Art Creativity & Wellbeing

Greetings! It’s time for another chat with my friend and colleague Andrew Moss regarding the tools that we developed together as I was training to solo-hike across northern England in 2023.

Today you’ll hear about a tool we call Periods. Not commas. Back when Andrew was my coach and I was training to cross northern England on foot, this was the first tool that my brain was able to take in. It's been interesting to see where and how the tool has shown up in both of our lives.

You can look forward to a whole month worth of Tools Chats – “lost episodes”! We recorded them out over winter and spring 2025, and I've been really looking forward to the opportunity to get them to you.

Hope you enjoy!

* Would you like to be part of our final Tools Chat coming up in November 2025? Email me here and we’ll get you in the room!

* Consider subscribing to this newsletter so that it shows up in your inbox, instead of you having to go search for it :)

About this Series…

It’s really a podcast within a podcast!In these “Waking Up: The Tools” conversations Andrew and I discuss the essential tools we developed that helped me grow into the person who hiked all by myself across northern England in 2023… After needing a wheelchair to go more than a few steps in 2011.

We’ve called this series Waking up: The Tools because they’re featured in my award-winning memoir, Waking Up.

See you soon! Thank you for being along on the journey.With Love,

Kay

Kay Lock Kolp M.Ed. - Coaching | Art | Writing | Shows: https://kaylockkolp.com

The quote I live by: “Till this moment I never knew myself.” - Jane Austen

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

I am excited to bring you this one, an update as the upheaval settles after my life partner and I relocated from where we just kinda ended up… to where we really wished to be.

Paid Supporters: Your Chapter Is Here <3

At the end of this post is the most recent chapter from my forthcoming book, a.k.a. little piece of my heart, thank you to you paid supporters for allowing me to be vulnerable and courageous to share with you. It means a lot.

This particular chapter is a departure in terms of how it's written. It feels real, honest, fun… Me! I hope you enjoy it.

If you're not yet a paid supporter, and you'd like to receive this and future little pieces of my heart straight into your inbox (as well as having access to all the archives and previous chapters), click here: https://kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Stop Enduring Systems That Suck

(That title is literally what Substack named one of the clips I'll be sharing out about this episode! I'm still laughing about it. What a great title :)

Changing Systems, the workshop, starts tonight! Here’s the link if you’d like to take part: https://www.kaylockkolp.com/system/

Celebrating Transformation, Celebrating Presence… Celebrating Coaching

This is what we will be doing around here over the next couple months! In a fun way, as I continue sharing out the Waking Up: The Tools conversations with my colleague and friend Coach Andrew Moss. I'm even bringing you the lost episodes. Stay tuned!If you'd like to be part of our wrap up Tools Chat which will take place in November, get in touch with me here: https://kaylockkolp.com/contact and we’ll get you in the room.

Lots of love, and excitement for what's ahead – thanks for being here with me.

❤️Kay

My memoir is available wherever you get your audiobooks, and in e-book and paperback formats here.

Kay Lock Kolp M.Ed. - Coaching | Art | Writing | Shows: https://kaylockkolp.com

The quote I live by: “Till this moment I never knew myself.” - Jane Austen

* Subscribe so that this shows up in your inbox, instead of you having to go search for it :)

Paid Supporters, Here is your Chapter: https://kaylockkolp.substack.com/p/477-a-joyful-update-also-whats-in

(Log in to Substack to see it :)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Greetings! It's time for another great conversation with my friend and colleague Andrew Moss regarding the tools that we developed together as I was training to solo-hike across northern England in 2023.

Today you’ll hear about a tool we call Negative Thoughts are Opportunities for Growth. It’s a conversation that will feel relevant and helpful, if you've ever been derailed by the thoughts inside yourself.

Hope you enjoy!

* Would you like to be part of our final Tools Chat coming up in November 2025? Email me here and we’ll get you in the room!

* Here's the first in the series I did about The Relationship Handbook by George Pransky. This book comes up today as it is a favorite of both Andrew’s and mine.

* Here's where you can find out more about the Rebels for Peace Program.

* Consider subscribing to this newsletter so that it shows up in your inbox, instead of you having to go search for it :)

About this Series…

It's really a podcast within a podcast!In these "Waking Up: The Tools” conversations Andrew and I discuss the essential tools we developed that helped me grow into the person who hiked all by myself across northern England in 2023… After needing a wheelchair to go more than a few steps in 2011.

We've called this series Waking up: The Tools because they’re featured in my award-winning memoir, Waking Up.

See you soon! Thank you for being along on the journey.

With Love, Kay

Kay Lock Kolp M.Ed. - Coaching | Art | Writing | Shows: https://kaylockkolp.com

The quote I live by: “Till this moment I never knew myself." - Jane Austen

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Today's episode is another one that I have been WAITING FOR SO LONG to bring you! Please welcome Jeff Lamb, creator of the Pathfinders original podcast series and cofounder of Pathfinders for Good, which is all about celebrating and supporting everyday heroes.

This episode is uniquely done – I get to bring the wonderful framework that Jeff developed for the Pathfinders show, on him! The result is a wonderful synthesis that gets to the heart of who Jeff is, and why.

You are going to love our conversation!

I’m offering a workshop on transforming systems – what system would you change if you could? Register for this workshop to really do it!

Starts on 30 September. Here’s the link if you’d like to join! https://www.kaylockkolp.com/system/

Wishing you well today, cheers!Kay

* Subscribe to this newsletter so that it shows up in your inbox, instead of you having to go search for it :)

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Kay Lock Kolp is a coach, podcast host, writer, and artist who helps people achieve wholeness and well-being. After experiencing a health crisis in 2011 that limited her mobility, Kay embarked on a transformative journey of self-discovery.

Kay demonstrated her resilience by hiking England's Coast-to-Coast Path solo in 2023, an experience that embodies her philosophy of gentle, persistent self-actualization.

She now coaches clients to envision bold futures while taking manageable steps toward their goals, with a special focus on supporting those who've put others first and are ready to see what happens when they bring the same care to themselves.

Her approach blends vulnerability, compassion, and practical support to help clients create meaningful transformation in their lives and communities.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Greetings from Maine, USA, where I LIVE now, after 28 years of trying! I am OVER the MOON and sharing this short update celebrating dreaming, doing, and changing systems. It was recorded on my epic 1 mile walk to the mailbox this morning!

I'll be back a little later this week with an interview that I'm super excited to bring to you :)

In the meantime, if changing systems from a place of feeling good inside resonates, read more about the workshop I'm offering (starts September 30) here: https://kaylockkolp.com/system

If you'd like to learn more about the group I've just opened for people who have been caring for others and would like to see how it feels to bring that same care for themselves, click here: https://www.skool.com/dreamersanddoers/about

Recordings and engagement on the workshop above are included in membership in this group. Hooray!

Subscribe to this newsletter so that it shows up in your inbox, instead of you having to go search for it :)

Wishing you lots of love, talk soon! – Kay

Kay Lock Kolp M.Ed.

Coaching | Art | Writing | Shows: https://kaylockkolp.com

The quote I live by: “Till this moment I never knew myself." - Jane Austen

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Greetings friend! Today's a quick update on what-all is happening around here.. and gets into a bit of what 'here' means for my life partner and I right now!

Here's the poem that I read for you in this episode:

The Taste of Freedom

I couldn’t find a fork

Or oil

Or salt.

The pan had been packed.

Couldn’t make my preferred breakfast

No eggs

Quinoa

Avocado

Available even if I could.

So I ate my breakfast greens

With my fingers

Enjoyed the hell out of

A cheesy

Greasy

Egg-on-croissant from a local coffee shop

Along with two

Delicious

Tiny

Sungold cherry tomatoes

From the garden that will soon belong

To other stewards of this

The place we’ve called home for 20 years

That was my breakfast on moving day.

Yesterday

As I ate with my fingers I repeated to myself

“This tastes like freedom”

Such joy in my heart.

Anxiety about what could go wrong

Fear about what bad might happen

Used to stop me

From doing things I really wished to do.

All the unknowns.

How would I be okay without

For example

My usual favorite breakfast?

Who am I if I don’t stick to these routines?

And anyway

How do I reimagine my relationship

With my grown children?

What happened that they are now grownups

And not babies in my charge any longer?

Also

What’s lurkingIn all the corners of this home

That I haven’t touched for 20 years?

Where do I start if I wish to move on

To what’s next.

How do I bring intention

To this new phase of my life?

Yikes!

These were some of the many questions

Some of the thousands of

Micro

Macro

Decisions

That I used to avoid

As I tiptoed around trying to make everything not explode.

How wonderful to discover

That it is all good

It’s really okay to just be on my journey.

All figureoutable

I live everywhereI have people to love

People who love me.

I take you with me

Wherever I live

As I take myself.

- by Kay Lock Kolp, Ripley Pond, Maine, Thursday, 21 August 2025

Subscribe to this newsletter so that it shows up in your inbox, instead of you having to go search for it :)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Today's episode is another one that I have been WAITING FOR SO LONG to bring you! Please welcome Mike Michalowicz, the author of many best-selling books, one very formative one for me and which we talk quite a bit about today, Profit First.

Mike specializes in helping entrepreneurs and creative people figure out their financial stuff in a way that is truly life changing. It's changed my life, and if you read Profit First you'll see how it changed Mike's. He's a great storyteller and a super inspiring person.

You are going to love our conversation!

Cheers! Thank you for being here with me.Kay

* Subscribe to this newsletter so that it shows up in your inbox, instead of you having to go search for it :)

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribed

Kay Lock Kolp is a coach, podcast host, writer, and artist who helps people achieve wholeness and well-being. After experiencing a health crisis in 2011 that limited her mobility, Kay embarked on a transformative journey of self-discovery.

She now coaches clients to envision bold futures while taking manageable steps toward their goals, with a special focus on supporting leaders, creators, and first responders. Kay demonstrated her resilience by hiking England's Coast-to-Coast Path solo in 2023, an experience that embodies her philosophy of gentle, persistent self-actualization.

As a host for Pathfinders For Good, Kay shares stories that amplify positive change, emphasizing that authentic self-care creates ripple effects that benefit others. Her approach blends vulnerability, compassion, and practical support to help clients create meaningful transformation in their lives and communities.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Hello friend! Today’s episode is unusual - it’s actually the intro video for a groupI’ve just created.

For a long time I've had the dream of supporting and hosting a group for people who would like to bring some intention to their lives, and create meaning and fulfillment in their lives.

So, I finally did.

I had thought Substack (where this show is hosted, if you’re listening in your favorite pod app) would be the platform where that would happen.

As much as I love Substack, which is truly great for hosting this newsletter and show, in all its iterations with interviews and silliness and wonder, this platform isn't as interactive as I wished.

For example if you want to share something into our community here, you must do that in response to something I have created – this platform does not allow you to create your own posts (or at least not in a way that I have found after more than a year of looking!)

I've wished for a place where you wonderful people who are part of my world, part of my community, could meet each other. Spend time with each other. Also, I have wished for a place to host courses for those of you who would like that.

When I realized that Art Creativity & Wellbeing wasn't going to be the place where all of this could happen, I felt something shift.

A new way opened. I'm excited to share it with you today!

The video above is the intro video to my new group, called Dreamers and Doers. It's over in Skool, a platform that allows for everything I was wishing for here – opportunities for members to share and get to know each other, ask questions, be together, really feel in community.

Here is the about page of the group!

If you choose to join you will arrive as a Founding member. That's a special rate to join. It's also your opportunity to make the group be what you really need as you bring intention to this phase of your life.

It's not going to be for everyone.

If it's not for you, I get it and I completely understand. I'm glad you're here and that this space feels right for you.

If Dreamers and Doers does feel aligned and like it’s for you, come on in! I'm excited to greet you in there.

Here's the link to join: https://www.skool.com/dreamersanddoers/

Wishing you well! Thank you for being on the journey with me.

Kay

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Greetings friend! It's time for another great conversation with friend-of-the-podcast and my colleague Andrew Moss regarding the tools that we developed together as I was training to solo-hike across northern England in 2023.

Today you’ll hear about a tool we call Trust Evidence Over Thoughts, and it’s a conversation that will feel relevant and helpful, if you’ve ever been carried away by your thoughts.

Hope you enjoy!

* Consider subscribing to this newsletter so that it shows up in your inbox, instead of you having to go search for it :)

About this Series…

It's really a podcast within a podcast!In these "Waking Up: The Tools” conversations Andrew and I discuss the essential tools we developed that helped grow into the person who hiked all by myself across northern England in 2023… After needing a wheelchair to go more than a few steps in 2011.

We've called this series Waking up: The Tools because they’re featured in my award-winning memoir, Waking Up.

See you soon friends! Thank you for being along on the journey.With Love, Kay

Kay Lock Kolp M.Ed. - Coaching | Art | Writing | Shows: https://kaylockkolp.com

The quote I live by: “Till this moment I never knew myself.” - Jane Austen

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

I've been waiting to bring you this one for a long time! A great conversation with my longtime friend Bill Dwinnells LMHC, NCC, CCMHC . Bill is making a difference in the lives of many people through his work as a therapist.

Today you'll hear about how Bill got his start and how he started something amazing in Massachusetts when he became the first therapist to ride along with first responders as they do their work.

Our conversation goes down some interesting and inspiring rabbit holes!

Contact Bill either at his personal website, https://www.billdwinnells.com/, or https://gambitcounseling.com/, the solution-focused therapy practice he co-creates that's based in mindfulness and positive psychology.

Hope you enjoy our conversation..

Cheers! Thank you for being here with me.Kay

* Subscribe to this newsletter so that it shows up in your inbox, instead of you having to go search for it :)

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribed

Kay Lock Kolp is a coach, podcast host, writer, and artist who helps people achieve wholeness and well-being. After experiencing a health crisis in 2011 that limited her mobility, Kay embarked on a transformative journey of self-discovery.

She now coaches clients to envision bold futures while taking manageable steps toward their goals, with a special focus on supporting leaders, creators, and first responders. Kay demonstrated her resilience by hiking England's Coast-to-Coast Path solo in 2023, an experience that embodies her philosophy of gentle, persistent self-actualization.

As a host for Pathfinders For Good, Kay shares stories that amplify positive change, emphasizing that authentic self-care creates ripple effects that benefit others. Her approach blends vulnerability, compassion, and practical support to help clients create meaningful transformation in their lives and communities.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe