Living Life on Your Terms
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti
He’s nervous, but on the surface, he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting
What he wrote down…- Eminem, “Lose Yourself”
Anyone who came of age in the early 2000s could recognize the iconic words of Eminem narrating the rap battle scene from his autobiographical film 8 Mile. The first two lines of the song were famous enough for the rapper to name his Detroit restaurant Mom’s Spaghetti. I knew these lines by heart, and the rest of the song too, because I always identified so strongly with that nauseating stage fright—the kind that makes your mind go blank despite the dopest skills and the best preparation.
So it was with some trepidation that I said yes to an invitation for a live 2-hour interview on North Country Community Radio (NCCR) with
of the Mind, Body, Soul Show. Megg and I have known each other since our early entrepreneurial days, and she’s been a cheerleader for my writing and adventuring at Liz Explores from the beginning. I was surprised and honored that she would include me among her lineup of guests meant to “educate and inspire.”But what, exactly, did I have to teach people, I wondered? In my writing, I share about my challenges with infertility and mental health to help people feel less alone, and I share about my adventures to inspire. But as a writer, I’m not in the business of offering advice.
We decided that I’d tell the story of how my life didn’t go according to plan, and how managing my mental health and grieving infertility led me down an unexpected path to fulfill my dreams of writing and adventure. The theme became Living Life on Your Terms, and in addition to sharing my story, Megg and I both would share some tips and tricks to move toward a more authentic life.
Knees weak and arms heavy, I joined Megg in the NCCR studio on Monday, September 15th from 1-3pm Eastern, and we had a phenomenal conversation. She is a truly gifted interviewer, empathetic and curious, and she knows how to hold space, so my jitters evaporated and we sat down and chatted like the special friends we have become. Best of all, because it was a radio show, I got to have Megg DJ some of my favorite songs live on air during our breaks! Unfortunately those didn’t make it to the recording due to copyright issues, but we talked about most of the tunes so folks should be able to find them and have a listen.
So if you’d like to hear my talking voice instead of my writing voice, and find out what songs I played on repeat on the road, have a listen here at the Mind Body Soul Show with Meggen Wright. Megg is a certified yoga therapist, so she starts every show with some stretches (which I highly recommend). But if you’d like to skip straight to the interview, it starts about 8 minutes and 55 seconds into the recording:
1,000 Subscribers!
Four months into writing on Substack, in April 2023, I had amassed 50 subscribers. I doubled that number when I left for Alaska in July 2023 and hit my first 100 subscribers. It was surreal to imagine myself in a room reading something I’d written to 100 people, most of them strangers. Every time I shared a new piece of writing, a couple of people would leave the proverbial room, and a few more would walk in. I built connections with people on Substack through engaging with others’ work. Writers started recommending Liz Explores to their readers, including one New York Times bestseller. My numbers grew steadily.
It took another two years of slow and steady growth, but Liz Explores hit 1,000 subscribers in June 2025, thanks to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! Seeing the “1K+ subscribers” on my Substack profile has been a dream since my early days on the platform, and I’m so grateful to every single reader for welcoming me into your inbox, reading my stories, and following my journey. It especially means a lot when you take the time to hit the “like” button (which shows my posts to more people) and leave comments (which lets me know you read and enjoyed my piece).
of Hello Beautifuls writes that “Un-hearted posts are like wiggly puppies asking for pets and not getting any.” Yes, that’s how desperate we writers are for praise!At the end of every essay, I say that “writing is a lonely pursuit”—I feel naked every time I hit the send button, and the more feedback I get, the more worthwhile it feels putting all that time and energy into baring myself to the world. So THANK YOU ALL for being here, and please don’t be shy—join us in the comments, or even better, if you haven’t already—join my Inner Circle for just $5/month or $36/year and get access to my most personal stories (the ones behind that annoying paywall). Paid subscriptions allow me to continue investing time and energy into my writing, so if you like what you read, please join us! I try to keep subscription fees as low as possible to be accessible to all.
Want to help me find my next 1,000 subscribers? If each of you would recommend Liz Explores to just one friend, we could do it! Send your pal, your daughter, or your cool grandparent to www.lizexplores.com or even better, forward them your favorite essay and ask them to subscribe for free. With the holidays approaching, you could also purchase gift subscriptions to my Inner Circle so they can get all-access! My next big goal is 100 paid subscribers, which would get me a fancy badge next to my name in the Substack app, and every single one counts. Please join, and if you’re already in my Inner Circle, THANK YOU and please spread the word!
I’m on the Substack Leaderboard!
Several times in the past few months, I’ve appeared at random on the Substack Leaderboard at #61, #40, #38, and #24 Rising in the Travel category! The way the Leaderboard works is that there is a Top 100 Bestseller list for each of 29 categories, followed by a Top 100 Rising. There are over 75,000 newsletters published on Substack, so to hit the top 200 in my category feels like a big deal.
I have no idea what kinds of metrics the algorithm looks for, but I seem to have risen in the ranks when a post has been getting a lot of views, likes, and comments, so please keep them coming! I’m doing my best to write more frequently, hoping that helps as well.
Numbers aren’t everything, of course. But they really matter as someone who is hoping to make a living as a writer. When I go to a publisher with a pitch for an article or book, the first thing they will look at is the size of my platform, i.e. how many readers I have. Unfortunately, numbers drive the publishing world nowadays. And in the meantime, until I can land a New York Times article or a Penguin Random House book deal, the goal is for my Substack income to keep me afloat, so paid subscriptions are especially appreciated (did I mention that already? ;).
Changing Lives
runs a Friday afternoon interview series as part of her Changing Lives Substack, and after hearing about my appearance on the Mind, Body, Soul Show, she invited me to join her for a chat!I sat down and did my very first Substack Live with Wendi on Friday, October 17th, proverbial spaghetti on my shirt and all. Like Megg, she quickly put me at ease, and it felt like a conversation between friends. We chatted about Wendi’s childlessness, my infertility, the spiritual power of nature, petting whales, and my favorite place I’ve traveled (can you guess?). We also shared a bit about our background as life coaches and talked about the Internal Family Systems model of parts work, because it’s been so powerful in both of our lives.
If you’d like to see me on camera (do I look calm and ready to drop bombs?), check out the recording at Wendi’s Changing Lives Substack:
How to Live This Life
invited me to do a guest interview for her Bare HEARTS series, which is part of her wonderful Substack called How To Live This Life. These are written interviews (which calms my clammy hands), and she’s featured some incredible humans in the series thus far. I’ll announce when my interview drops, but in the meantime, check out How To Live This Life with Danni Levy.Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About This?
has an amazing new Substack I love called Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About This? She had me at hello with her first post, “Perimenopous Psychosis or The Time I Thought I was a Gremlin Who Had To Move To The Woods.” Being in the depths of perimenopause myself, let’s just say I could relate.Jianna invited me to do a guest interview for her Substack and pick my own topic that no one’s talking about. You can maybe guess where I’ll be going with it, but you’ll have to wait until the interview drops to find out more.
In the meantime, check out Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About This?, and subscribe if you like it to help her grow (she’s nearly doubled from 12 to 23 subscribers in the past few weeks!).
Thank you!
Thank you for reading and/or listening to Liz Explores! I’ll be back in your inbox soon with more raw and relatable stories from my life about infertility, mental health, and adventure.
This poll is anonymous, but please feel free to explain your choice in the comments.