permission to evolve
katy ripp
Entrepreneur.
Recovering people-pleaser.
Professional reinventer.
I write about the messy, beautiful process of becoming more yourself in midlife.
Through essays on identity, sobriety, scanner personalities, midlife, and the unexpected joy of becoming someone you actually like.
Not someone new.
More yourself.
Writer.
The "best" version.
More disciplined.
More successful.
More confident.
More organized.
Every new business, every habit, every identity felt like another attempt to finally become the person I was supposed to be.
Then something unexpected happened.
I realized I wasn't becoming someone new at all.
I was becoming more myself.
That's what this website is about.
It's a place for women who are tired of fixing themselves and ready to start trusting themselves.
A place to question old identities.
To try new ones.
To discover that becoming more yourself is a lifelong practice.
Welcome.
I'm really glad you're here.
For years, I thought I was trying to become someone new.
What You'll Find Here
Why does everything feel off lately?
identity + midlife
let's untangle this →
business life
Why does my business feel so complicated?
let's build something real →
Storybook Hill
Storybook Hill started as a house.
At least that's what I thought.
What began as a Zillow search became a lesson in intuition, identity, grief, trust, manifestation, and what happens when you stop talking yourself out of the things you want.
The essays in this series were written in real time while I was living the questions myself.
Storybook Hill started as a house.
At least that's what I thought.
What began as a Zillow search became a lesson in intuition, identity, grief, trust, manifestation, and what happens when you stop talking yourself out of the things you want.
This started as a house story. Somewhere along the way, it became a story about me.
a real-time experiment in becoming
Featured Essays
If you're new here, these are a good place to start.
They're stories about identity, midlife, sobriety, intuition, business, and the messy, beautiful process of becoming more yourself.
Pull up a chair.
Pour another cup of coffee.
Start wherever you're curious.
There's no wrong place to begin.
A thoughtful letter every Monday morning.
Essays.
Reflections.
Life at Storybook Hill.
The books I'm reading.
The lessons I'm learning.
The questions I'm still figuring out.
A thoughtful letter every Monday morning.
Essays.
Reflections.
Life at Storybook Hill.
The books I'm reading.
The lessons I'm learning.
The questions I'm still figuring out.
family
Home
Rosie
A Little More...
I live on Storybook Hill in rural Wisconsin with my husband, our two teenagers, a rotating cast of alpacas, goats, dogs, cats, and whatever wildlife decides to wander through the yard that day.
You'll usually find me walking the trails, writing at sunrise, tending roses, chasing sunsets, or drinking coffee while convincing myself today is the day I'll finally organize my office.
My favorite conversations are about identity, possibility, home, and what happens when we stop trying to become someone else and start becoming more ourselves.
Alpaca friends
