Meet the Memoir Summit Featured Experts

Sharissa Bradley is an award-winning author, speaker, and founder of 5 Two Press. A former psychology professor and nutritionist, she helps people reconnect with themselves through story and science. She’s passionate about emotional wellness, creative empowerment, and supporting female authors on their journey.

I’m Julie Sedler. I released my first memoir, Watch Me, in 2023 on how I transformed my life after divorce. I have 20+ years of professional experience transforming chaos into clarity in small businesses. I also have a lot of personal experience navigating through the tricky bits of life including divorce, miscarriage, and rebuilding my entire life after burning it down. My work, on and off the page, highlights all the ’tuition’ I paid for the experiences of tearing down my life, rebuilding it based on my own dreams, and breaking the cycles of ingrained conditioning for what I should want and do. I’m here to help others do the same and that includes others who want to tell their story.

Catherine DeMonte is a licensed Marriage, Family, Child Psychotherapist in California. She is the author of the multi-Award Winning book on manifestation and attraction called "Beep! Beep! Get Out of My Way! Seven Tools for Powerful Creation & Living Your Unstoppable Life" and the creator of the 8-session series Abundance Circle groups for calling in what has felt allusive. More information about Catherine can be found on her website at www.catherinedemonte.com

Hannah Davis is an email marketing strategist for creatives who want to sell more without burning to make sales. When Hannah isn’t writing email newsletters, you can find her in the PNW reading a book or watching a Disney movie.

I’m Allison Lau. Over the past decade, I’ve helped scientists, thought leaders, and public figures unearth their authentic voices via powerful, bestselling books. I ghostwrite and developmental edit memoirs and mission-driven nonfiction that make readers feel deeply and think differently. My work has appeared in Business Insider, Nature, and The Ethogram. You can check out my latest essays at Monkey Girl on Substack.

Lindsay Rice is a graduate of The University of Iowa where she studied English literature and creative writing. She was the past president of Whispering Prairie Press which publishes two Kansas City literary and art magazines. Lindsay attended several writing workshops and conferences including the Big Sur Writing Conference and the University of Iowa Wrtiting Conference as well as Colorado Writing Workshops. She is an academic and creative writing tutor and worked for a nonprofit adult education program. Lindsay lives in the Colorado mountains. Her debut novel, Birdenwheel, was self-published in May, 2025.

Lina AbiRafeh, PhD  is a global advisor, author, and speaker with three decades of experience working at the intersection of leadership, women’s rights, and institutional change in complex international environments. She has held senior leadership roles with the United Nations, international NGOs, and academia across more than 20 countries—including Haiti, the Central African Republic, and Papua New Guinea. As Founder and CEO of Better4Women, Lina advises corporations, foundations, multilateral institutions, and academic partners on strategy, leadership, and organizational change. Previous roles include a decade in executive leadership at the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University, as well as serving as Country Director for Women for Women International in Afghanistan, amongst others.  She also serves on international boards addressing gender equality and global policy. Lina is global media commentator on outlets including CNN and France24, a two-time TEDx speaker, Oxford Union debater, and frequent keynote speaker at international leadership and policy forums. She is the author of three books and numerous publications. Her work has been recognized through fellowships with Vital Voices and the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as repeated inclusion in the Gender Equality Top 100: The Most Influential People in Global Policy.

Karolina Wudniak is a Book & Layout Designer and Founder of Paperwing Studio. She thrives at the intersection of words and visuals and help nonfiction authors transform their manuscripts into beautifully designed books that feel intentional, soul-aligned, and ready to fly. Her approach blends strategy, creativity, and a touch of magic that gives manuscripts wings. When she's not deep in designing books, you’ll likely find her wandering the West Coast mountains with her husband and son, running, or savoring a good book with an equally good cup of coffee.

H.R. (Hannah) Gordon is a writer, editor, and publisher whose work lives at the intersection of trauma, and storytelling as a form of care. She is the founder of Gordon Publishing Collective and a PhD student in Global Gender and Sexuality Studies, where her research explores how lived experience becomes legible through narrative, memory, and the body. As both a writer and mentor to emerging writers, she is passionate about helping people tell difficult stories with honesty, agency, and integrity.

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