When I was young, Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary gave me characters who felt like friends. I’d sometimes rather be curled up with Margaret Simon or Ramona Quimby than be out with real-life friends. I even brought books to dinners out with my family — my mother would have to tell me to put the book down when the waiter delivered our food, much to my chagrin. If I found myself immersed in being Sheila in Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great, you can bet I wasn’t interested in dinner conversation or anything else going on around me. Books were company, clarity, and comfort. They helped me make sense of myself.
That hasn’t changed. These days I’m drawn to writers like Amor Towles and Hernan Diaz—storytellers who give us both intimacy and insight, whose work makes you feel accompanied while showing you something larger.
That’s the kind of writing I hope to offer here.
Unfold is also how I try to live my life. I plan. I prepare. But I also allow space for unfolding—for what I couldn’t have anticipated, for what reveals itself only in the moment. This space holds that same balance: intention and surprise, clarity and discovery.
Unfold is for people in transition— anyone rethinking ambition, identity, work, relationships, or what it means to live a meaningful life.
I don’t offer “advice.”
Instead, Unfold offers perspective, presence, and pattern-breaking. Unfold meets you where you are, sits down beside you, and offers language for what you’re living through.
What You'll Find Here
Sometimes the writing names the disillusionment of work—those moments when success doesn’t feel like success and you need words for what comes next. Start with I Worked Too Much (But That Wasn’t the Problem).
Sometimes it leans into leadership—how to lead yourself first so you can navigate change with clarity and self-trust. Begin with The Way Back.
Sometimes it takes you out on the road—into national parks, dusty trails, and questionable decisions. Start with National Parks & Questionable Decisions. Writing from my Tour of Italy will also be unfolding here soon (and no, it’s not a main dish from Olive Garden).
Sometimes it turns inward—into body recomposition, resilience, or other forms of reinvention.
And if you’d rather begin with an overview—the lay of the land before choosing a path—this is the place to start.
Point being: there’s a lot unfolding on…Unfold.
Every piece begins in the ordinary—a workplace frustration, a trail in the heat, a late-night reckoning, a plate of pasta in Rome—and opens into something larger. Reflection. Pattern. Language you can carry into your own life.
If you’ve ever turned to books for friendship, or to writing for clarity, you’ll feel at home here.
About Me
I’m Liz Holtzinger—writer, entrepreneur, and longtime professor. For just under three decades I’ve helped people shape words into meaning and ideas into momentum. I’ve worked in classrooms, boardrooms, and healthcare startups; through heartbreak, loss, and love.
I don’t teach answers. I build language for what we already know but haven’t said out loud yet. My work blends the clarity of rhetoric, the grit of entrepreneurship, and the bridge of lived experience. What unites it all is a desire to help people move forward—not from hype, but from truth.
Why Subscribe
Because something’s shifting—and you want to meet it with intention.
Because you’re tired of surface-level advice and ready for language that sticks.
Because the story you tell next should sound like you.
Free subscribers receive weekly essays and reflection tools.
Paid subscribers receive weekly essays and reflection tools and get access to the full Lead Yourself First series, early access to courses, and deeper engagement as this work continues to unfold.
Want Help Writing Your Way Through It?
I occasionally offer 1:1 support for folks navigating real-life transitions.
That might look like:
Reframing your story for clarity and confidence
Rewriting your resume or LinkedIn profile with intention
Crafting a pitch or personal statement that actually sounds like you
Using AI tools to overcome blocks and save time
If you're reshaping how you show up—or what you’re building—I can help you write your next chapter into being. Call me. We’ll chat.
But first—subscribe. I don’t give my number to just anyone. ;)
