Note: The recording above is a reading of this newsletter, the content is no different. If youāre someone who needs or prefers to hear their news, I hope you enjoy my melodious voice.
Yoo-hoo! Iām Caroline Davis, a YA sci-fi author represented by the agency behind The Hunger Games and currently preparing my first book, MAY WE PLEASE THE SEA, to pitch to publishers.
Represented by the agency behind Enderās Game and currently preparing my first book, MAY WE PLEASE THE SEA, to pitch to publishers.
Not currently represented by anyone, but I finished my 2nd book! This newsletter shares my latest author updates & creative process musings.
Who am I?
Itās a running joke in my family, dating back to that time in college where I semiāaccidentally dyed my very blonde hairā¦black. (And not my eyebrows.) It was a tragic era for my appearance and yet, at the time, I shockingly did not care.
Iād gone to the hair salon, finally embracing that I no longer was a Florida girl basking in the sun, but a college student in Bostonāok ok, fine, it was Cambridge! I went to Harvard!!
Whew, sorry, donāt know what came over me there.
Anyways, I asked the discounted assistant-to-the-regional-hairstylist (because thatās all I could afford) to āplease match my rootsā, which I will always claim are dirty blonde, but one might describe as light-brown, and well, some time later, I looked into the mirror andā¦I had black hair. Dark black hair.
With no money left to fix it, and my hair now too badly fried to do more to it even if I could, I said āthank youā in my best people-pleasing tone and scuttled back to my dorm room, where I then scared the shit out of my roommates because they thought a stranger had broken in.
The best (or worst?) part of this wasā¦I just accepted it. Unplanned black hair, light brown eyebrows, and oh yeah, this was during the recruitment process for Harvardās final clubs (which are like sororities or secret societies). Not the best timing.
Almost every club cut me. I assume because they were like, āWhoās that random chick with black hair?ā (But it also could have been because they didnāt like me. Whatever.)
For the one club that didnāt cut me, it was because an upperclassman I worked with was kind enough to inform everyone of my new black hair.
Thus, I successfully joined the Isis (which was named for the Egyptian goddess of fertility, just so you know) and I got some really great sweatshirts and hoodies that boldly proclaimed ISIS all over them. Sadly, we had to rebrand shortly after, for obvious reasons, and those clothes had to go.
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The āWho am I?ā family joke was born because I truly looked like I was going through an identity crisis.
I wasnāt then.
But I kind of am nowā¦minus the eyebrow mismatch.
Who am I? I studied Mandarin Chinese from age 13, took upper-level Business Chinese in college as a freshman, moved to Hong Kong after graduation, where I emailed about real estate investments in Chinese. Now I speak more Spanish than Chinese. (Duolingo on Day 641!!)
Who am I? In Hong Kong, I studied and passed all three levels of the CFA exams (That stands for Chartered Financial Analyst, and itās one of the hardest finance designations you can get). Then I left the finance industry, which means over 900 hours of studying and I canāt even force you to call me āCaroline Davis, CFA.ā (But I would respond.)
Who am I? At LinkedIn in San Francisco, I won a cross-functional MVP award for my 3-year massive change management project in operations and analytics. Then I quit to write a book.
Who am I? I wrote that book, heck I wrote two books, both in the dystopian sci-fi genre, and I got literary representation from the agency that repped The Hunger Games. Then again with the agency that repped Enderās Game. Those are both keystone books in my genre! Yet thereās a voice that whispers, āitās been six years since you left the corporate worldā¦and you still donāt have a book published.ā
Who am I? I invested in building an Instagram presence for my future author platform. One reel went big, grew my following by 15,000 people, and even landed me an interview with NPRās All Things Considered.
But then I stopped.
Was I an influencer? Of what? My dog? My garden? My still-not-publicly-available book? Why was I on here and what was I doing it for anymore??
I didnāt know. So I paused.
Who am I? Even on my entrepreneurial side (aka how I make money, which we all know isnāt coming from book sales), I donāt talk about it, but I have clients who pay me for fractional Chief of Staff and COO work. How cool is that?
Except, because everyone Iāve worked with has come to me versus me selling my services to them, Iāve never truly felt like an entrepreneur.
Yes, I make money thatās not through a full-time employer, but I donāt have a long, fancy sales page with a big blinking āBook a Call with Meā button, soā¦
Who am I?
Growing up, I always heard my dad talk about āall the pieces of the pieāā the idea of attending to all the aspects of a well-balanced life.
If I was stressing out over an exam, heād say, āDonāt forget to work out! Work out your brain, work out your body.ā
If I was feeling guilty about not studying Chinese so I could go to a party (which was with Isis, but you know which one), heād remind me, āSocial breaks are important too. All the pieces of the pie.ā
Soā¦what if, instead of agonizing over this, I applied that life motto now? What if, instead of trying to pick one version of myself, I embraced all my different pie pieces?
Because the truth is: I am multiāpassionate. I am someone who builds many things at onceācreatively, professionally, personallyā¦.slowly.
Maybe I donāt need to be the Writer, or the COO, or the Influencer.
Maybe the answer to āWho am I?ā isnāt a title at all.
Maybe Iām the person intentionally building a life made of many pieces.
Iāve been sitting on this draft for months now, simmering with my pieces, and finally, I feel ready to release this into the world. I have things Iāve put into action, and I canāt wait to bring you along for this next stage in my journey.
Sneak-peek into the first of The New Things:
In the past six years since I left LinkedIn, all of my clients have come to meāa surgical facility group, an interior design studio, an author on book tour, a real estate agency, a dog trainer.
Different industries, different problems, same thing every time: someone smart and capable who needed help getting clear and getting moving.
It always ends the same way. At the close of our meeting, they exhale and say some version of: āWhew. I feel so much better.ā
That momentās my favorite part :)
So hereās my new part: Iām finally doing this entrepreneur thing on purpose.
For the first time ever, Iāll be opening up coaching. And instead of waiting for people to find me, Iām inviting them in.
Inviting YOU in!
Itāll be built around exactly what Iāve been doing for these founders for years: helping you get clear on what you want, and actually making it happen.
So if youāve ever wanted my brain on your goals, your stuck points, your āI have too much going on and I donāt know where to startāājust reply to this email. Iād love to tell you more.
Update, August 2026: I did open coaching. And then I closed it. Turns out the piece of the piece I really wanted to focus on was the one I'd been avoiding for two years ā the book. More on that here.
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And if youāre not looking for coaching, fear not!
This newsletter is not becoming a sales pitch. Iāll still show up here the same way I always haveāwith my stories and deep-dives and the occasional identity crisis.
Coaching is just one of my new pieces of the pie. If itās not for you, no worries at allāin this world of shortening content and shortening attention spans, how amazing that you choose to share your precious time with me.
Like I said, thereās more excitement to come!!
But donāt worryā¦it wonāt involve dying my hair black again. š
šā¤ļø,
Caroline
Since starting this journey,
+843 people have joined my newsletter
+204 virtual teas have been sent to me on Ko-Fi, yummy! Thank you, friend! šµ
I love coming along on this journey with you and love the photos!