Unleash Your Voice: The Transformative Power of Writing Your Story

with special guest Amy Collette

In an age of digital content, AI tools, and endless distractions, one thing still holds its power: a personal story, told with truth and intention.

In this episode of The Amanda Kaufman Show, I sat down with Amy Collette—a transformational author coach, professional editor, and founder of Unleash Your Inner Author. Amy has helped countless first-time authors turn their lived experiences into healing, powerful books. Our conversation explored why writing a book is more than a goal—it’s a journey of reclaiming voice, owning truth, and building human connection.

If you’ve ever said, “I think I have a book in me…”—this episode is for you.

Writing Is a Personal Development Journey

Amy has been coaching authors since 2015, and she’s clear on one thing: writing a book isn’t just about putting words on a page. “A lot of people want to write a book,” she shared, “but very few actually do it. My magic is helping people get past what holds them back—whether that’s fear, a painful story, or perfectionism.”

The writing process often begins with healing. Before you can share your truth, you need to own it. Many of Amy’s clients are first-time authors who have already gone through deep personal transformation—yet they’re surprised by how much more growth happens when they begin writing. “They think they’ve already done the hard work,” she explained. “But telling your story publicly brings up a whole new layer. You have to revisit your journey—and decide how to tell it with clarity and purpose.”

The Roadmap Comes Before the Writing

One of the most impactful takeaways Amy shared was her process for preparing authors before they even start writing. She calls it “building the roadmap.”

That roadmap includes:

• Clarifying your message
  

• Defining who your soulmate reader is
  

• Understanding what you want from the writing process
  
  

This level of clarity sets the stage for a book that resonates—not just one that’s written. “When you’re clear on your message and why it matters,” Amy said, “it makes the writing process more focused—and the outcome more powerful.”

Your Story Creates Human Connection

One of the most beautiful parts of our conversation was Amy’s reflection on why stories still matter. In her words:

“It takes a lot of focus to write the book. And it also takes a commitment of focus to sit down and read a book. But what it also gives you—as a reader and as an author—is human connection. That’s how we’ve always learned and grown—through personal connection and story.”

Even in a world full of AI-generated content, it’s our lived experience that makes a story real, resonant, and human. A story that’s rooted in truth allows readers to see themselves—sometimes for the first time. And that’s the magic: your experience, your voice, your transformation… it becomes a light for someone else.

Why AI Can’t Replace Your Voice

Naturally, in 2025, the topic of AI and writing came up. Amy’s perspective was thoughtful and grounded: “AI can be useful—as a grammar tool, or to clarify something that’s already written. But your lived experience? That can’t be generated.”

She shared a story about an author who used AI to rewrite her piece for more punch. The result? “It was pretty. But it didn’t say what she meant.” That’s the danger. When we surrender the final expression of our story—whether to a machine, a coach, or an editor—we risk losing our authentic voice.

“A great editor elevates your writing, but doesn’t change your meaning or your voice,” Amy said. “And that’s the same with AI. It’s a tool—but not the storyteller.”

The Excellence Divide

This hit home for me personally. In the coaching and expert space, we’re seeing what I call the “excellence divide.” Some people are chasing speed, copying what’s trending, and relying on templates to shortcut the creative process. But others—like Amy—are raising the bar. They’re honoring craft, truth, and intentional service.

And as Amy so powerfully said:

“We all have a responsibility to our own excellence.”

That means showing up with originality. It means finding your voice—not copying someone else’s. And it means owning your story, not outsourcing it.

Your Story Deserves to Be Shared

As we wrapped up the conversation, Amy reminded us that you don’t need to write a book for a bestseller list. “Maybe you want commercial success. Maybe it supports your business. Or maybe,” she said, “you just want your family to have access to a deeper part of you.”

That’s enough.
That’s worthy.
That’s powerful.

Writing a book allows you to capture meaning, distill lessons, and offer wisdom that lasts far beyond a single conversation or Instagram post. It's not just another piece of content—it's a legacy.

Ready to Unleash Your Voice?

If this conversation sparked something in you—if you’ve been sitting on a story, a message, or a moment you know is meant to be shared—consider this your invitation.

Amy is currently offering a free resource called “The Power of Your Story.” Just DM her the word POWER on LinkedIn and she’ll send it to you. (Trust me, it’s amazing.)

And if you haven’t yet, be sure to subscribe to The Amanda Kaufman Show on your favorite podcast platform, and leave a review if this episode resonated with you. Better yet—send it to someone who’s thinking about writing a book. It could be the nudge they’ve been waiting for.

Until next time…
Do what matters.

Chapters List

00:00 Unleashing the Author Within

06:59 The Journey of Writing and Publishing

12:29 AI and the Future of Storytelling

17:00 The Power of Personal Storytelling

Full Transcript

Amy Collette (00:00)

Find that voice, unleash it for yourself first, and then it's gonna be able to have a great impact on other people.

Amanda Kaufman (00:04)

Mm-hmm.

Well, hey, hey, welcome back to the Amanda Kaufman show. I am so excited to interview my friend Amy Collette. Amy and I are in a business incubator together and I was so impressed with how she talked about the authors that she helps to get published, to write their works, to pull it from their heart. Welcome to the show, Amy. I'm so glad that you're here.

Amy Collette (00:49)

Thanks so much, Amanda. I'm so excited to be on your show. I love your energy and I'm excited to talk with you today.

Amanda Kaufman (00:57)

So good. Well, why don't you take just 30 seconds and let us know what is it that you do in your business and how do you help aspiring and continuing authors?

Amy Collette (01:08)

Yeah, great way to put it. Yeah, so Amanda, I am on fire to help people tell their stories. know, a lot of people say that they want to write a book, but very few actually do it. So what my magic is that I bring to the process is I help them work through all the things that are keeping them from writing their book. It may be fears, it may be just that their story is really hard to tell and they need to do a little healing first.

Amanda Kaufman (01:20)

Mm.

you

Amy Collette (01:35)

You know, so

we do, we work through all of those things so that they can actually feel confident and thrilled to share their story instead of hiding behind it or not making the impact that they want to. So that's really my passion is to help them bring that story out with the goal of helping others.

Amanda Kaufman (01:55)

That's amazing, that's amazing. And you've been doing this for a while, huh?

Amy Collette (01:58)

I've been doing this since my first class I taught was in 2015. So I'm celebrating a decade this year.

Amanda Kaufman (02:07)

Congratulations, wow, a decade in business and helping people in such a meaningful and powerful way. That's incredible. So I love to ask entrepreneurs, what, why this? I mean, you know, you're clearly a very intelligent, hardworking woman. Like, you could do so many things. Why this?

Amy Collette (02:11)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, and I have done a lot of things, probably like a lot of us, right? Then you know, the path is kind of windy getting to where we actually land on our purpose, right? So mine was like that. I was a professional writer and editor for a lot of years, had a business doing that. And then I wrote my own book. I went through a dark time, found my way out of it through gratitude. And my first book is called The Gratitude Connection, Embrace the Positive Power of Thanks.

So that really changed my life in a lot of ways, mostly by really getting in touch with myself, with my spiritual connection. And then I had to bring this stuff out to the world, because I'm like, this works. This really will help people. And I was working as a life coach then too. So I got to experiment with a lot of other people, found out it worked. So then other people who had similar kinds of books.

came to me and said, hey, you've figured out this, you've cracked the code of how to do this. Can you help me? And so it really married a lot of the things that I had already done. The writing, the editing, project management, life coaching, all those things came together in this beautiful way to be able to take people through their own stories, work through it enough and heal from whatever trauma and

reveal the transformation that they've experienced so that other people can get the benefit of that.

Amanda Kaufman (03:49)

I love that.

I love how you have blended the life coaching experience with the book writing experience. Like that's that's a really powerful and unique experience that people can really enjoy. As you're sharing your origin story, I'm like, you know, that was that was me, too. I started the coaches plaza because I started out as a consultant in my career after I finished my degree.

And my superpower was people development and change and transformation, even though I was a procurement nerd in my consulting career. So when I became a coach, I did it. You I was a life coach and a leadership coach, executive coach. And it was other coaches coming to me and saying like, hey, how are you doing that? And, you know, that's how the coaches plaza really came about as well. It's just this need became.

obvious because people were actually asking for it. So yeah, it's so good. I love that. So when you're working with someone who wants to maybe write a book for the first time, like what does that process actually look like?

Amy Collette (04:57)

Yeah, it's interesting because there are a lot of similarities between authors. And you're right, most of my people I work with are first time authors. So we all somehow have it in our heads that we should just be able to sit down and write a book, right? Just sit down and write it. So people.

Amanda Kaufman (05:06)

Mm-hmm.

Yep. Also see also

sit down and start a business sit down and start a website sit down and yeah yeah.

Amy Collette (05:21)

Exactly,

all those things, all those things that actually take...

So many different kinds of abilities and aptitudes. Right. So not just things that you're good at or skills, but actually the personality, the wherewithal to do any and all of those things. Right. And as an entrepreneur, you kind of have to do all of those and becoming an author is actually if you're not already, you're also becoming an entrepreneur, you know, because you've got to sell your book. You've got to make those connections. You've got to build those relationships.

So the process really, you there's a lot to publishing. I think of it into phases. So there's the writing, getting the book out of your head and onto the page. And then there's the publishing. So I'm going to leave the publishing over there because that's a lot of technical stuff.

But the writing is really such a personal development journey. And some people don't realize that. They think, hey, I've already done the hard work of working through whatever I needed to transform. And I have come out on the other side, and now I want to share that. So they think they've already done the work, and they have done a tremendous amount of work. But.

Sharing that story publicly and deciding all the millions of things that you have to do along the way of how many stories do I share? How much of those stories do I share? What do I keep for myself? You know, what do my soulmate readers really need at this point in their journey? So there are a lot of things to figure out. And so one of the first things we do is what I call building your roadmap. And it's creating tons of clarity about what you're

message actually is.

you know, what your soulmate readers need, who they are and what they need. And then what do you want out of the process as an author? So there's a whole series of things that we do before we even start the writing. So that's what sets this apart than just trying to do it, you know, like classic authors climbing into the attic and writing all day and just getting it out. There's a lot to it and it becomes another growth opportunity.

for every new author because they've got to go through their process again, really relive it and get the absolute goodness. They actually come out stronger and with a stronger book after going through this process.

Amanda Kaufman (07:42)

I can really see that, you know. I think one of the biggest challenges that we face in our society today is focus. And it just strikes me that, you know, in a world full of AI, like sure, you could do an AI written book that is, you know, gonna be produced very quickly. It might even be very good quality and it may serve the purpose if that's what the purpose is. But what I love about your process is it allows the author

to take their experience and have that meaning and that perspective. I think the watch out for AI is it's only gonna be as good as the data that you put into it. And I just think this book writing process is such a beautiful way to pull the data, so to speak, from your life, your perspectives, your stories that are so completely unique to you. And when I think about AI outputs, for example, they're average, it's the average answer.

It's not the unique perspective. And I also think about from the perspective of a reader, I love to read. And so often spending time with a book comes down to focus. It's like, wanna focus on this idea. I wanna focus on the themes or the through lines. so yeah, I'm so curious, what is your take?

on the AI scene now that we're here in 2025. Do you see people wanting to write their books more? Do you see people hesitating? Like what are you seeing?

Amy Collette (09:09)

this is such a huge discussion. So I'll zero in on a couple of things, Amanda. I don't see a lot of people who want to tell these lived experience stories trying to tell them through AI. It's just really not possible. And you brought up the term and the concept of focus. So that is really a key thing. It takes a lot of focus to write the book. And it also takes a commitment of focus to sit down and read a book.

Amanda Kaufman (09:28)

Mm-hmm.

Amy Collette (09:37)

whether you're reading it on a screen or on the page or even listening to it on audio, takes a certain amount of focus. But what it also gives you as a reader and as an author is human connection. know, and that is what we have. That's how we've.

learned things and actually grown ourselves is through that personal connection, that human connection. So when you read a story that's absolutely unique because nobody else has lived your stories, right? And taken away your perspective, know, taken away the things that you have learned from it, where another person might have gone down a spiral of depression, you might have taken it and really used it.

as a learning and growth opportunity for yourself. And that's what most of our authors do. There's some kind of transformation involved. And when you sit down and read that as a reader, that's how humans have always connected is through story. So that story is so essential. I see some people, some of the best ways I see people use AI is when they've already written a story.

Amanda Kaufman (10:37)

you

Yeah.

Amy Collette (10:46)

And then they run it through AI for a certain thing. To check for grammar and punctuation, that's an obvious great use of AI. But also to make certain things clearer or more punchy or more sassy or whatever. You can play with a lot of different things. And this is a slippery slope.

Amanda Kaufman (10:50)

Mmm.

Amy Collette (11:06)

Right. I've seen some beautiful things come out of that does provide more clarity. But you also still got to go back, put that human connection back in. Because I just read something this week by an author who loves to play with how she can elevate her own writing through using AI as a tool. And so it came out with something. And when I read the AI version, it was very flowery and

lovely, but it didn't actually capture her meaning. It took it off in a slightly different direction. It wasn't a huge detour.

Amanda Kaufman (11:41)

You're reminding me of the high school

experience of like, well, the teacher says the essay has to be five pages. Here we go.

Amy Collette (11:48)

Yes, yes. And it's even like working with an editor who gets too involved in the story, right? A great editor will elevate your writing, will absolutely clarify it, but not change the voice or change the meaning. And so that's exactly my caution to writers who are using AI is to use it as a tool just as they would any other editor. You're always going to go back and check what the editor did, right? You're not just going to say, well, it's perfect.

because they did it. You know, it's still got to have your voice, your perspective, and the transformation that's coming out of it. What are you actually hoping to give your readers? So, like I said, so much to it, but the focus in human connection.

Amanda Kaufman (12:29)

this you know I I

love this so much like you're you're really speaking to a trend I think is gonna is coming and I think there's gonna be a widening gap between what I'll call like I heard the term AI slop and I was like that's it that's pretty much what it is but like for years I've

really been frustrated in the coaching space and the expert space. And one of the reasons I was so excited to interview you is I've been so frustrated with a copy paste coach, you know, somebody who's trying to be a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy and they're losing sight of the person they serve and the excellence they can bring to the person that they serve. And I'm like thinking about this with a book. It's like when you surrender the final product to

the machines or to the editor. Like the risk you run is that you're compromising the excellence of the expression of your voice. You know? And I think that that creates a huge amount of opportunity for experts such as yourself and myself who are here to raise that bar and to say, like to tell the truth. know? Like even now AI will be like, that is a deep insight, Amanda, in anything that I say.

Which is lovely, I like feeling good, you I don't want the robots to make me sad, I get that. But you know, the real power of working with a consultant or an expert who's like, one of the things you did that I was just like, whoa, is you shared a page with me that you did on your website that just shows like all of these authors that you've worked with and what they had to say about it. And I was like,

Dang, you know, not only have you worked with so many different authors to help them produce it, but so many people are saying such beautiful things about the process of working with you that I was like, yeah, let's get you on the show here and let's talk about what that excellence can look like. But I think my biggest point here is we all, individuals, whether we're a business owner, whether we're a private citizen, we have a responsibility to our own excellence.

Amy Collette (14:33)

That's a beautiful

point, Amanda. And that's the thing that you use the term surrender. You know, I'm always looking at words and that term surrender, when we give over our power to whoever or whatever, whether it's the machines or another, we can even do it with coaches, right? We've all bought the program and done it their way. And it didn't really work because it's not our way. It's not genuine to us, right? And so that's why

Amanda Kaufman (14:36)

Yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

⁓ for sure.

Yeah, yeah, there's often like another

piece of our puzzle that needs to be represented there. And, you know, I always think of mentorship and consulting is like this patchwork quilt we're building where we're taking little pieces to make our own blanket, you know.

Amy Collette (15:14)

Yeah, that's really beautiful. And other people can enjoy that blanket and they can see, know, in our writing, in anything that we're creating in terms of art, that you can see yourself reflected in that beauty, right? Whether it's somebody else's story, their transformation, their coaching wisdom, whatever it is, it's an insight in which you can see and feel heard, know, feel seen and

heard and also see yourself in a fresh way.

Amanda Kaufman (15:45)

So good. I feel like just writing the book for the sake of the book and the expression in the art is such a powerful idea. And maybe you want it for commercial success. Maybe you want it for supporting your business goals. Another idea is maybe you want it because you want to have some kind of a legacy. Even if you're just family is able to like...

have this conversation with you that they wouldn't otherwise have in such a deep way and like the thoughtfulness that goes into crafting that communication. Yeah, I do see an excellence divide coming and you know, it's gonna be because you're not copying and pasting your owning your truth. Yeah.

Amy Collette (16:21)

Yeah.

Right.

Right, and actually finding your voice, think is another big part of that, Amanda, where we are, you know, especially in corporate environments, we're kind of put into a mold and, you know, this type of thing is okay, that type's out of the box and we don't really want to hear that. You know, as entrepreneurs, we're much more able to do that kind of thing and as authors, we really get to, that's why I call it unleashing, because you really get to

Amanda Kaufman (16:33)

Mm-hmm.

Amy Collette (16:56)

Find that voice, unleash it for yourself first, and then it's gonna be able to have a great impact on other people.

Amanda Kaufman (17:00)

Mm-hmm.

I love that. And you know, I have been really thinking about books a lot more lately, just even on a personal level, because I'm like, you know, my canvas has been coaching. My canvas has been courses. do digital products and programs. I'm actually super good at it. But I'm like, you know, there is still just something about a book, you know, and the way that it can just distill, you know, the key points, the principles, the voice, like you said, the core stories that it's like,

It's so powerful on its own, but it's also so additive, even if you're doing other things in your authentic expression. So yeah, make the room to write the book is what I'm thinking. You got to make the room to write the book, and it's worth it. No matter what you're doing with it, it's a very worthy goal. So good. Amy, if people wanted to follow you, what is the best way for them to do that?

Amy Collette (17:57)

Yeah, probably the best way, Amanda, is the LinkedIn. Just look me up, Amy Collette on LinkedIn, and I'm there all the time. Love to see them there.

Amanda Kaufman (18:01)

Okay, very good.

I love it.

love it. So good. And I understood that you had a little gift if people sent you a word like power.

Amy Collette (18:15)

Yes. Yes. So I have a wonderful worksheet. If you're curious about telling a story, writing a book, this is going to help you unpack that a little bit. It's called the power of your story. And so if you DM me the word power, I'll know what you're talking about and I'll get back with you with that freebie.

Amanda Kaufman (18:34)

I love it, I love it, that sounds amazing. And dear listener, we'll make sure that we have all of Amy's links, including her LinkedIn link down below in the show notes. And if you love this, make sure you hit subscribe and take 30 seconds to leave us a five star review. If you heard something that you were like, that made me think, that made me want to motivate.

in some way, then take those 30 seconds and leave that review so that somebody else can find the show. And finally, you can just directly send this to your friends. If you've got like three friends who have been thinking about writing a book, have been talking about getting their story out, maybe just send them this podcast as a first step as they're exploring that opportunity. Amy, thank you so much for being here on the show.

Amy Collette (19:21)

Thank you, Amanda. It's been a pleasure to be with you.

Amanda Kaufman (19:25)

I love it. And listener, thanks for listening up. We'll see you on the next episode and until then, do what matters.