Elizabeth Cottrell’s career path has been anything but straight. With a graduate degree in human anatomy, she has been a leprosy researcher, published scientist, wife, mother, grandmother, community leader, freelance writer, desktop publisher, musician, and amateur radio operator.

Since 2016, she has also served as the first woman to chair the board of First National Corporation and First Bank in its 118-year history.

She is the author of HEARTSPOKEN: How to Write Notes that Connect, Comfort, Encourage, and Inspire and speaks and writes widely about the lost art of personal notes. Through her Heartspoken Movement, she encourages people to use note writing as a powerful way to strengthen their most meaningful personal and professional relationships—with family, friends, clients, employees, and donors.