dinner.

And so I'm learning to trust that more, instead of like feeling like, oh no, but I came all this way, and so I have to, and networking, and like, I trust, like, all right, if I'm only feeling really, really, you know, energized and excited about this part and this part, maybe that's the only place I'm supposed to go. And it was, and it was. That's, I'm really, again, just like leaning into what doesn't feel good, or like, wow, I really want to do this, but like, I'm tired, or like, I really want to do this, but like, I haven't seen my kids.

Like, I really, and I also sleep, my kids and my husband, it's like a, it's a contention point still, because like, I will sleep all day, like, in order to recharge. Like, if I have a Sunday where there's nothing, I won't get out of bed. Like, I'll just stay in bed all day, and it's rare, because usually I'm like, here, here, here.

But when I have those days that there is nothing, I literally will not get out of bed. I will, like, be in bed with my kids. Everyone's snuggled up.

We eat our meals in bed. We're like literally Willy Wonka grandparents. Because that's also, I've learned to not have shame or guilt around that.

That's also part of how I recharge.

I love that.

Yeah.

I am so excited. I feel like we could talk, I mean, I feel like we could literally talk about this for five hours, so we're not going to. We are going to close this out with one final question.

Now it's time for Just the Tip.

So we like to close out our episodes by asking for your best tip.

I love that. My best tip, it's the same thing I say on every interview, on every stage. When you start looking at life, like life is happening for you and not to you, everything changes.

So every heartbreak, every misstep, every pause, every rejection, every redirection. When you really, really begin to trust, this is all happening for me. I might not know why.

I might not know why this publisher said no, or why this agent said no, or why this editor said this, but I'm going to trust it's for me. Life just becomes so much better, and you allow for the magic to happen. So that's always my biggest, my biggest tip in life is life is happening for you, not to you.

I love that. There's so much that we can't control in this process. Like, you can control what your book looks like in a lot of ways, but you can't really control what happens once it's out into the world.

You can't control for book sales. You can plan a party and you can make that great, but you can't control for like what bookstores are going to let you have events there. Like, so if you come into it with this real rigid idea of like, this is what my book launch is going to look like, these are the places I'm going to do, these are the people who are going to post about it or whatever.

I think you set yourself up for a lot of disappointment.

And you lose out on what you have no idea could be coming.

The magic that is right around the corner. Totally.

Yeah.

So much fun. I love that so much. Oh my gosh, I have so many other things I want to talk about, so I guess we'll just have to go out to dinner or something.

So the people can find you. Your book is coming out, so Not Awakened comes out in February, 2027.

Yes. So February, 2027, you will be seeing it literally posted on billboards everywhere. Get ready.

You're going to be like, okay, this is Not Awakened, girl. But for now, notawakened.com and follow me at the Michelle Garside on Instagram. That's the best way to keep up with what's going on with me.

All of the fun places.

All of the fun, retreats, events, all of it.

I'm super excited for your event at Omega. That's very exciting.

Me too, me too, me too.

Love it. Okay, thank you so much. I love you.

Thank you, everyone.

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From Write Now.: Be Bold, Be Magical with Michelle Garside, Mar 5, 2026
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