Story & Lesson Highlights with Kristy Mickelsen of Amarillo

We recently had the chance to connect with Kristy Mickelsen and have shared our conversation below.

Kristy, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
I actually have had a recent experience that has made me feel proud. I had signed into my X account which is the former twitter, and I see my name tagged in a conversation between two people about how I am their new favorite Author and podcast Host. One comment me smile and chuckle about how they would have total fan girl moments if they ever got to meet me in real life.
It makes me happy and proud to know that my content is liked and appreciated. It is also an honor to know that I have fans out there.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello everyone, my name is Kristy Mickelsen. I am an Author, W.W.A.A. Podcast Host, and an advocate for causes such as cancer, autism, lupus, and suicide awareness and prevention. I am also a brand ambassador and user created content model for several companies. I have also been recognized as a positivity influencer, and as of last year a charity fundraising event planner.
I wear many hats in my career but my main focus is on my books and my podcast.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before I found my voice as an author and advocate in the arts and entertainment world, I was a state preschool teacher in Victorville California and a wife to my wonderful husband who is an over the road truck driver. I was also a mother to my two autistic children Josh and Cassie, as well as one of my dad’s caregivers as he battled stage four renal cell carcinoma.
I often times felt stressed, depressed and very alone in some overwhelming circumstances. Until I started my writing career which often helped me release my bottled up emotions and stresses.
My career as a author, podcaster, influencer, and event planner has really helped me blossom in to the strong and confident woman I am today.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
That’s a good question. I had a lot of emotional pain through my teenage years and early adulthood due to depression from loss of friends, loved ones and even lost loves.
But I would have to say I stopped hiding my pain when I started my writing career. Through writing I was able to tell my emotions in my own words using fictional characters and I was able to express things such as love, lust, anger, sorrow, depression etc.
I have lost many people in life by either suicide or cancer and the only way I was able to work through my emotions was to write them in a journal as if I were telling myself a story, which I later turned in to fictional books.
For me writing was and I think always will be very therapeutic for me.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
For the most part the public version of me is the real me. I think the main difference is the public gets a better dressed version of me than how I dress at home. And the public gets a less stressed version of me than what my family and friends actually get.
Don’t get me wrong, in the arts and entertainment industry, you gain fans because you have maintained a public image of you, so I try to keep up that public image, even at home.
But there are days when you just want to lounge around in comfortable baggy clothes, instead of nice event clothes and have an adult beverage and be different from the public persona you are known for.
I think Elvis Presley said it best many years ago during an interview and forgive me I am paraphrasing but he said, “The image is one thing and the person behind the image is another. It’s hard to live up to an image.”

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
The story I hope people tell about me when I am gone is that I was a woman who was honest and compassionate towards others and I always encouraged others to believe in themselves and in others. I want people to tell others that I believed that sometimes you have to go through some hard times to get to the good and you have to go through a wide range of experiences to get to where you want to be in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Kristymickelsen.com
• Instagram: Kristymickelsen43
• Twitter: X.com@kristybooks
• Facebook: Kristy Mickelsen
• Other: W.W.A.A. Podcast can be found on all podcasts platforms including Spotify, Apple, Goodpods, Iheart and more.

Image Credits
Kristy Mickelsen Enterprises