Meet Cathrine Swift

We recently connected with Cathrine Swift and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cathrine, 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?

In a nutshell, my resilience comes from pure stubbornness, a passion I couldn’t ignore if I tried, and a deep love for artistic expression.

I often joke with friends that I “don’t have a choice” when it comes to the many projects I always seem to have on the go. On the surface, it is a joke—but underneath it, there’s truth. Deep down, I don’t think I could give up even if I tried.

That’s not to say I haven’t wanted to. There have been moments—both personally and professionally—where I’ve absolutely considered it. But at the end of the day, I know I’m here on this planet for something important. For many important things. And I believe that’s true for all of us, for better or for worse.

I also have two very important eyes watching me at all times. My daughter, who is seven as I answer this question, is my constant companion. With that comes both a privilege and a responsibility: to be her first example of what it means to be a strong woman—and a strong human.

I want her to see that showing up doesn’t always mean giving one hundred percent. Sometimes it means giving what you can that day, even if it’s less than the day before. I remind her—and myself—that giving up isn’t an option.

Moving on? Pivoting? Changing paths? Starting over? Absolutely.

But giving in?
No way.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

To my core, I’m a storyteller and a guide.

My work spans several creative lanes, but it’s all rooted in the same intention: building community and helping creatives feel seen and empowered. I’m an multi-genre author, book doula, and bookish event coordinator. I love working with writers through all the various stages of their journey to bring their stories into the world with clarity, confidence, and compassion.

What excites me most about my work is that it all sits at the intersection of community and growth. Whether I’m writing fiction themed with ‘found family’, guiding a first time author through the trials and celebrations of publication, or creating an event that supports the local artists in my province, the heart of it is always the same. We can do ANYTHING, together.

In addition to my own writing, I also lead annual themed anthology projects that bring together writers around the world with a special focus on confidence building by giving non-published writers a chance to get their first title out before going solo, or helping established authors build their backlists. I also run ‘Tales and Trinkets Events’ which started with book fair style markets to help Albertan’s shop for books and book related items locally/Canadian. I’ll be expanding throughout 2026 to involve workshops, retreats, conversation salons and more. The biggest accomplishment in 2025 was organizing a youth book drive with a fellow writer and local music teacher. Over 1,500 books were collected in approximately six weeks and they all went back into the community to inspire our next generation and uplift literacy.

My professional world is intentionally multi-dimensional, because I am. I don’t believe we’re meant to be just one thing, to fit into niches or boxes, and I try to model that through my work. I value bold and brave creativity, emotional growth, and uplifting those I’m lucky enough to call friend or colleague (typically these overlap), so everything I create—books, collaborations, celebrations—is guided by those principles.

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

I’m not sure I’m necessarily qualified to advise anyone but a younger version of myself because we are all such unique creatures with unique lifestyles, and what works for probably won’t work for them. That being said, I am still happy to share what HAS worked for me. May it inspire you to find your own path.

The first piece of advice I personally took in to my heart years ago that’s kept me sane through balancing motherhood, homemaking, and career building is this: You can only be truly badass at two things a day. Example: I can have a perfectly clean home, a dinner made from scratch, and have had an incredibly productive day with my work to-do list … but did I show up for my daughter in all the ways I wanted to or should have? Probably not. The next day, I can pivot, prioritizing her and work. I’ll bet that we’re going to bed and waking up the next morning to dishes in the sink and a pile of laundry. Or, the third option, is I am the perfect Pinterest mom, and I get all the chores done, but my work suffers.
Do what you can, with what you have, and then try again the next day.

An area of knowledge that really helped me grow, is better understanding myself. I did this through personality tests/assessments, studying my Big Three in astrology, and of course doing therapy. The more I learned about the way my brain works and identified the places in my life where I struggled, the easier it was to call myself out on them and not only re-parent myself, but test and grow beyond emotional triggers or bad habits.

Finally, one of the best things I can share is to be curious. Get your head out of the sand, move with the times, explore new ways of doing things, and be ready for it all to change just as you’ve mastered the last update/upgrade/set of rules and regulations. This world moves pretty fast, as Ferris Bueller said, and all we can do is hold on tight. Be adaptable, cautious, and prepared to own any mistakes you might make.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

2025 for me, like so many of us, has been a challenging year. Relationships, morals, commitment to self, and so much more have been put to the test time and again. It feels as though we are being tested extremely hard right now, both in personal and professional settings. Motherhood has ramped up, publishing is constantly changing, people are at odds with one another (and themselves) far too often, and it’s easy in this digital world we live in to lose sight of the truly important things.

Looking inward, I see a lot of growth in trusting myself more, listening to my intuition, and not accepting certain behaviours in my day to day life I still have so much room to grow, of course. I’m still healing in so many areas of my life, but I have never stood up for myself and the people I care about so deeply and loudly as I have this year.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cathrineswift.wixsite.com/authorcathrineswift
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorcathrineswift/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorcathrineswift/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@authorcathrineswift