Hallo fellow learn-it-all 👋
Greetings from Hilversum, Holland 🇳🇱
After I share this little exciting update, I’m off to celebrate in Nijmegen to catch the final day of the Vierdaagsefeesten. What the heck is that?! It’s an annual walking party filled with music, joy, and foot blisters. I didn’t walk the 200km the past four days like the other Dutchies, so I’m popping in for a dose of Dutch festivity. I’m balancing that with caring for a French bulldog named Manni this week and next. It’s fun to make a new furry friend, even if he likes to eat his own throw-up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Now, let’s dive into letter 271 from a learn-it-all. Enjoy!
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🖊️Writing
I’ve been thinking a lot about decision-making.
A choice doesn’t need to be permanent to be powerful. I can sail forward, trimming the sails as the wind direction shifts. Or I can turn back to the harbor and rig a new boat to acquire new skills for my journey.
So here I go, raising the sail……..
I’m officially launching my writing coaching business.
After five years of consistently writing this newsletter each week, I want to encourage others to build the courage to express their creativity and connect more deeply with the world and those in it.
My writing consistency has guided me to clarify my voice, connect with strangers across the globe, and take risks I never would’ve dared before, like moving to Hawaii without knowing anyone, co-facilitating a poetry course, teaching English in Thailand, and writing my Amazon best-selling memoir.
Now, I want to support others to tap into that same kind of creative confidence.
My coaching supports early-stage writers to consistently share their expressions online with confidence by building a writing practice aligned with their values and voice.
The core values of my coaching are consistency over perfection, joy over judgment, and expression over expectation. I coach from experience, not from a pedestal as a know-it-all, because I’m still on the journey too, and that’s precisely why I get it.
My main ways of supporting writers are:
Building an energizing, consistent writing practice that lights you up
Developing a writing style that feels genuine, expressive, and aligned with how you think and feel
Receiving structure through thoughtful feedback, gentle accountability, and invitations to write personally
Rediscovering writing as a playful, sustainable pursuit that reconnects you to your curiosity and creativity
You don’t have to feel “creative” to write. You need a little container, structure, and someone in your corner cheering you on. That’s what I’m offering.
📬 You can apply to work with me right here OR respond to this email.
If a friend who’s always wanted to write more comes to mind, it would mean a lot if you forwarded this to them. :-)
To learn more about my coaching practice, visit my website here.
🎥 Recording
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Now onto the rest of this week’s little digital postcard updates:
🎧Listening
God Love Weirdos by Mt. Joy
Hold on now, 'cause we still got time, honey
4 a.m. and we're laughin' in the gas station
You're callin' my name, it's the sweetest thing
Holdin' up a T-shirt, says, "God loves weirdos"
And damn
I'm still in love with you
I’ll never forget seeing this band behind a bunch of parks car in September of 2020. I’d never heard of them before until my friend Mads and sister told me. It was one of the first outings I had during the pandemic. I was a little chilly on the Chicago lakefront, but it was fun!
🌟Quote to inspire
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” — George Bernard Shaw
📸Photos of the Week




London was a huge success. It was so blissful to realize that two of my friends already know each other and the worlds collide
and🙏Shoutouts
Thank you to the encouragement from other writing coaches and friends that I’ve been in communication about my new professional pursuit including
, , , Ellen Fishbein, , , , Allison andTo
to initiating the creative meetup. Southbank Centre is beautiful and the conversations were lovely too.
I appreciate you reading this!
If ideas resonated, I’d love you to press the heart button, leave a comment, reply to this email, or reach me at vermetjl@gmail.com.
Keep on learning 😁
Tot ziens 🌺 🌺
Jen
PS - in case you missed last week’s letter on learning from longing
PPS- if you’d like to read my favorite letters, the best way to encourage my work is to buy my book on Amazon here.
If you’re new here — welcome! You can sign up to join 650+ learn-it-alls:
Congratulations on this new chapter, Jen!
Congrats and good luck in your decision to jump off the "start a new business" cliff, which I say because that's what it feels like! Wohoo. It takes courage, and kudos to you for having it. The fact that you've written for 5 years every week is an awesome calling card in and of itself.