“I worked closely with Christian on our book Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, and she was extraordinary, comprehensive and utterly delightful.” — Paul Hawken
“We can count ourselves lucky if we find a handful of kindred collaborators in a lifetime. I’m so grateful that Christian is one of mine.”
“Her blend of intellect, artistry, emotional intelligence, and sheer writing prowess is unique. Christian will help you arrive at brilliant output; more importantly, working with her is a deep joy in itself.
Our first collaboration was on the New York Times bestseller Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming—a book with many moving parts and a multitude of topics. Christian stepped into the fray with grace and speed, helping us take Drawdown from good to great. She is credited as copy editor, but her imprint on the work goes far beyond that. I see her on every page.
Most recently, she has helped me bring to life a talk for TED Women, that explores the link between gender equity and climate change. Christian’s guidance on clarity, arc, and nuance was critical. So was her insistence that I honor my own voice and wisdom, as I sought to integrate emotional depths with scientific grit. More than just honing content, working with Christian shored up my confidence.
Perhaps that is the most defining aspect of working with Christian: a deep sense of trust. I trust her skill implicitly. I trust her to understand my intent as a writer and her commitment to actualize it. I trust her to have my back in the vulnerable process of birthing creative work into the world. If you have an opportunity to collaborate with Christian, seize it. I will be doing so every chance I get.” — Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, co-editor, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis.
“Christian is a master storyteller, a deeply considered thinker, and a force for good in the world. She can spin straw into gold.
I have had the great honor and pleasure of working with Christian to birth my book, Summoned by the Earth: Becoming a Holy Vessel for Healing our World. Her stewarding of the vulnerable process of birthing a book was a profound support. She can be trusted unflinchingly.
Her capacity to listen deeply and look beyond the surface to see the underlying threads of the book and braid them together seamlessly, is a precious gift that has been honed to perfection. Working with such a well-educated, innately intelligent, deeply compassionate woman of impeccable integrity was the gift of a lifetime. I felt blessed by her good company and imbued with confidence through her wise counsel.” — Cynthia Jurs, author of Summoned by the Earth: Becoming a Holy Vessel for Healing Our World
Christian is a magician—a shaman of story.
When I first met Christian, we were working together on a project to share the imaginative power and healing capacity of individuals and organizations around the United States making our economy more beloved. From our first conversation, I fell in love with Christian's process.
Christian is a seer and guide, able to hear and make deep sense of the pulsating thrums of a narrative's heart beneath miles and miles of research rubble. She works not only with her collaborators, but their wounded pasts, present bodies, and healed futures.
By bringing her own lived experience as a social movement leader, somatic practitioner, developmental editor, and writer, she is especially gifted at working with changemakers to take their ideas from concept and vision to concrete manifestations (e.g. books, podcasts, articles) of justice via storytelling. Christian supplies a unique blend of heart, integrity, and connection to her work, honoring person, community, and story in equal measure. There is no doubt in my mind that Christian is doing her Soul's work on this planet and, as a close collaborator and friend, I am forever indebted to her genius. — Nairuti Shastry, educator | researcher | facilitator
“I am called to write—to tell the stories of truth that need telling.
Since working with Christian, writing has become my personal salvation and preferred form of expression. I choose to write now as a primary activity, akin to an occupation.
Christian is an astute editor of content and structure but, more valuably, she understands how to call forward the underlying messages and meanings in the work.
She is a soul steward of the writing and the writer; steadfastly prodding, encouraging, asking the precise and difficult questions that need asking for the work's full potential to be revealed.
Her words and encouragement fuel my work every day.” — Christie Green, author of Moonlight Elk from University of New Mexico Press
Christian’s gentle and brilliant guidance helped me push the edges of my words, urging them into the freedom they deserved and desired.
Christian’s intuition to “poet” the manuscript I shared was a revelation that brought the writing out of dormancy and into the bright, blinking aliveness of a sunny day. I wouldn’t have found that vast openness without her. I thank her for her exquisitely sensitive seeing. — Shelly Gibbs, poet, animal communicator, and author of the forthcoming, The Alchemy of Animals
Christian helps me feel like the writer I want to be:
all the tiny details of it, the feelings in my body in the process of offering words to a page. She sees with me into a world where I am a powerful writer, bringing in all the pieces of visions I've mentioned in our conversations over time and convinces me, over and over, that it's possible. Or maybe it's not me she's convincing but all of the tangles of thorny impostor syndrome telling me it's not true - she cuts through that and beckons out a truer version of myself and helps me bring that to the page.
Though I’m working on a book, I’ve also published an essay (my first!) and the process, because of working with Christian, was remarkably easy and quick. The editor had very few edits and we were able to quickly publish it. This was because Christian worked with me to refine it beforehand: pulling out hidden facets, asking questions to open up more spaces, and smoothing out the logic of the piece. — Ari Sahagun, movement network ecologist and writer
Christian has been incredibly helpful developing the big ideas for my book.
In a short period of time she got up to speed on my project, understood the story I was trying to tell, and with an intuitive and experienced hand, helped me find my voice and my confidence. I'm new to writing long form pieces, and it's been a gift to have Christian as a thought partner and writing coach.
— Michael Gast, Organize the Rich
Am I a writer? Yes. Have I found my own voice? Better; I can listen for my truth more easily.
I was able to trust Christian’s edits, and eventually, push them further, because she showed me a way to do that without losing the main thrust. That, in itself, is a special gift.
Christian also gave me space—although I had to push to inhabit it, because of my own "habits" of not being "too big," or "too much" for others to handle. She encouraged me to think of myself as being a writer who has an impact. My words have meaning and can effect change or at least an awakening to that possibility. Also, much needed.
Although solitude is important to write, to be creative with ideas and thinking/feeling, it is great to have the experience of being with someone who wants and encourages my growth and helps me acknowledge the value of my words. — Marilyn Matthews MD, Jungian Analyst
"Like a beautiful spider web, Christian is a word and idea catcher.
Being learning different, I never thought I would write a book. Christian had to handle me with tenderness as to not frighten me away. When Christian edits, she always asks questions with curiosity that help to draw out deeper writing from me. And when my writing does require rearranging or the addition of words, somehow Christian is able to channel my voice. I never worried that my voice would be overpowered by her editing." — Ahjo K. Sipowicz, author of EarthBodyBoat: Queer Journey of a Somatic Earth Artist
“When I set out to write The Thyroid Cure I wanted to tell my own personal healing story and I wanted to provide scientific data to the medical community to substantiate my experience. This was a tall order for a first time author. Christian understood my vision immediately. Her editing helped me to go deeper to articulate the essence of the message with clarity. She held the space for the birthing of a radical idea that has helped shape the way autoimmune disease is treated in functional and integrative medicine. I could not have brought this message forward without her.” — Michelle Corey
“Working with Christian has been an invaluable part of my process of pulling together the strands of a memoir.
Christian is able to be supportive of what is on the page, and more importantly, she is able to see the larger shape of where the work is going. She is careful, thoughtful and also bold in her suggestions. Her insights have made my work transform from something “good enough” into something powerful. She has been the steady voice of encouragement and the alchemist. I don’t think I would want to write anything without her gentle, wise guidance.” — Jaime Grechika
"It was a great day when I met Christian Leahy. She arrived in my life just as we were about to bring out our film Split Estate to the world, and shepherded me through that process, ensuring that the film would be successful, and that we would be able to meet the abundance of opportunities that came our way during a critical time of distribution and community outreach. Besides being an incredible human being, the best there is, Christian is especially a deep thinker and valuable thought partner, with surprising insights and ideas that take everything we do together to a much higher level." —Debra Anderson, Director of the Emmy Award-winning Split Estate