Hello, you exceptionally-talented, curious, overthinking, and ultra-aware professional.
I’m Georgia, the story detective for gifted professionals who love learning, reading, writing, listening, and superb conversations. Somewhere in your life either you or someone else kidnapped or attacked the story of the real, authentic, fascinating, no bullshit you and I'm the detective who always finds "who done it."
How can anyone understand you and connect with you if your story has become only 10% of what's real and the rest is a mask of functioning to get along? That LinkedIn profile…your website…the bio blurb everywhere you write and speak—none of that is barely 10% of you. I became the story detective after years of looking for the words I needed at the time I needed them the most.
The struggle, loneliness, and stress is real when the real you is hidden or buried in layers of protective skins, not because you think "I'm better than these people" but more like "Why is everyone acting like nothing is going on when I see 10 layers of the world and others want me to focus on one?"
Navigating a career path and networks to support all parts of living can be exhausting and other gifted professionals and communicators are hard to find. That’s why co-founded an online community and dedicated this Substack space for Gifted Professionals and Communicators.
I am not a therapist or coach. Creators of this Substack are knowledge workers, mostly, writers, journalists, storytellers, and consultants to leaders in a wide variety of professions and industries.
I’ve been writing and transforming for 50 years. I have the awards and bruises to prove it. I’m thrilled to join thousands of other professionals and writers who love publishing and never confuse it with selling.
The Real Me story is on my website and in the next conversation with you.
“Gifted individuals see and experience the world uniquely. They have unique biology, from their brain maps to their genetics to their sensory processing to their emotional processing to their biorhythms.” –Nicole Tetreault, Ph.D., Insight Into A Bright Mind, March 2021
This Substack is for communicators and gifted professionals actively seeking a safe place to connect, further build their stories, learn, and grow with others who “get” them.
I write every day and publish weekly, here and elsewhere, to develop understanding, find deeper meaning, and push the boundaries on the critical issues we face today.
I work with individuals to look for clues and track down the story lines that need to come out and show their compassionate insights into the reality behind their high abilities. I detect and rewrite the stories of communicators and professionals, from 45 to 90, who think fast, feel deep, and never quite fit.
Share the articles and show up in the comments and notes features of this newsletter as your opportunity to engage on your own terms, on your own schedule, and be fully present in your personal and professional life.
We believe that those drawn to this newsletter are looking for a shared sense of recognition. We are looking for other people who are here to bring forth something new together. We may not know how to talk about what we seek, but we recognize it when it shows up. We welcome those who ‘come from the same future’ because everything depends on it.
Seriously motivated professionals belong here. We want to join forces with people who have done a lot already and still have a deep sense of urgency about all the things they want to do before they die.
Were you labeled “gifted” as a child? Or have you often felt like a minority of one?
As it turns out, we do not outgrow our giftedness, although many of us have experienced this giftedness as a double-edged sword. What we don’t say out loud is that sometimes we wish we weren’t, mainly because gifted individuals experience a lot of loneliness in our personal and professional communications.
Our readers—our community- look like millions of professionals in every field and seem to be the ones who communicate better and accomplish a lot more than you think they do, but without bragging. We are less than 5% of all adults and prefer deep work instead of social media.
Substack is our opportunity to write about the stories, current projects, and long-game goals of gifted professionals and communicators. We don’t have the answers. We have better questions and writing that helps you think and get clear with yourself and the world.
For a toe-in-the-water assessment of your score of giftedness, professional, and communicator, go here.
If you think you need medical help, such as therapy or crisis intervention, you need to stop here and get help. Google search “therapists” or call 988.
My AI Relationship
Every journalist has an AI story or relationship, and here's mine. For more than 70 years artificial intelligence has been in our lives as manmade human replications, such as voice mail, GPS tracking devices, computer search engines, and ATMs. I didn't freak out over AI then and I'm not a slave to it now.
Since 2020, I have used AI to stretch my thinking and writing, not to replace it. I work with AI the way writers work with a well-read research assistant and a sharp copy editor.
I'm in charge and AI works for me as a thinking partner to test out ideas, probe issues from different points of view, and help me develop a clearer understanding of the topics I choose to work on. AI challenges me, connects me with other thinkers around the world, and encourages me to see my work as my readers see it—all about them and their struggles. It takes guts to push yourself to the limit. AI can take it when you give the command: "Make sure this is a story my readers will love and tell me when my ego gets in the way."
