Alyssa is an amazing human, friend, and so great at what she does. I’m inspired by her, as she’s actually one of the best improvisers in life I know. She’s so good at playing the scene she’s in, adapting when the situation calls for it, and finding humor and joy in every day moments. When we catch up on the phone or a voice note I can hear her smiling even as she tells me something as wild as losing a client, or her daughter having lice, which we get into in this interview. Her attitude and way of navigating life and work’s curveballs is inspiring!

So, I was of course so excited to interview her for this very special episode of How to Handle Anything.

In this episode, we talk parenting, entrepreneurship, and the many curveballs that come with trying to manage a life you can’t fully control. Alyssa shares how she’s learned to navigate the unexpected—from the ups and downs of building her own business to a particularly chaotic stretch of parenting that included a thrown-out back, a sick kid, an ER visit, and, yes, a household-wide case of lice. Along the way, she shares how community, humor, and learning to play the scene she’s in have helped her find a little more ease amidst the chaos.

We discuss…

- Why finding your people can make life’s unexpected moments easier to navigate

- How to know when you need advice, a sounding board, or simply someone to listen

- What “playing the scene you’re in” looks like when you’re dealing with a situation you really wish you weren’t in

- Focusing your energy on what you can control—and learning to let go of what you can’t

- Finding the humor in difficult moments without minimizing how hard they are

- How parenting and entrepreneurship can challenge our desire to optimize, plan, and control everything

- Why intentionally building your “ensemble” (at work and in life) can help you handle whatever comes next

A bit about Alyssa…

Alyssa Greenfield is a business owner and trusted thought partner and ghostwriter to venture firms and startup founders. She helps leaders bring clarity to their stories and meaning to their message—building visibility without sacrificing substance. Her clients range from first-time founders to seasoned investors, and her approach blends editorial rigor with a deep understanding of how ideas move in the venture ecosystem.Before launching her own business, Alyssa led global content programs in-house and at agencies, and brings more than a decade of experience across complex industries. She’s also a parent, which means her days run on sharp time management, clear priorities, and a deep appreciation for the kind of work that matters. When she’s not writing for leaders, you’ll likely find her with her six-year-old daughter, crafting, playing outside, or having a dance party in the living room.

P.S. If you want to go deeper with the ideas in How to Handle Anything...
I’m offering a live, virtual 6-week experience this fall. We’ll practice the four principles from the book, How to Handle Anything: Four Improv Principles for Navigating Life’s Curveballs, together in a small ensemble and apply them to the actual uncertainty, conversations, decisions, opportunities, and curveballs happening in our lives.

To celebrate the book launch, I’m offering the program for $474 instead of $947 to the first 111 people who pre-order the book and claim the offer. You don’t have to choose your ensemble dates right away… you can use the special rate for any available cohort through the end of 2027.

Here’s the info on the book and pre-order options, and here’s more info about the experience.

And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE writing books and I will do it all my life if I can. Writing is so core to who I am, ever since I could write I’ve been writing, and to me, being a professional, published author is a dream come true and I feel so lucky and grateful to be doing this. But not everyone has been writing since forever, still cherishing their third grade Golden Pencil Award, and actually enjoys writing and sharing stories (ahem, I’m looking at you people asking AI to write entire books for you 💁‍♀️). Now that I’m 8+ years into working on my third book, promoting the book, and planning my multi-city book tour, I think it’s important to remind people…

don’t write a book, unless…

…you really believe in the book and the impact it can make on a reader

…you’re really clear about WHY you’re writing the book and prepared to stay clear about why you’re writing the book in the face of rejection, delays, challenges, doubts, and curveballs

…you’re prepared to do a lot of work (whether self-publishing or traditionally publishing, it’s still a lot of work!)

…you don’t know how not to write a book

My previous books didn’t even start as book ideas.

My first book, Straight from the Investors Mouth: 111 Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs, was born out of the Encyclopedia length notes I had from my time working in venture capital whilst continuing to grow my existing business, a gelato business. To me, the motivation for writing this book came from a place of generosity. I wanted to share what I had learned from working in venture capital about all aspects of building a business. Each of the 111 pieces of advice were said by a real investor and were followed by a story elaborating on the advice and the takeaway lessons for entrepreneurs.

Years ago, during the pandemic, when I thought it would be a fun pandemic project to record the audio version of this book, instead I decided to un-publish the book entirely. Talk about a plot twist! I had published it in 2014, it received 5 star reviews across the board on Amazon, I made money from it, but 6 years later I no longer agreed with some of the advice I had overheard in my years sitting in board rooms, fundraising pitch sessions, the debriefs following them, and important conversations with founders/CEOs. The advice wasn’t mine, and I didn’t want to keep propagating advice that I could no longer stand by. So, I un-published it on Amazon, and burnt one of my remaining copies of it, in some sort of made up ritual letting go of past beliefs.

I had reason to write that book. I had already written it before I even “wrote” it. I also had reason (and ability to, thanks to self-publishing) to take that book out of print.

For A Girl and Her Horse, another unplanned path to book happened. After the tragic and unexpected death of my childhood best friend, my fellow horse riding friend, before I ever noticed a book emerging, I journaled daily, trying to make sense of the nonsensical. I’d been living a bit nomadically after the roof of a temporary sublet decided to retire, and I found myself drawn to places with horses, including an airstream, aptly named Fearless Mary, that shared the land with several horses in California, a mini horse sanctuary in New Mexico, and the equestrian destination of Southern Pines, North Carolina. Each day, between preparing my goldendoodle and myself for the next leg of our trip, I illustrated horses. Simple outlined horses and girls, just like my late friend and me. The journals processing my grief contained so much metaphor and story that combined with my illustrations, the book naturally emerged. The yellow backpack became the container for all we carry through life, and the conversations between a girl and her horse that shed light and wisdom on life’s big questions and challenges.

I didn’t set out to write a book in either case. Just by doing what I do, writing to document my learning, writing to make sense of life, writing because I don’t know how not to write, these books emerged.

Similar with How to Handle Anything. This book didn’t start from a “I want to write a book”, it started from having SO much to put in a book, from doing over a decade of the work that informed the pages, and from believing with every fiber of my being that I needed to write this book (after sharing the work with people and seeing, hearing, and reading the impact it had, how could I not?)

It’s that deep seated belief and the clearest of clarity that makes it so that every of the 199 rejections or ghostings of agents didn’t stop me from continuing forward. It’s the purpose and mission behind this book that inspires me to call bookstores (yes, call, on the phone 💁‍♀️) and ask about hosting a book launch event there. It’s that conviction and clarity that helped me justify leaving a full time job to full time author mode in the months before the book comes out. It’s the daily reminder, seeing how many curveballs, uncertainty, and change surround us and can suffocate us if we let it, that inspires me to keep going.

So, don’t write a book.

Unless you just can’t not write a book.

☺♡

P.S. There’s a similar post I could write (and probably someday will write called Don’t Start a Business, because many of this can apply there too, and I’ve done both).

Announcements 🎉

If you want to go deeper with the ideas in my forthcoming book, How to Handle Anything...
I’m offering a live, virtual 6-week experience this fall. We’ll practice the four principles from the book, How to Handle Anything: Four Improv Principles for Navigating Life’s Curveballs, together in a small ensemble and apply them to the actual uncertainty, conversations, decisions, opportunities, and curveballs happening in our lives.

It’s great for people…

• who want to get better at dealing when life throws you a curveball you didn’t plan

• navigating change

• sitting with uncertainty, and not enjoying it

• who tend to overthink or experience anxiety that comes from overthinking (🙋‍♀️)

• wanting to make a change in their life

• handling an anything and want to do so in community and with research-backed tools to help with that!

To celebrate the book launch, I’m offering the program for $474 instead of $947 to the first 111 people who pre-order the book and claim the offer. You don’t have to choose your ensemble dates right away… you can use the special rate for any available cohort through the end of 2027.

Here’s the info on the book and pre-order options, and here’s more info about the experience.

Even though there were more revenue dollars to come, there’s something uniquely celebrated with the first.

The memory of that “first dollar feeling” returned in a similar way, as I experience the feeling of reading my first 5-star review of my forthcoming book How to Handle Anything: Four Improv Principles for Navigating Life’s Curveballs.

The feeling of validation for all the hard work that has gone into getting to this point and perhaps a bit of relief that someone liked that thing I spent so much time working on, so much so they’d spend $1 or time writing a review.

Now, my book doesn’t actually come out until November 12, so you might be as surprised as I was to see a review pop up before the book is even available. See, I was visiting Goodreads to indicate that I had finished a book that I had previously marked as “currently reading” (yes, I am that person!)

Before I share how this came to be, take a look at the first part of the actual review . . .

Wow! Nailed it! I was thrilled about this review! Like giddy, excited, dance around my living room kind of excited! As a writer, reading a review like this that does such a good job of capturing the impact of those words on a page, the stories, the way I laid it out, just warms my heart and inspires my living room dance montage!

So, how did this happen? Why was I getting a review already, when the book doesn’t even come out until November 12?

Enter Advanced Reader Copies.

The following content is available only for paid subscribers. I’m running a special offer right now, where, if you pre-order my book, How to Handle Anything, you’ll get 100 days of a complimentary paid subscription to this Substack. That means you’re getting the book AND the subscription for ~the price of one! I’ll be sharing more behind the scenes and special perks for paid-subscribers and pre-orderers prior to publication day. Click here to learn more about how to pre-order and redeem your complimentary 100 day subscription.

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For me, I’ve tried different approaches, and have never been too…

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By way of brief origin story...

Back in 2018 I was preparing my TED talk, working out of TED HQ, and kind of living this dream NYC life …

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When I learned about how this week’s guest, handled a literal hurricane, I was so excited to talk with her for the show. She’s not only handled literal hurricanes, but the metaphorical ones too - when life hands over those big huge unexpected situations.

In this engaging conversation, Lorraine emphasizes the importance of resilience, creativity, and humor in navigating life's challenges. She discusses how practicing improv has transformed her approach to life, relationships, and personal growth, highlighting key concepts such as acting as if and embracing change. Lorraine's experiences illustrate the power of storytelling and connection across generations, encouraging listeners to find joy in the unexpected and to approach life with an open mind.

During this episode of How to Handle Anything, we talk life’s literal and metaphorical hurricanes. During this episode Lorraine shares how she’s navigated life’s unexpected curveballs, from rebuilding her career after losing everything during the 2008 financial crisis to finding humor after a hurricane sent a tree through the roof of her home. Through stories of resilience, improvisation, and reinvention, she reminds us that while we can’t always control what happens, we can choose how we respond.

We discuss…

• How an improvisational mindset helped Lorraine navigate life’s unexpected challenges with more flexibility, humor, and resilience

• Why the principle yes, and can help us move forward instead of getting stuck in resistance

• How a tree through her roof became an opportunity for creativity, connection, and millions of people to laugh alongside her

• The importance of staying curious, embracing change, and letting go of rigid rules about how life “should” unfold

• How an improvisational practice has helped Lorraine become more authentic, take creative risks, and show up more fully in her work and relationships

• Why listening is one of the most powerful skills we can practice

A bit about Lorraine…

Lorraine C. Ladish is a lifelong communicator dedicated to helping women and others achieve their goals. She is the founder and CEO of Viva Fifty!, a bilingual community celebrating life after 50. Lorraine has worked as an editor, writer, content creator, and social media strategist, and is a regular contributor to NBC News, HuffPost, AARP, BabyCenter, and Mom.me. Her work has also appeared in People en Español, The Palm Beach Post, Purple Clover, Latina, and Redbook. Her latest book on embracing age was published by HarperCollins in 2017. Above all, Lorraine is a woman, a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a writer, an entrepreneur, and a yogini. She also writes the Substack newsletter Aging Like a Legend, where she explores strength, reinvention, and aging boldly on your own terms.

Here’s a sneak peek, a clip of Lorraine sharing a bit of her story how improvising helped her adapt and connect through financial crisis, health curveballs, and an actual hurricane...

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This conversation is part of How to Handle Anything my ongoing interview series with people about how they’ve handled uncertainty, change, and unexpected moments with more ease, flexibility, and humor. To receive bonus content, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Is there such thing a right choice? Every choice has subsequent consequences or results based on that choice.

This month I’ve shared a lot about handling crossroads. First, the conversation with , How to Handle Crossroads, then reflecting on a technique that can combat…

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As much as most people would love to know the “right” answer when it comes to choosing, there is no right or wrong decision. There’s just a decision.

And whilst there’s not an objective right or …

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Last week I shared the conversation with meditation teacher and author, Ben Katt, about how to handle crossroads. Crossroads can bring about confusion. Do we turn left? Do we turn right? Do we keep walking straight? Do we turn around? Do we stay put? So many choices makes for a fertile breeding ground for confusion.

I’m no …

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That’s why I’m so excited about this month’s episode of the How to Handle Anything podcast, featuring Ben Katt, meditation teacher and author of The Way Home: Discovering the Hero's Journey to Wholeness at Midlife.

Ever since I first spoke with Ben I had an inkling that we’d have a lot to talk about. When his book came out I read it whilst traveling, deliberately unscripted, through Greece (a story for another time), a living metaphor for what he shares in his book, which distills Joseph Campbell’s Joseph Hero's Journey into steps for navigating the journey of inner transformation and life’s transitions. Clearly, we have some aligned interests!

During this How to Handle Crossroads episode Ben shares how burnout, unexpected career changes, and a season of deep self-reflection led him to reclaim his heart and rethink what it means to navigate life’s transitions. Together, we explore stillness, letting go of control, and how embracing uncertainty can open the door to a more authentic and fulfilling life.

We discuss…

How burnout became an invitation to reconnect with what mattered most

The role of stillness, journaling, nature, and subtraction in navigating life’s transitions

Why letting go of control can create space for unexpected opportunities

The masks we wear to achieve, perform, and please others—and how to begin letting them go

The importance of trusting the process, even when the path forward isn’t clear

How embracing uncertainty can help us live more authentically and align with who we truly are

A bit about Ben...

Ben Katt is a spiritual coach, meditation teacher, and author of The Way Home who has spent over twenty years accompanying proven leaders on the spiritual journey from role to soul. Ben serves as Faculty In Residence at Modern Elder Academy—the world's first midlife wisdom school. He holds a Master of Divinity degree, is a certified advanced meditation teacher, and served as an ordained minister for over a decade. Ben has accompanied the dying as a hospice chaplain, taught meditation in prisons to hundreds of incarcerated individuals, and served thousands of people experiencing addiction, mental illness, and homelessness as founder of Aurora Commons. When he's not guiding leaders on the journey within, Ben enjoys trail running, karaoke nights with friends, and walks, meals, and road trips with his wife and three children in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Here’s a sneak peek, a clip of Ben sharing a tip about how to find time for things we don’t always find time for, but want to...

If you enjoyed this episode, or found something inspiring or useful in it, share it with others, so they can enjoy it too!

Share

This conversation is part of How to Handle Anything my ongoing interview series with people about how they’ve handled uncertainty, change, and unexpected moments with more ease, flexibility, and humor. To receive bonus content, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Years ago, during the pandemic, I wrote the manuscript that later (through multiple rounds of rewrites and edits) became my forthcoming Bloomsbury published book, How to Handle Anything: Four Improv Principles for Navigating Life’s Curveballs. During that time I also wrote several other manuscripts, including one that is a bit of a companion boo…

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Traveling is destined to bring up unexpected curveballs and situations outside of our control. The only thing we can control, in these moments, is how w…

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Of course, I said yes, as this program was an incredible opportunity to learn from professors and other participants from aroun…

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I certainly have experienced my fair share of travel curveballs, like arriving to Milan with Covid, leaving Milan (on a separate trip) without my glasses, an accidental road trip, a spontaneous drive through Bulgaria en route to the Black Sea, and countless others, be it delayed flights or sharing a conversation with strangers turned friends on a train, plane, or automobile.

So when I learned about this month’s guest, the youngest person to visit every country in the world, I was confident he’d have some stories about travel not going as planned. And I’m so excite and grateful that he shared some of them, and how he handled them, with me.

In this episode of How to Handle Anything, we talk travel and share some insights that may inspire your own handling of those times when travel hands you an unexpected curveball.

During this episode Cameron shares what it was really like to become the youngest person ever to visit every country in the world—and how travel challenged his relationship to control, uncertainty, discomfort, and fear along the way. From being detained in Djibouti to navigating remote parts of Africa with only a backpack, Cameron shares how curiosity, openness, and learning to “go with the flow” helped him handle the unexpected.

We discuss…

How traveling to every country in the world changed Cameron’s relationship to control and uncertainty

What it’s like to navigate travel disruptions, detentions, and unpredictable situations in unfamiliar places

How curiosity and openness can challenge preconceived notions about people and places

The connection between travel, presence, and “playing the scene you’re in”

Why some of the hardest travel moments often become the best stories later

How meeting people from different cultures can expand empathy and perspective

A bit about Cameron

At 25, Cameron Mofid became the youngest person to visit every country in the world, completing his journey in North Korea. Growing up with debilitating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Cameron set out on a seven-year trip as a form of real-world exposure therapy. During that time, he traversed war zones, was detained in jail cells, and ventured through some of the most remote places on Earth.

Today, Cameron draws on his experiences to share practical insights on overcoming fear, navigating uncertainty, and redefining what we believe is possible.

He is also the founder of Humanity Effect, a nonprofit organization that has supported more than 1,000 children through two schools and an orphanage in Lagos, Nigeria. His story and work have been featured in major media, including CNN, Forbes, CBS, FOX, BBC, and Business Insider.

Here’s a sneak peek, a clip of Cameron sharing about ending up in a jail cell in Dijbouti...

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If you enjoyed this episode, or found something inspiring or useful in it, share it with others, so they can enjoy it too!

Share

This conversation is part of How to Handle Anything my ongoing interview series with people about how they’ve handled uncertainty, change, and unexpected moments with more ease, flexibility, and humor. To receive bonus content, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

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In this Bonus Elixir, I share a simple but powerful technique inspired by the How to Handle Stress conversation.

The Elixir: Where are You Clenching?

We can carry stress, whether we realize it or not. Thing is, we can actually influence whether we let the stress build tension or we release it.

This …

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Within moments I was in a full blown panic that felt visceral. My body had moved into screaming, shaking, and tears taking over my face.

I turned off the podcast. Somet…

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It’s here, it’s there, it’s everywhere.

The question isn’t whether stress will enter our lives, but rather, how will we handle it when it does.

For me, I haven’t always been the best connoisseur of stress. Certainly I’ve given it a bit more free reign over my mind and body than I try to now. These days I have better tools, fueled by The Improve Method™ combining improv techniques supported by neuroscience and the way the mind and body work. Even so, it’s always a work in progress, and a journey to better understand and improve my relationship with and response to stress.

We can’t control whether situations arise that bring about stress, but we can become better connoisseurs of our stressors. In this episode of How to Handle Anything, we talk stress and share some insights that may inspire your own handling of stress.

During this episode Marie shares how she’s learned to handle stress differently—both in her work and her life thanks to her improvisational practice. From being highly organized and carrying stress in her body, to learning how to let go, adapt, and play the scene she’s in, she offers a refreshing and often humorous perspective on how to navigate everyday stress with more ease.

We discuss…

• How stress shows up in the body (including the now-iconic “clenched butt”) and how to recognize it

• How an improvisational practice builds skills like active listening, flexibility, and presence that translate offstage

• The connection between control, rigidity, and stress, and how to loosen your grip

• How to navigate unexpected disruptions with more ease by playing the scene you’re in

• Why making “weird choices” and stepping outside your comfort zone can reduce stress and open up new possibilities

• How improv muscles can help you show up as a better parent, friend, and collaborator

A bit about Marie…

Marie Ellis is a Sunday Times number 1 bestselling ghostwriter, freelance editor, and fiction writer. With over 15 years of experience, she has worked on books, led content strategies at top health publishers, and managed content teams to great success. She combines her journalism and acting background with her writing skills to help businesses and individuals tell their stories through the written word. With 30 years of acting experience, her improv credits include The Bish Bosh Bash at the Bristol Improv Theatre, Pressure Cooker, and, most recently, the improv pilot Nothing To Play For. Find her on her website and on Instagram.

Here’s a sneak peek, where we introduce the clenched butt concept (right before, during the full episode, we start to talk about the benefits of an unclenched butt, i.e. releasing the stress in the body)

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If you enjoyed this episode, or found something inspiring or useful in it, share it with others, so they can enjoy it too!

Share

This conversation is part of How to Handle Anything my ongoing interview series with people about how they’ve handled uncertainty, change, and unexpected moments with more ease, flexibility, and humor. To receive bonus content, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.