Dearest Sovereigns: A few years ago I sat in a room full of women who were tired of being the ones who held everything together, and I watched something shift the moment one of them said out loud what she actually wanted instead of what she thought she should want. That is the work Beverly Keaton has spent more than two decades doing. She is the author of Heart-Filled Living: Creating What’s Next, and she has built her career around a simple, difficult truth: the voice that tells a woman to wait, to stay safe, to shrink until it is more convenient for everyone else, is not always wisdom. Sometimes it is fear wearing wisdom’s clothes. I sent Beverly four questions. I wanted to know what keeps her doing this work after two decades, how she teaches women to tell the difference between true timing and fear in disguise, why gathering with other women does something that solitude cannot, and what she is quietly dreaming for her own next chapter. Her answers moved me more than I expected. Watch the video below, and then stay with what she says about small steps. I think you will find yourself in it. A Conversation with Beverly Keaton You have spent more than two decades guiding women back to their own inner voice, which means you have watched the same quiet moment happen again and again, the moment a woman stops outsourcing her life and begins to trust what she already knew. I want to ask about what lives underneath all those years. What is the deeper purpose that keeps you returning to this work, long after you had every reason to consider it finished and rest? There is nothing more satisfying than watching a woman reclaim her confidence, her voice, or her sense of personal power. It is an incredible honor to hold space for that kind of transformation and to witness someone begin to see herself differently. I think one of my gifts is seeing the potential in a person before she fully sees it in herself. Watching that potential emerge never gets old. I also continue this work because it is my way of paying forward the belief, encouragement, and guidance I received from the mentors, teachers, coaches, and counselors who walked alongside me throughout my life. I truly don’t believe I would have become the woman I am today without them. Years ago, I asked the first woman who supported me in this way how I could ever repay her. She simply smiled and said, “Pay it forward.” I promised her I would. That promise still lives at the heart of everything I write, every woman I coach, and every gathering I create. In Heart-Filled Living you name the “Not Now” voice, the one that tells a woman to wait, to delay, to stay where it feels safe. I have come to wonder whether “not now” is sometimes real wisdom and sometimes fear borrowing the language of wisdom, and that learning to tell them apart is its own quiet art. How do you help a woman know the difference between a “not now” that is true timing and a “not now” that is only fear asking her to stay small? One of the most important things I help women strengthen is their ability to listen to themselves and trust what they hear. As those two capacities grow, discernment becomes much easier. Like any muscle, it develops through practice and consistency. When a woman is trying to determine whether “not now” is true timing or simply fear, I encourage her to become curious. Is this choice being made from fear, a desire to stay comfortable, or a deeper inner knowing? Does the nudge toward a particular step continue to return, even after she has tried to ignore it? Are there signs, synchronicities, or quiet moments that keep pointing her in the same direction? What happens if we stop dismissing coincidences and begin paying attention to them? I also encourage women to seek out someone who truly has their best interests at heart. Someone who can listen without taking over and gently reflect back what they hear you saying. Sometimes another caring presence helps us hear our own inner voice more clearly. And then there comes a point when the discomfort of staying the same becomes greater than the discomfort of taking the next step. That’s often when movement begins. I encourage women to start with the smallest possible step. Sometimes I’ll ask a client to walk across the room taking only small steps. She’s always surprised by how quickly she reaches the other side. Then I remind her that the same is true in life. Small, heart-led steps taken consistently create meaningful movement. Confidence grows through action, and courage is strengthened each time we trust ourselves enough to take the next step. My goal isn’t to give women the answers. It’s to help them reconnect with the confidence and courage that have been within them all along. Your gatherings bring women together for reflective writing and honest conversation, which tells me you believe something happens in a circle of women that cannot happen in solitude. So much of reclaiming self-trust is interior and private work. What is it a woman can only find in the company of others, and what do you most hope she carries home from your gatherings that she could never have written her way to alone? One of the greatest gifts of gathering with other women is realizing you are not the only one. When we stay inside our own private bubble, it’s easy to believe we’re the only person struggling, questioning ourselves, or wondering if we’re enough. Being in a room with other women reminds us that challenge, disappointment, uncertainty, and growth are all part of being human. There is something deeply reassuring about hearing another woman’s story of moving through fear, loss, or self-doubt. Sometimes we simply need to be in the presence of people who model resilience and possibility. Their stories become mirrors that help us see new possibilities for our own lives. What I’ve witnessed over the years is also supported by research. In Heart-Filled Living, I share research on oxytocin, often called the “bonding hormone,” which suggests that healthy, supportive connection among women can stimulate the release of oxytocin. As women gather in an atmosphere of trust, empathy, and encouragement, their bodies, as well as their hearts, may respond in ways that help them feel calmer, safer, and more connected. I love knowing that what women experience in these gatherings isn’t just something they feel emotionally; their bodies are responding as well. I’ve watched women arrive feeling uncertain or disconnected from themselves and leave with a renewed sense of hope because they remembered they weren’t alone. There is something deeply powerful about being witnessed, encouraged, and believed in by other women who genuinely want the best for you. And then there is the joy of it all. We laugh together. We cry together. We celebrate one another’s victories and hold space for one another’s struggles. Those shared moments create a sense of belonging that is difficult to experience in solitude. While reflective writing helps us hear our own voice, gathering with others reminds us that we were never meant to walk this journey alone. The subtitle of your book is “Creating What’s Next” and you have spent your life helping other women answer that question for themselves. I want to turn it gently back toward you. When you let yourself dream past the next book and the next gathering, what is the “what’s next” you are quietly creating for your own writing and your own life, the one you may not have said aloud yet? Well, I do have a vision that makes my heart leap. I imagine a retreat sanctuary nestled in nature where I can host intimate writing gatherings for women. I see a peaceful lake, a fire pit, towering old trees, and a large wooden deck overlooking the water. There are picnic tables tucked beneath the trees where journal writing, meditation, conversation, and shared meals naturally unfold throughout the day. And yes, I even picture a few swings hanging from strong tree branches. It feels peaceful, inspiring, and deeply alive. I have other dreams, too, but I share this one because I believe in the motto, write it down, make it happen. There is something powerful about giving our dreams shape through words. When we imagine the details and allow ourselves to experience how that vision feels, we begin to create the energy that helps bring it to life. I believe every one of us has the capacity to dream. Dreams are often the first seeds of what is possible. They invite us to imagine a future that doesn’t yet exist and then encourage us to take the next small step toward it. I’ve also learned not to become too attached to how or when a dream unfolds. The timing is rarely what I expect. But when I continue to nurture the vision, stay open, and keep taking heart-led steps, life has a remarkable way of bringing pieces of the dream together, often in ways I never could have planned. This is what creating what’s next means to me: not having the whole picture figured out but having the courage to listen to what feels true, take the next heart-led step, and trust the unfolding. Conclusion What stays with me most from this conversation is Beverly’s answer to that last question, the one about her own unspoken dream. She did not hedge. She did not say it was too big or too far off. She described the lake, the fire pit, the trees, the swings, and she let herself want it in front of us. That is the whole teaching, really. Not the retreat itself, but the permission she gave herself to name it. I think of the women I have watched reclaim their own voices, and I think of Beverly’s mentor telling her to pay it forward, and I wonder what it would look like if more of us let ourselves want something out loud before we had proof it would work out. If Beverly’s words landed for you the way they landed for me, her book Heart-Filled Living: Creating What’s Next is a beautiful place to keep going. And if th
