I went from having three-hundred-and-fifty thousand eyeballs watching my work to having zero. Here's how I am regaining my place.

I had been a public figure on the news for thirty years when I signed off my CTV computer for a three-week vacation in Italy.

Days after we landed in Rome I was knocked down by a madman driving a Mercedes.

It took time to recover mobility.

I lost my livelihood as a result.

That old Hero to zero saying?

At in the bank lineup someone said to me Didn't you used to be Anne Lewis?

Anne is coming back.

First I went back to school to get the very best university training in coaching and evidence-based change at Concordia University with Jim Gavin and Madeleine Mcbrearty, PhD, PCC .

I kept a low profile for a decade after the accident. My inner judge told me No writing in public for you young lady. Ply your trade in the shadows.

But I wasn't happy. Through Maria Iliffe-Wood I studied Method Writing with Jules Swales. I needed to kick out my reporter voice and the formulaic tropes of my profession.

Following that in 2019 I started publishing posts on my coaching website. 

I was excited to see what response I would get, but the inner critic had other thoughts. No one's going to be interested.

My list of willing reader/victims notched up to 50 recipients and stuck there.

The big development was when I took a stab at LinkedIn.

I wrote a (95% true) item about how I had coached Leonard Cohen. It was timed for michael posner 's publication of Leonard Cohen, Untold Stories: The Early Years at Simon & Schuster. I had a bit part as a contributor.

That post mustered 200 views.

That was four years ago. Consider that in 2024, every minute TikTok users watch 167 million videos, every day 500 million tweets are sent and every day an average of 11 thousand books are published. 

Anyone with expertise is drowned out. 

I wanted to be noticed and I experienced how hard that actually is.

The lifelong critical voice was busy. That's all you deserve kiddo.

To learn how my mind was being my worst enemy I became certified in Positive Intelligence with Shirzad Chamine and Bill Carmody, PCC .

I niched myself into the art and science of expertise. What I offer is a pretty unique blend.

Thanks to my full time role at CTV News I knew and networked with hundreds of topic experts, thought leaders, politicians, researchers, health care providers, entrepreneurs, professionals, fundraisers and many more purpose-driven contributors to society.

Award-winning reporting equipped me to help others translate complex concepts into easy-to-understand bites.

My twelve years teaching at Montreal's Concordia University added another dimension. Not to mention to the corporate knowledge I gained in 30 years at CTV.

I didn't realize all I had to offer until one fine day a car knocked me out of circulation.

It has taken a long time for me to step back into my pre-Rome self.

If it is your purpose in life to make a difference, if you yearn to use your particular brand of expertise for good and to be rewarded for it, then you’ve got to be out here. And sometimes it takes a strong stomach.

Encouraged by many colleagues and friends, including 🔆Ipek Williamson, CIC, CPQC Rachelle Stone, PCC, CPQC Lynda Hoffman Dr. Justin James Kennedy I became comfortable - whether through social media, publishing in a traditional or non-traditional format, hosting courses or running webinars – these are all possible from behind a screen. Or in person.

Y/our expertise deserves to be noticed. 

Recently I have been writing about how I struggle with my writing. Professional suicide? Actually no – ‘fessing up to that has brought me more clients.

I work with people making strides in creative fields, in science, in healthcare, in academia, in leadership, in management and in tech.

I started a series about using brain plasticity and other developments in neuroscience.

The inner critic is still alive. Right now as I am writing, it says this - You're making yourself the hero of the story.

But that is so unfair.

In this newsletter I send out my insights about issues in the art and science of expertise, personal development, medicine, health and wellness, sleep (and other body budget basics). Not to mention thriving as a come-back kid.

LinkedIn metrics so far? The best post garnered 67,000 hits. Cheering that algorithm, watching it go, what a feeling!

I promise to send you the best, most condensed and most useful information, News You Can Use as we used to say in the biz.

I'm glad to be in touch with you however virtually it may be. I am always delighted to get a message from someone who has read my work.

Help me make sure the posts I write and share are relevant.

Thanks for reading. 

Still Anne Lewis (no matter what the guy in the bank said).

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