For years, I’ve wrestled with a question that I suspect many writers face: how do I balance the personal with the professional? How do I write in a way that feels authentic—whole, even—while acknowledging that not every audience is interested in the entire package?

It’s been 15 years since I filed that paperwork to start Seabourne Consulting in 2009, and honestly, I wasn’t thinking beyond the fact that I didn’t want to job hunt. Starting a company right after the global financial meltdown wasn’t, on paper, my best idea.