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Jerilyn Willin is a speaker, writer, performance development consultant, and career strategies/retirement coach.

A quote in "Deep, Deeper, Deeper Still" says “most people go to the grave with their song still in them”. Jerilyn believes every person, no matter what their situation, has within them the power to discover and sing their song aloud. She works with clients to help them sing from their own songbook and trust their own voice.

Contact Jerilyn through jwillinconsulting.com

Wendy M. Warden is a coach, facilitator, author, and photographer.

As a coach/facilitator, Wendy focuses on holistic healing of mind, body, and spirit. Along with  “talk-therapy” she works with writing, visualization, meditation, and prayer as tools for developing self-awareness and healing practices. Deep, Deeper, Deeper Still is Wendy’s first co-authored book.

Wendy’s photography is all about "capturing the moment” where life is vibrant and precious, provocative and striking, raw and truthful.

Contact her at wendymwarden@mac.com

Thank you Jerilyn and Wendy for answering a few questions for us! To start, please tell us about the latest project you've worked on.

We just completed work on a guided journal, Deep, Deeper, Deeper Still.  The journal is designed to help you unleash your own connection to the world around you, your drive and motivations to create success in your personal and professional life as well as your ability to be creative in your life and work.   

Have you received any awards for your work?

Jerilyn has been a finalist in two national fiction-writing contests. Deep, Deeper, Deeper Still is hot off the press.

Do you also do speaking engagements, or seminars?

Yes we do in fact both speaking engagements as well as seminars.   There are two specific seminars we have designed around this book. 

One is The Stories Inside You: Developing Manuscript Ideas in 45 Minutes. This seminar helps writers unlock the stories within using visual prompts and journaling.  A second seminar, called Difficult Conversations: From Pounding Heart to Open Mind, guides participants through the process of self awareness and discovery about their thoughts and feelings attached to what they perceive will be a tough difficult conversation to a place of confidence and understanding.

For more information on speaking topics (independent of the book), please go to keynotes on Jerilyn’s website <www.jwillinconsulting.com>

How has your education, profession or background helped you in your writing career? Or conversely, how has your writing success helped you in your profession?

Jerilyn: For me, all the above factors blend to support each other. Without my education and my work/life experience, I would not have tackled something like Deep, Deeper, Deeper Still. I have been writing fiction for my own enjoyment since high school. This book with Wendy was something completely different. I believe my education and professional work has given me the confidence to put my writing “out there”. I hope the book leads to more exposure in the speaking/writing realm of my work.

Wendy:  HHMMM ... I really feel like everything we do leads us to the next phase of life, be it professional or personal in nature at some point we are simply seamlessly living our lives.  I would say my life experiences of living day to day, my education, my career all made up the current level of understanding the human process that lead me to choose the quotes that went into Deep, Deeper, Deeper Still and then to write the prompts that further guide the reader/journaler deeper into their own process of discovery.  

What kind of other works (books, scripts, poems etc.) have you had published?

Wendy: I have self published, really self-published including printing and binding as it were a small book of poetry in my early 30's. It was a gift for friends and family but allowed me that sense of "WOW" I wrote all of those, that work is mine”.  It was a good feeling that served as inspiration years later.

Jerilyn: I am a published-writer virgin. Deep, Deeper, Deeper Still is my first published work. Back in the 1980s a group of friends and I wrote a play that was put on a local school. It was very cool to see the characters on the page come to life on the stage.

Is there any aspect to your profession that gets you in touch with your readers directly?

Wendy: Yes, as a Life Coach and Photographer I most often am face to face, in deep conversation with my readers. It really is a wonderful situation to be able to watch as another explores their process. I have often observed that it is easier to approach life change through the use of a metaphor than hitting it head on. That’s what inspired me to begin using famous quotes and images in my workshop about 12 years ago.  

Jerilyn: Speaking and coaching absolutely brings me in touch with readers.  The individuals I coach on career strategies will find Deep, Deeper, Deeper Still a great tool reflect on where they have been and where they want to head for in their careers. For my clients exploring post-career life, the journey is much the same; where do I want to go next?

What will your next project be?

Jerilyn: I’ve literally just started a blog called finely50.com that may be the foundation on a book celebrating the second half of life. Despite the joy I see in many of my retirement coaching clients, the messages in society, especially for woman over 50 are still so negative. I want to help change that myth.

Wendy:  I believe it will be a book on the process that can be accessed by going Deeper Still. The outline is written and the research has been fleshed out. Now it is all in the doing it. 

Who inspires you on a personal or business level?

Wendy: On a personal level it is people who beat the odds ...the stereotype. I am always amazed, energized and delighted when I encounter people who just keep their eyes to the sky and walk through all the possible pitfalls to success.  On a business level I would have to say companies who do what is right, who strive to not only make money but to provide enrichment to the community.  I am happy to say there are many. One that comes to mind at the moment is Sunrise Living.   They go out of their way to make life in assisted living/nursing care respectful, caring, sensitive, and positive. They use words that match the intention, they train the staff to be the intention, and they design the physical layout to support the intention.

Jerilyn: People and organizations that walk their talk inspire me. Words are easy. Action and making time to take action—that’s harder. People who don’t give up on their dream even when life makes it tough to go after inspire me. In today’s world it is so easy to get distracted, to go on to the next “best thing”. I admire determination and conversely, the confidence to know when to leave something by the side of the road. Both characteristics take guts.

What type of work is the most rewarding or satisfying for you?

Jerilyn: Hard question! I feel most satisfied when something I have said or done helps someone take steps toward a more fulfilling life. Sometimes after a talk, folks will come up and say something I said resonated with them and I see that “light” behind their eyes that says they are leaving the room different than they came in. In working with work teams in organizations, I love it when the team members come to truths or decisions they could not see before; not solutions I gave them, but conclusions they came to themselves in a program I designed.

Wendy: Work that heals and empowers and enriches.   Whether that is with individuals in my coaching, with small groups in my facilitating, creatively with my photography or in the community with my volunteering. Healing, empowering, and enriching are what is the most important to me.  

What can you recommend for writers who are just getting started and are trying to make a name for themselves?

Wendy: Have faith in yourself. You can do it.  You may need help from friends, a coach, a writing partner but you can do it. And of course sign up for our seminar The Stories Inside You: Developing Manuscript Ideas in 45 Minutes.  :)

Jerilyn:  Writing is a lonely endeavor. Find a writer’s group. Not just any group, but one that makes you feel energized about your writing, where constructive feedback doesn’t hurt you but rather motivates you to make positive changes in your work. Most importantly—DON’T GIVE UP. I have seen it over and over again in the writer’s group I belong to—after dozens of rejections the manuscript gets into the right hands and voila! A contract. Learn as much as you can about writing from both books (for fiction read Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Dixon) and from actually writing. Writing is like driving…you have to do it to get better.

How did you get started as a writer?

Jerilyn: In high school I took a creative writing class. We had to read our work aloud. A girl in class began to cry during the reading of my story. That was all I needed.

Wendy: Journaling. Journaling for personal growth revealed to me that I do at times have a flair for the poetic and whole poems will sometimes just flow through my pen with amazing ease.  Writing workshops were the next phase of writing for me, then teaching those works and watching people grown and learn and be amazed by what they wrote. Then the floodgates were opened:  short stories, Deep, Deeper, Deeper Still, and the next book already in process.  Who knows where it will lead. 

Which is your favorite book/work published? Is there a favorite?

Wendy: When I was a child it was clearly and always Where The Wild Things Are.  As an adult it is harder to pick only one book/work. I think I will have to say it is Mayo Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. 

Jerilyn: One book? Pride and Prejudice, though anything by Austen or Oscar Wilde. The language is so beautiful.

What does a typical work day look like for you?

Jerilyn: If I’m out of town with a corporate client, my day is very structured and my evenings are take out food and flipping through the channels—unless there is a DSW in the town.

When I am “in the office”, I am truly in the office, and my hours are flexible. I can be working any time between 8:00 am and 10:00 pm. When on the computer, I have coffee to my right, and two sheepdogs sleeping at my feet. I work in spurts and I work every day but Sunday. The thing is, rarely does it feel like “work”. Most of the time I’m shocked at the amount of time that has gone by. I am so blessed in loving the work I do.

Wendy: Very flexible I am delighted to say.  It depends on what the work of the day is some days are clients for eight to ten hours.  Some days are much more about managing the books, the web site, marketing, developing ideas.  Some days are about photo shoots and editing and delivering that product.   But most days are some combination of all of that wound into one.  What is most consistent is that by days end I am tired.

Have you ever had a mentor, or someone who sparked your passion for writing?

Wendy: Mentor yes but not a writing mentor oddly enough. I did once have a friend who gave me Stephen King's book On Writing that I found the book and the gift to be very encouraging and supportive.

Jerilyn:  Romance Writers of America without a doubt. And through them my critique partners. In 1996 I joined a local chapter and learned more about writing than I ever knew before. The women and men in the group were totally supportive. I would drive through blizzards in the winter to get to the bi-monthly meetings. Going to their national conferences were sensational learning and networking experiences.

Who is your favorite writer/author?

Jerilyn: Once again, Austin and Wilde. I also am amazed by Malcolm Gladwell and the type of writing he does.

Wendy: OH .. Another tough one for me. Lillian Jackson Braun or Daniel Quinn pop right into my head so I will go with that answer.  

Finally, a most important question: what was the last song you sang out loud when you were by yourself?  :)

Wendy: Spanish Lady by Celtic Woman

Jerilyn: Some Enchanted Evening by Rogers and Hammerstein (I just saw South Pacific on Broadway July 25)

Thank you Wendy and Jerilyn! We wish you great success with your book Deep, Deeper, Deeper Still!