Michele Richman - The Stories We Almost Don't Tell
The Stories We Almost Don’t Tell: A Conversation With Michele Richmond
Your story matters, especially the one you’re hesitant to share. That’s the heart of my conversation with Michele Richmond, author of The Stories We Almost Don’t Tell.
Michele is chief people officer and lead coach at Lawline, where she leads human resources, legal and operations, designs leadership development programs, and coaches professionals and law firm leaders. A former prosecutor and personal injury attorney, she blends legal expertise, executive leadership and mindset coaching to help people and organizations grow through stronger leadership, engagement and culture. She speaks often on leadership, organizational culture, employee engagement and, my favorite, storytelling.
She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons, and loves biking, reading and walking by the water.
A few of Michele’s favorites
Quote: “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” (often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Book: Fierce Conversationsby Susan Scott
Word for the year: Courage
Advocating for Herself
I asked Michele what she wanted to get better at, and her answer stuck with me: advocating for herself as strongly as she has always advocated for her employees and her children.
In 18 years at Lawline, she had never truly had a break. Her parental leaves were brief, and when her mother passed away two years ago, she went right back to work. With both sons heading to college, this summer felt like the moment to recharge.
The question that changed everything
Michele first tried to create a sabbatical policy for everyone at the company. For a small team of 32 that already has a rotating four-day workweek, it wasn’t the right fit.
Then her coach asked why she couldn’t simply ask for what she needed. Did she feel she didn’t deserve it? That question landed. Michele asked for a deep-work sabbatical: still paid, still thinking and checking in, and stepping out of the daily meetings.
Taking Slack off her phone
The best part? For the first time in 18 years, she removed Slack from her phone. She answered work on her own schedule instead of everyone else’s.
For the first time, she felt fully present: with her family, while traveling, and while working. Her summer included a trip to San Francisco, a multigenerational family trip to Barcelona with 11 people, a beach week in Delaware with her in-laws, and moving her son into college in North Carolina.
She credits her incredible team for making it possible. And here’s the gift: the joy of her summer stayed with her after she returned to work, instead of fading within hours.
A few things I hope you take from Michele’s story:
Coaches need coaches. Michele practices what she preaches.
Ask for what you need. If you hesitate, ask yourself why.
Presence is a gift. Being fully where you are is one of the most important things we can learn.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
How the Book Began
During the 2020 lockdown, Michele realized she hadn’t written for pleasure since college. She pledged to write sometime that year.
Around the same time, feeling stuck and stretched thin, she joined a free group coaching program offered by Kim Ades of Frame of Mind Coaching. It began with journal-based coaching: prompts about goals, the people in her life, and how others would describe her. She went on to work one-on-one with her coach, Shari Schwartz, whom she still works with five years later.
Michele loved that her journals became conversations. Shari would read, comment and ask questions, and Michele would keep writing, finding meaning in her experiences and seeing them in new ways. One of Shari’s favorite questions, which appears in the book: “Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy?”
The bats in the attic
On October 31, 2021, Michele learned it was National Novel Writing Month. She decided to stop waiting for the “right” story. At 6 a.m. she ran downstairs and started typing.
She wrote about the pandemic winter morning when her older son found a bat sleeping on his brother on the couch. Chaos followed: bats flying, kids screaming, her husband chasing them. She learned her husband had been finding bats all week and hadn’t told her. Animal control explained there was a whole family of bats in the attic, and New Jersey law protected them until spring.
Michele realized she’d been living with metaphorical bats in her attic too. She shared the story right away, and people responded with their own bat stories, literal and figurative, thanking her for sharing.
Writing for the person who’s waiting
That’s when her writing grew beyond her own processing. She was writing for the person who needed her story. She committed to publishing one story with a lesson every month for a year. About 50 stories later, she was ready to turn them into a book.
Stories Spark Stories
When we share our stories, others remember theirs. My siblings and I joke that this is why we interrupt each other so much: one story sparks another! (My brother-in-law Wayne has some raccoon stories I’d love to hear on the podcast someday.)
Making Time by Making Room
Michele’s life has been full: raising two sons, growing a family business with her brother from two employees to 32, building one of the largest online providers of continuing legal education, and supporting her mother through three different cancers.
Her mother, her best friend, was her first reader, and she never minced words. Now her sons are her editors. Her college-age son reads a page of her book every night before bed. After her mother passed, Michele felt a pull to create a legacy for her children, and that became a big part of the book.
Here’s what surprised her: writing gave hermoretime. Once she started processing her thoughts on paper, she let go of imposter syndrome and the stories she’d been telling herself about not being worthy. That freed her to show up more fully for her mother, her children, her employees and herself.
Sometimes the thing we keep putting off is exactly what makes room for everything else.
Telling the hard stories
After the book, Michele hit a writing block. This summer, she started writing again. One recent story, shared on Medium and LinkedIn, was about being scammed by a fake invitation to an author talk, and the shame she felt. She almost kept it to herself. Instead she shared it, and many people thanked her and told her they’d been through something similar and felt less alone.
Putting Her Health First
When we put everyone else first, we can lose ourselves without realizing it. This year, Michele made her health a priority and talked about it openly.
Her glucose numbers were in the prediabetes range. She began a GLP-1 medication and strength training, and became healthier. She also recently started an antidepressant to help quiet her racing mind. She once felt she “should” be able to handle these things on her own. Now she sees getting help as prioritizing her health for the right reasons.
Sharing about her medication was one of the hardest things she’s done, and many people reached out to say thank you. She describes the change simply: things that would once have spiraled in her mind no longer do. When both of her sons left for college in the same week, she and her husband felt the sadness, then went to a movie and hiked to a waterfall, and found the bright side.
I recently had my own health wake-up call. There’s so much to be said for what we eat, how we move, how we sleep, and for asking someone for help. We can’t take care of anyone if we don’t take care of ourselves.
Stop “shoulding” yourself
I should be able to do it on my own. I should get up earlier. I should handle this without help. Sound familiar? When we hide the things we’re ashamed of, shame becomes the foundation of everything we do. When we bring them into the light, we find connection and help others do the same.
A Family Gratitude Chain
Michele’s family has a new daily ritual. Her older son shares his Wordle score so they know he’s awake. Her younger son wanted a way to connect too, so they started a gratitude chain. Every morning he texts something he’s grateful for, and the whole family replies with theirs. Michele calls it the light of her day.
Our family does a word of the day. When my granddaughters chime in, it might be something like “popcorn,” which always brings a smile.
Start With One Story
Michele’s message: you have a story, and someone is waiting to hear it. You don’t need 50 stories or a book to begin. Write down one story you want to share, and share it with one person. Do it tomorrow, and you’ll see its power.
Key Takeaways
Advocate for yourself as fiercely as you advocate for others.
Ask for what you need, and notice why you hesitate.
Being present lets joy stay with you.
Journaling and coaching can turn experiences into meaning.
Making time for what you love can create more time for everything else.
Asking for help, including for your health, is a strength.
The stories you almost don’t tell may be the ones others need most.
Listen to the Full Conversation
Hear the whole conversation onConversations with Carroll, on Spotify, Apple and YouTube, and please send me your stories. I’d love to read them.
You are a child of God. You are loved. You matter, and your story matters.
Thank You, Father.
— Carroll
