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Sparkling Grace: Nicole Lance on Leadership, Motherhood, and Making a Difference

Nicole Lance is simply a force—a beautifully aligned woman who adds sparkle and grace to everything she touches.

Two-time Author Nicole Lance—my friend and Hezzie Mae author.

Nicole and I met in a writer’s group in January 2022 as aspiring authors. The first time we met face to face on a private Zoom, the movie Step Brothers played in my mind.

I needed more of this sensational human and was willing to make room for “so many activities” with her.

I am honored to introduce you to my friend, Nicole Lance, who is now a Hezzie Mae author. Today, we are celebrating the recent release of Hot Tub Mommy: Do All Moms Swear This Much…

The people want to know all the details about the author behind Hot Tub Mommy! Would you kindly introduce yourself?

Hi! I’m Nicole Lance. I’m a passionate supporter of women leaders, an executive coach, and a mom to a 6-year-old supernova of a human being.

I’m a native Arizonan and spent a decade and a half working in non-profit organizations and local government before launching my own business full-time when I had a 4-month-old at home.

I’m a partner to my husband, Sean, a high school photography teacher, a stepmom and grandma, and a dog mom to Cleo, our 9-month-old Corgi puppy chewing on something she’s not supposed to while I type this.

Nicole, I have known you for over two years and know you have a fabulous background and business. Would you share what you specialize in and what you are known for?

I run a business specializing in women’s leadership development, executive coaching, team leadership facilitation, and keynote speaking.

I love working with individuals and teams who are ready to find the courage to make the changes they want to see.

I customize coaching approaches and build workshops and trainings to help my clients develop skill sets and acquire tools to help them live lives and lead careers they love.

I have developed a series of Women’s Executive Readiness and Leadership Development Programs that help women leaders specifically with their growth and development.

This work absolutely fires me up because I see their progress and celebrate their successes. This is one way I work to change the world!

I’m most known for the energy and humor I bring to my engagements. I like to tell my clients that the work we do together will make them think as much as it will make them laugh. I love what I do!

Your book is titled Hot Tub Mommy: Do All Moms Swear This Much? (unique name!) Can you tell me more about it and what readers can expect inside the cover?

Author Nicole Lance publishes her second book: Hot Tub Mommy: Do All Moms Swear This Much? Purchase Hot Tub Mommy

This book has been a blast to put together. It started when I began writing down some hilarious things my daughter would say. She’s six now, and my stories about her are only getting better and more ridiculous.

This book is a collection of essays about my life as a mom (which doesn’t include nearly as much time in the hot tub as it did before becoming a parent!) to a small human who has a personality as giant as mine. The essays are short vignettes that are humorous and heartfelt, and they also illustrate some of the challenges that caregivers face when trying to work and be truly present for other humans who need them.

I joke that my daughter is my toughest client yet because she causes me to call upon every leadership skill and bit of resilience I’ve ever had. Humor, patience, strategy, good leadership skills – being a mom to my little one makes me use them all!

A really neat thing also happened during the writing of Hot Tub Mommy that makes it even more special. I came across a collection of typewritten pages that my mother had typed up when I was little. There are conversations between her and me and even some between my brother and me.

My mom passed away 11 years ago, and never got to meet my daughter, so it felt like a little nod from the Universe to have my mom “show up” like that during the process. I scanned her pages and integrated them in between some of my essays.

Nicole, Hot Tub Mommy isn’t your first book. Could you share the purpose and ideal reader of your first book?

Purchase Awesome On Your Own Terms

My first book is Awesome on Your Own Terms: Intentional Practices to Help You Stop Shoulding and Start Succeeding.

That one came about as a way to serve more people by sharing some of my top practices for personal and professional growth.

It’s a series of strategies and concepts with reflection questions so readers can kind of manage their own journey through the content.

I wrote it to find out what it was like to write a book, and I wanted whatever I produced to help other people interested in accelerating their own growth.

It’s a great book for anyone at any stage of their career, but it has a special resonance with leaders who are in that “up and coming” development stage and looking to shape their ideal leadership approach from a whole-life perspective.

Readers have shared that they appreciated the reflection questions and have used them for conversations at home and at work. A few office book clubs have even used them!

From a business perspective, does becoming a published author add value to your entrepreneurial or corporate resume?

It definitely has for me! First, it’s a great way to connect with new clients, and it has amplified my speaking engagements. It’s also given me a platform for customizing programming or coaching offers around the content.

Second, it has had an unexpected effect of developing a new skill set and range of experiences I would not have gotten otherwise, and those have been invaluable in my own growth.

I discovered a sweet spot of freedom, discipline, and non-self-judgment in my writing adventures that has prompted personal growth and healing I don’t know if I would have experienced otherwise. Plus, it’s just plain FUN to hold a book you’ve written in your own hands!

THIS is the energy Nicole Lance brings to the stage and to her books!

In what other ways do you consider yourself a creative? Do you have more writing ventures up your sleeve?

I use my creativity every day- if it’s not for my work, it’s definitely for keeping up with my 6-year-old! I also love to cook and play with watercolors.

I DO have another writing venture up my sleeve!

I’m currently working on a third book called Bold On the Inside: Amplify Your Impact Without Raising Your Voice. It’s a workbook for women and other leaders who don’t fit traditional expectations of leadership “molds.”

It’s full of tactics and practices to help them lead with genuine authenticity and succeed in a way that feels good for them and is reflective of how they want to show up in the world rather than trying to conform to someone else’s “shoulds” or lead in a way that’s not their natural style. I’ve developed the content based on my years of coaching executives.

It’s got a very practical, immediately implementable vibe, and I’m excited to share it!

What advice do you have for anyone who thinks they might want to write a book but haven’t started?

Stop thinking and start writing. (That’s solid advice, Nicole!)

The best concept I ever learned was the “shitty first draft.” (or crummy first draft, depending on language, haha!) This helps me generate content and give myself something to work from rather than the inhibitingly slow approach of writing only perfect sentences.

I’m also a big fan of outlining and generating bullet points of what I want to share/create—kind of like a concept map. That helps me find doable chunks I can produce and get into easily rather than getting overwhelmed by the hugeness of the project.

Lastly, find a values-based reason for WHY you want to write your book.

For my first book, I embraced the value of exploration. I wanted to know what it would be like to write a book and put it out into the world. That kept me centered and helped me experience the process as fun and adventurous.

For Hot Tub Mommy, I focused on my values of fun and connection. I wanted to write something fun for me to produce and would be fun for someone to read, and I tried to connect through the thread of motherhood, both with my own Mom and with other mothers. This shaped the process and the product!

The one and only time Nicole Lance and I have shared physical space…but it won’t be the last!

That concludes our interview with Nicole Lance. Order her books today to adorn your bookshelves, and watch for her NEXT book: Bold On the Inside!

Me. Heather N. Wilde. An indie author and publisher at Hezzie Mae.

Hezzie Mae is here to honor the stories, creativity, and life experiences that beckon us to be shared.

Take a deep breath, silence that inner critic, and embrace the truth:

You are worthy—of love and happiness. As you are right now, today. Always.

Heather N. Wilde


Read similar posts about creativity and authoring on Hezzie Mae’s Blog.

Share the Love! Share Hezzie Mae with a friend. Thanks for spreading the word!

Remember: Ripples to Waves to MAGIC!

I am a writer, educator, indie publisher, artist, and trauma survivor. Visit HezzieMae.com for a paradigm shift in author mentoring, publishing, and creative, healthy living.


Preorder One Man’s Murmuration by Steven Peyer (August 2024)

Purchase Hot Tub Mommy by Nicole Lance (August 2024)

Purchase The Curvy Road by J. R. Matsill (August 2024)

Purchase Precious Child by Sheri Fox (April 2024)

Purchase Aligned Enchantment by Rachel Gilbertson (March 2024).

Purchase Tumbled: A Memoir of Perseverance, Personal Growth & Magical Transformation by Heather Wilde (Feb 2023).

Purchase Pig Tales & Popcorn: Patricia’s Memoir by Heather Wilde and Pat Passero (July 2023).

Heather N. Wilde

Heather Wilde is an indie publisher and trauma survivor who discovered, through writing her own memoir, just how powerful and healing sharing your story can be. Now, she helps others do the same.

Heather believes everyone has a story that can change lives and heal their soul, and she’s here to help you bring yours to the world.

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