Meet Jocelyn Lindsay

We were lucky to catch up with Jocelyn Lindsay recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jocelyn, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I’m Gen X—we were practically baptized in resilience. I grew up feral, cooking my own meals, playing with the burn pile in the backyard, and enjoying unsupervised freedom. I was raised by “figure it out” energy. If something broke, I fixed it or duct-taped it, shrugged, and moved on. That grit didn’t disappear. It followed me straight into the world of writing and book coaching.

Here’s the real secret, though: I failed a lot as a kid. Like, constantly. I was the kid who tried everything—oil painting, basketball, weird science experiments in the garage. I wasn’t good at most of it. I never became an expert in any of it. And that was the gift.

I didn’t grow up thinking success meant winning. I grew up thinking success meant trying.

Curiosity was my fuel. I wasn’t trying to be the best. I just wanted to see what would happen. And that mindset? It stuck. It’s how I approach writing. It’s how I coach other writers. I experiment. I fall flat on my face. Then I get back up and say, “Okay, cool—what did I learn?”

In my own writing life, resilience shows up in the most brutal moments. When a draft turns into a monster I created but no longer understand, when I’ve revised so many times I can practically recite the book backward, when I hit “publish” on a book and reviews don’t come rushing in.

But I keep going. Because that’s what we do. We show up. We stay curious. We try again.

And then there are my clients. Watching them navigate real life—jobs, caregiving, children, aging parents, grief—and still come back to the page? That’s resilience in motion. One client rewrote the same book for ten years. Ten years. Not because she wasn’t good enough, but because life kept throwing punches. And she kept getting up.

Resilience doesn’t wear a cape. It shows up in your old, worn-out hoodie, sighs “ugh, fine,” and does the thing anyway. And honestly? Sometimes that’s the bravest damn thing you can do.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a book coach and an author. I help people write the stories that won’t leave them alone—the ones they feel called to tell, even if they’re not sure they’re “qualified” or “ready.” (Spoiler: if you’re waiting to feel ready, you’ll be waiting forever.)

As a published author, I’ve wrestled with the need to write, the endless revisions, and that voice in your head that says, “Who do you think you are?” That lived experience shapes how I coach. This work isn’t theory to me, it’s personal and deeply human.

I work mostly with writers coming to the page later in life. They’ve raised families, built careers, and are finally ready to write the book they’ve been dreaming about. They’re brave as hell, and they inspire me every single day.

My approach blends craft, mindset, and the realities of publishing. I don’t sell quick fixes. I offer structure, strategy, and encouragement. Plus a whole lot of truth-telling, with a side of humor and heart.

Right now, I’m supporting clients through everything from zero drafts to launch day, while also deep in revision on my next novel. It’s a joy and a privilege to walk alongside writers, helping them trust their voice, shape their stories, and take themselves seriously as authors.

This isn’t just my job—it’s my passion. And it’s my mission to help writers get their books into the world.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three things that have shaped me most—both as a writer and a coach—weren’t flashy or complicated. They were curiosity, resilience, and the willingness to keep learning. These qualities didn’t just show up one day. They were built through lived experience, lots of failure, and the decision to keep going anyway.

1. Curiosity over perfection.
When I stopped trying to “get it right” and started asking, What would happen if…?, everything shifted. I used to treat everything like a performance—something someone was going to judge. Now, I treat life like a laboratory. I don’t chase perfection. I chase questions. I try things. I make a mess. Sometimes I fall flat. I learn. I keep going.

Advice: Treat whatever you’re doing like an experiment, not an exam. Don’t wait until you feel “good enough” to start. Just get curious and begin. Get messy. Try stuff. Let it be weird. That mindset will carry you so much further than perfectionism ever will.

2. Emotional resilience.
Resilience isn’t something I was born with. It’s something I built—moment by moment, disappointment by disappointment. It showed up in the quietest moments: when no one was watching, when I felt like quitting, when the voice in my head said, This isn’t working, and I had to decide to keep going anyway.

I’ve learned that failure doesn’t mean something’s wrong with me. It just means not yet. Keep going. Over time, those moments of getting back up turned into something solid and something I could trust.

Advice: You don’t need to be fearless. You need to be willing. Willing to fall down, to doubt yourself, and to keep moving anyway. Resilience isn’t glamorous—it’s just the decision to try again. And that decision? That’s everything.

3. Willingness to keep learning.
There’s a point in adulthood where we start to believe we should already know how to do everything. That asking questions makes us look unprepared. That not knowing means we’ve failed somehow. But that mindset? It’ll keep you stuck.

The truth is, I’ve had to learn—and relearn—how to do things I never thought I’d need to know. Whether it was navigating publishing, running a business, or figuring out how to build an online platform without losing my mind, I had to get comfortable being a beginner. Again and again.

The willingness to keep learning has been one of the most freeing things in my life. Because once you stop needing to know everything, you start to see that you can learn anything.

Advice: You don’t have to know everything. You just have to stay open. Ask questions. Try something new. Be okay with being a beginner again. That’s not failure—it’s growth. And it keeps you moving forward, long after other people have given up.

These aren’t just skills—they’re survival tools. They’re all learnable. Start where you are. Stay curious. Keep going.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Yes—absolutely. I’m always open to thoughtful, grounded collaborations with people who are doing meaningful work.

I’m especially interested in partnering with those who support writers—particularly folks writing later in life or navigating the winding road of nontraditional publishing. That might look like co-hosted workshops, podcast conversations, guest teaching, or creating resources that are actually useful (and don’t make writers want to cry into their laptops).

I also love connecting with people in adjacent spaces—coaches, therapists, community builders, creatives—anyone who understands or wants to talk about how writing isn’t just about getting words on a page. It’s emotional work. Brave work. And it’s a lot easier when we don’t do it alone.

If that’s you, let’s talk. You can reach me through my website www.jocelynlindsay.com or find me on Instagram @jocelynlindsay. Let’s make something real and useful and definitely even a little fun.

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Image Credits

Kelsey Kurtis

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