Writers Rotation

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Gabrielle Touchette is a professional photographer based in Winnipeg, Canada. She started taking photos at age 13, mostly drawn to creative and documentary-style photography. Years later, she earned a diploma in professional photography and has been running a full-time portrait and commercial photography business since 2008.

She also teaches photography to both aspiring professionals and everyday people who want to create better photos with the camera they already have. She believes everyone is creative, even if they don't think they are. Her hope is to inspire others to develop their creativity, share their stories, and captivate others with the images they take.

Gabrielle writes a weekly email newsletter where she teaches phone photography tips and creative exercises to beginner photographers and enthusiasts.
https://gabrielletouchette.kit.com/

Gabrielle Touchette Photography
www.egabrielle.com

Gabrielle’s phone photography:
www.gabrielletouchette.com


Kathie’s note: You know how you feel like you know someone because you read their work all the time? Gabrielle presented a workshop for CreativeMornings in February of 2023 and I signed up for her newsletter. As a person, she’s down to earth. As a professional photographer, she really knows what she’s talking about. 

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Carro Ford is a B2B content marketing manager and B2B SaaS strategist with 12+ years of experience in creating long-form content programs, business guides, playbooks, case studies and demand-generation campaigns that translate complex products into practical growth narratives for business audiences.

She is known for SEO strategy and content optimization, for building content strategy from scratch, working across product, sales, insights and creative teams, and using performance data to optimize content for engagement, conversion, product adoption and pipeline.
 
A native of Louisville, Carro has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Arts from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. 

Her book, The Smartass Marketer's Handbook, is available online pretty much anywhere. You can always order it from your local bookstore.

Carro is active on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/carroford
 

Kathie’s note: I met Carro around the turn of the century through the Kentucky Freelancers, a group I cofounded for independent professionals to get together for a luncheon each month, listen to a guest speaker, network, all the good things we missed because we didn’t work around a water cooler in an office anymore. She has always entered a room with a radiant smile.

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Lauren Deborah (they/them) is a comedian known for their Cake It ‘Til You Make It series on Instagram. They were a State Finalist in Raw Comedy 2025, Australia's biggest comedy competition.

Lauren’s podcast about coming out (on Spotify), My Dad Stole My Limelight, part of Vancouver’s 604 Podcast Network, has been seen live at Vancouver Pride, in iHeart Podcast spotlight features, and Elizabeth Bank’s WHOHAHA’s featured podcasts. 

Their digital journal of a chronic oversharer, hi, lauren deborah!  lives on Substack. Lauren’s writing has been published in Vancouver Pride Magazine and Lauren was the Open Forum Editor for Angles Magazine Volume 2. Lauren was selected in the 2025 CrimeBits Competition and had their work published in the anthology.

Find Lauren on Substack and Instagram @HiLaurenDeborah

https://hilaurendeborah.substack.com

www.instagram.com/hilaurendeborah

Kathie’s note: Lauren Deborah was one of the facilitators for the CreativeMornings FieldTrips and the behind-the-scenes virtual community lead. That’s where I met this bright and happy face. We shared a couple of private chats (“This presentation is wild and I’m here for it!) from time to time, and of course, I’m a sucker for an accent! Lauren’s Aussie accent is fabulous.

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Tom Leach starts his 30th year as the "Voice of the Wildcats" for the University of Kentucky Wildcats football team in September 2026, and the next men's basketball season will be his 26th season.

He is a six-time winner of the Kentucky Sportscaster of the Year award and two-time winner of the Eclipse Award for thoroughbred racing coverage; a member of the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Broadcasters Association HOF, the 10th Region Hall of Fame, the Bourbon County High School Athletics Hall of Fame, and a Distinguished Alumni in the UK College of Communications.

A graduate of Bourbon County High School, he has a journalism degree from the University of Kentucky.

Follow Tom @tomleachky on X
Listen to the Leach Report weekday mornings from 8-9 Eastern (or on-demand):
https://tomleachky.com/

Kathie’s note: Tom Leach is practically a relative? I met his wife, Robyn, before he did. I worked with Robyn at one radio station (WLAP, 630 on your AM dial) and then with Tom at another (WVLK, AM 590). (Don’t tell anyone, but those station nicknames used to be the Dirty Six-Thirty and the Mighty Five-Ninety). 

Tom is a consummate professional, on-air and off, and a really good person. Fun to be around. He’s also a music savant of the pop culture variety, btw, so you want him on your trivia team.

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Robyn Rabbeth Leach spent 20+ years in radio and television broadcasting working at WHAS in Louisville, WLAP radio and WLEX TV in Lexington, Kentucky.

She is a Louisville native and graduate of Western Kentucky University. Robyn has been married for 38 years to Tom Leach, voice of the University of Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball and football. They are parents to Connor, a chef, and Caroline, a data scientist. Lately, Robyn has been restoring her home, traveling, and lingering with friends and family.

Kathie’s note: Robyn is my longest-running BFF, though neither of us runs. We met at WLAP radio in the 1900s, hahahaa, where she was in news and I was a disc jockey. The station had an actual news department (!) with at least three or four people on the news staff. Talk about a previous lifetime. And it was such a full, full life, we don't reminisce about the same stories over and over. Plus, we have plenty of current things to talk about these days.

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Molly Sonsteng is a producer and experience designer who believes play is serious business. She co-founded Caveday, a community that helps people find deeper focus and a healthier relationship to work, and she runs Madcap Factory, a production house that builds games and experiences designed to bring more mischief into everyday life.

Before any of that, Molly trained as an opera singer at the University of Minnesota and later earned a master's in Educational Leadership from Columbia. She taught preschool, ran a political campaign office, developed curriculum at Carnegie Hall, and produced early morning dance parties around the world. 

She also co-founded Inconspicuous Games, running secret field games in landmarks and public spaces for companies looking to shake up how their teams connect.

These days she splits her time between Caveday and Madcap, building experiences that get people out of their heads and into the moment.
 

Find and follow Molly on her website, Substack & IG:

www.madcapfactory.com

mollysonsteng.substack.com

www.instagram.com/mollysonsteng

And of course, Caveday, the online coworking body-doubling space.

www.caveday.org

Kathie’s note: You know those people who are so grounded they exude a “you look calm and friendly too!” persona? Unpretentious, accepting, calm, cool & collected, all that. That’s Molly! She was one of the first faces I saw when I joined Caveday on January 1, 2021. I found it on CreativeMornings, one of their first FieldTrips. According to my calendar, it was July 8, 2020. “CreativeMornings, Brooklyn, get shit done in the cave: deep work.”

I took notes about the breakout sessions the first couple of years. As a guide one day, Molly’s breakout prompt was to describe your activities as a child vs. today. I said, “As a kid, it was music, books, and staying away from my brothers. Today I like music, books, and Zooming with my brothers.” (I mean, we change but we don’t, ya know?)

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Maria Zeta is the founder of Embody Your Human Potential, facilitating online wellness classes and guided lectures that assist women worldwide in finding their center and restore ease and balance. She designs and curates classes, webinars, talks, retreats, and other events that assist people in realizing their health, wholeness, and happiness needs.

She took up yoga meditation and went to India in 1998 to learn the benefits of vegetarianism, positive thinking, and stress-free living, and in 2002 learned Sivananda and Ashtanga yoga. A year after, she began teaching in international spas and gyms all over Metro Manila, promoting health and fitness.

She has her certification for level three of the Integrated Mind and Body Yoga Wellness Program, which integrates ancient and scientific mind/body techniques. Maria concentrates her abilities in designing and facilitating embodiment and human potential programs that empower people to enjoy and realize their most cherished wellness ideals and desires in life. 

Maria has taken an active role in helping empower both the earth and mankind at large through initiatives that anchor sustainable living and development through environment cleanups, tree planting, mind and body wellness and empowerment initiatives.

Maria earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from Ateneo de Manila University, where she played varsity volleyball.

Embody Your Human Potential
www.patreon.com/cw/EmbodyYourHumanPotential

Facebook: Embody Your Human Potential

Instagram: @EmbodyYourHumanPotential

Kathie’s note: I met Maria through Astrology Hub, one of my absolute favorite spaces on the internet. I kept seeing this bubbly face, always smiling, and just embodying happiness in her whole face. And then she offered some one-on-one yoga classes, and I got to experience her delightful happiness in person (haha) every week. She’s a peach!

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Debra Locker Griffin provides big-city caliber public relations with small-town charm by applying the same inquisitive spirit that served her so well in television news journalism. Her three-plus decades of professional excellence have put her in the absolute vanguard of her field. 

Based in Kentucky, Debra’s company, the Debra Locker Group, is an award-winning boutique agency specializing in the lifestyle, spa, travel, spirits, and wellness markets, and is a constant champion for female entrepreneurs. 

Debra founded DLG in 2008 after working in corporate public relations and having a successful career in TV news. The company has been chosen five times as the best PR firm in Louisville by the readers of LEO Weekly, and the editors of Louisville Business First named Debra one of 20 people to know in Advertising, PR, and Marketing. 

Prior to launching DLG, Debra was the Public Relations Director for the International SPA Association. Ingrained in the spa industry since 2001, Debra received the 2020 Women in Wellness PR & Marketing Award from American Spa.

Before beginning her PR career, Debra was a reporter and producer at TV stations throughout the Southeast. She has been nominated for three Regional Emmy Awards for her production work.

Debra’s free time is spent traveling, gardening, working out, and trying new restaurants. She is married to her college sweetheart, is mom to an incredible son who is a rising sophomore at the University of Illinois, and is a fur mom to a vivacious Great Pyrenees/Border Collie mix named Freya.

https://debralockergroup.com/
https://www.instagram.com/debralockergroup
https://www.linkedin.com/in/debralockergriffin/

Kathie’s note: I've been a freelance writer receiving Debra's PR requests and introductions for stories about her clients. She has also offered up a couple of Writers Rotation podcast guests! I met Debra in real life in the fall of 2019 on a fam tour in Shelbyville, Kentucky. What a fun couple of days that was, and she is so gracious.

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Steven Puri is the founder and CEO of The Sukha Company, with the mission to help millions of people find their focus, achieve more, and have a healthy work life. 

Steven is one of the few people on earth who has been a senior executive at two motion picture studios and also raised over $20MM in venture capital. He’s produced the digital effects for Independence Day, which won the Oscar for Visual Effects and in addition to his film work, he’s founded three startups: one successful exit and two failures. He lectures now on the lessons in sustainable high-performance he learned working alongside some of the world’s more productive people. 

Steven's career started as a newscaster/interviewer for the #1 youth news show in the DC/Baltimore market (on WTTG-TV) and then as a junior software engineer and Thomas J. Watson Scholar at IBM. After attending USC in Los Angeles, he began working in film production.

The Sukha Company - ‘sukha’ means ‘happiness from self-fulfillment’ in Sanskrit. Sukha is a focus app that bundles all the tools necessary to enter into a flow state and a have healthy, productive workday. 

https://www.thesukha.co

Kathie's note: Steven is in his get-on-podcast season, so when he reached out via email one day, I said sure! We had a lovely conversation, and I must say, I'm a sucker for big words. You'll hear 'germane' and 'bifurcate' in this interview, among others. I had to edit out 'empirical' due to a glitchy glitch, but just pretend it's in there somewhere.

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Jessica Dawkins, president and CEO of Historic Locust Grove in Louisville, Kentucky, has been a  museum professional and local historian for over 20 years. 

She received a bachelor’s  degree in History from the University of Louisville and a master’s degree in Business  Communication from Spalding University, both of which were fully funded by the Jack  Kent Cooke Foundation in Washington, DC. 

She is also a graduate of the History Leadership Institute, class of 2016.  Her passion lies in 19th century Ohio Valley history, and this focus brought her to work  within historic house museums in the Louisville area. As the southeast regional director  for the Indiana State Museum & Historic Sites, she directed three sites in Southern Indiana:  Culbertson Mansion in New Albany, Corydon Capitol in Corydon, and Lanier Mansion in  Madison. She then served as deputy director of the Kentucky Historical Society and was  most recently the executive director of Liberty Hall Historic Site in Frankfort, Kentucky. 

By taking an interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach to museum management,  Jessica demonstrates a tangible, authentic commitment to audiences and communities  served. She believes historical organizations are visitor-serving and mission-based, and  they are also local businesses, economic drivers, and cultural generators. 

Through  inspirational storytelling, creative programming, and intentional collaboration, Jessica is a  passionate advocate for history as a crucial tool in the life of the everyday citizen.  She also serves on nonprofit boards and committees, including Louisville Public Media’s  Community Advisory Board and Happy Birthday Park. She was Board Chair for  Farmington Historic Plantation and was named one of Business First’s “20 People to Know  in Tourism & Hospitality.”

https://locustgrove.org

Keep up with @HistoricLocustGrove on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok.

Kathie’s note: Debra Locker introduced Jessica and me to each other. Instant bonding! Right before our interview, lightning struck the grounds of Locust Hill and every electronic device on the property was out of commission. Lights and computers and everything, so she recorded on her phone.

I thought it was the old house's way of saying, "Enough with your technology!" and Jessica said she has always known that historic homes get what they want. For example, an unlikable employee or a visitor can get invited not to say. "But since I've come to Locust Grove, I realize the land gets what it wants," she said. 

Writers Rotation intro/outro recorded at Dynamix Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.

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