I was just asked to submit a “long” bio to an organization (“describe your writing path!”). Never in my childhood dreams did I imagine I’d get to do the kind of work I do. As a kid, I assumed I’d grow up and work as a teacher like my mom (which I did, and I loved it ), or in an office (which I also did, and I sucked at it).

Here’s the latest draft of that bio:

After a decade working in marketing, Christine Wolf earned a Master’s degree in teaching. Years later, at the age of 40, she launched her professional writing career from her kitchen table.

Her work has since appeared on CNN and HuffPost Live, as well as in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Runner’s World, ChicagoNow, Better Humans, Invisible Illness, Patch, P.S. I Love You, and other outlets — often exploring relationships, mental health, grief, trauma, and advocacy.

Wolf is now an award-winning writer, trauma-informed memoir coach, developmental editor, and public speaker dedicated to helping people transform lived experience into meaningful story. Grounded in science-based expressive writing techniques and community-building, she believes human connection and storytelling help people navigate life’s most complex challenges.

She’s the founder of Writers’ Haven Evanston, a cooperative writing space and literary community. She also created the Substack publication Writers’ Haven by Christine Wolf. In 2023, she launched Write to Heal Workshops and Retreats. Two years later, she founded The Center for Shared Grief, an initiative that expands healing-centered writing into broader grief-support programming.

A performing storyteller, Christine has appeared on the stages of Short Story Theatre, Telling Stories, Mortified Chicago, Louder Than A Mom, and The Moth, where she was named a StorySLAM Champion in June 2022.

Wolf is the co-author, with Jay Pridmore, of Politics, Partnerships, & Power: The Lives of Ralph E. and Marguerite Stitt Church (2023), a political biography chronicling the life of one of the first fifty women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Christine teaches memoir and expressive writing at Northwestern University and leads workshops nationwide for corporate, community, and therapeutic audiences. She's currently working on a memoir about sisterhood lost and found, and training for her next Chicago Marathon (as a proud walker!) with her amazing husband.

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Okay, now it’s YOUR turn. Share your long bio in the comments. Describe YOUR writing path (and please include all the WINS!).