We live in a culture that worships busy, celebrates burnout, and treats worthiness like something you earn through overwork. In this beautiful, soulful conversation, Dr. Katie and Fabi Preslar gently challenge that narrative.

Fabi is the founder and president of SPARK Publications and the author of Wilted and Worthy: Essays on Holding On, Letting Go, and Living Fully. She shares how a cancer diagnosis, a healing sabbatical, and a camera turned toward wilting flowers completely shifted her relationship with control, achievement, and what it means to live a meaningful life.

Katie and Fabi talk about why so many of us cling to productivity, how to recognize when we’re forcing a dream that no longer fits, and what it looks like to honor our “wilted” seasons as just as worthy as our perky, high-achieving ones.

This episode is an invitation to soften your grip, listen to your own heart, and move into your next season with more courage, clarity, and compassion—for yourself and your story.

What You'll Learn:

• A new way to think about “living fully” that centers authenticity, courage, and creative self-expression (not constant doing)
• How to notice when you’re forcing a dream, identity, or path—and a simple question Fabi uses to discern whether it’s time to rest or to release
• The emotional cost of hustle culture and what happens when you stop chasing scale, status, and other people’s definitions of success
• Why contentment is not complacency, and how gratitude for this moment can coexist with desire for what’s next

About Fabi Preslar:

Fabi Preslar is the founder and president of SPARK Publications, an award-winning publishing firm that helps thought leaders and business owners turn their expertise into high-impact books and magazines. She is the author of Wilted and Worthy: Essays on Holding On, Letting Go, and Living Fully, a lyrical collection of essays and images that invites readers to honor every season of their becoming.

Proceeds from Wilted and Worthy support Radiant Chapters Collective, the nonprofit Fabi founded to help underrepresented authors get published and share their stories with the world. Across all of her work, Fabi is devoted to helping people embrace their authenticity, find rest in stillness, and transform their stories into legacies of healing and empowerment.

Links & Resources:

• Connect with Fabi on LinkedIn
• Connect with Fabi on Instagram
• Purchase Fabi's book: Wilted and Worthy
• Explore SPARK Publications

Connect with Katie on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also get free resources to help you on your purpose journey at www.katiesandoe.com.