About Me — Christine Wolf

Christine Wolf

5 min readJun 16, 2021

Author, enterprise journalist, writing coach, literary citizen, overcomer of unspeakable odds.

Hey there. Nice to meet you!

I’m Christine Wolf, and here’s a little bit about me:

Vital Statistics:

Born April 8, 1968, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Lived in several Illinois communities, including Oak Park, River Forest, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, Crystal Lake, Champaign-Urbana, Lakeview (Chicago) and Evanston
Gender: I identify as female
Age: 53
Current work status: Author, Enterprise Journalist, Founder/Owner of Writers’ Haven LLC (a co-op and consultancy offering coaching of all types, particularly memoir)
Height: 5'0" (152.4 cm)

True Facts:

I have no uvula (that little punching bag thing in the back of the throat). It was removed when I was 5 during a tonsillectomy gone awry.
Throughout high school and college, I was a waitress at Baker’s Square. Just after the Chicago Bears won the 1986 Super Bowl, Walter Payton walked in (he lived nearby). I took his walk-in order for one blueberry pie. Then, I asked him for his autograph, and he gave it to me. I still have it. He was easily the shortest athlete I’ve ever met, and had a voice as high as a little girl’s.
During those years, I also worked at a women’s clothing store called Hit or Miss, where I was paid on commission and told every single customer they looked GREAT in our clothes. The most interesting part of the job was when a customer wanted to pay with a credit card. I’d take an imprint of their card with the manual credit card machine, then pull a quarter from the cash register and use the payphone behind the counter to call and obtain an approval code for their transaction. This usually took 5–8 minutes per customer. My least favorite part of that job? Coming in to work.
I was sexually assaulted in high school.
After college, I worked at two big-time Chicago advertising agencies. I traveled around the country and worked on some fun, “critter” brands like Rice Krispies and Froot Loops. I sucked at those jobs, btw, but I loved the people and am still close friends with many.
While working at one of the ad agencies, I survived a fatal Amtrak crash in 1993 in Comstock, Michigan on my way to Kellogg’s Battle Creek Headquarters. It would take me more than 20 years (and multiple sessions with a trauma therapist) before I could talk about that incident.
I’ve had 3 children and one miscarriage. I wish people talked about miscarriages more. Mine was awful, and if you’ve ever had one, please know that you’re not alone.
I taught preschool for nearly 10 years and loved it.
In 2002, I attempted my first marathon and had to quit at Mile 15. I was pregnant with my third child at the time.
In 2008, I was 40 years old and took (what I thought would be a) one year “break” from teaching to write a children’s novel. I never looked back.
In 2008, I launched my first blog.
In 2010, I began work as a weekly freelance opinion columnist.
In 2011, I finished my first novel.
In 2012, I interviewed President Barack Obama.
In 2012, I learned about Chicago’s vibrant Live Lit scene, and began performing on stage around Chicagoland with groups like Mortified, Louder Than A Mom, and The Moth.
In 2015, I launched Writers’ Haven, a co-op & consultancy for writers of all levels.
In 2017, I began work on my first biography about two former members of the United States Congress.
In 2019, I completed my first marathon and launched the 2nd location of Writers’ Haven.
In 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chicago Marathon was cancelled, so I designed my own course and completed my own 26.20-mile DIY race, wearing a mask the whole time. That effort helped me to raise $10K for a local shelter, whose mission focuses on eliminating racism and empowering women. That year, I also worked as an enumerator for the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau, and as a COVID-19 Contact Tracer for a local health department. I lost several loved ones to COVID-19 and its complications, and I’ll never forget what I what I saw and felt during that year. Suffice to say, it included the very best and the very worst of humanity.
In 2021, as the pandemic continued, I interviewed former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. I’d been working to land that interview for more than four years, and I never gave up trying. Finally, when I heard back from his staff, I sent them my questions via email; Secretary Rumsfeld and his wife, Joyce, dictated their answers to a staff member, who then sent their responses back to me. At the time, I was traveling for the first time since lockdown, staying in a hotel in Arizona. I’m pretty sure I’m the first person to interview a former cabinet member while wearing a bikini.

Education:

Bachelor of Science in Advertising/English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Master of Arts in Teaching from National-Louis University

Bio:

Christine Wolf is an award-winning journalist, columnist and editor. Her writing has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Runner’s World, Better Humans, The Ascent, Invisible Illness, P.S. I Love You the Post-Grad Survival Guide and other publications. As a direct result of her writing, she’s been featured on HuffPost Live and in the Chicagoist, Women’s Health, and Sarah Moshman’s documentary Nevertheless. She’s the Founder & Editor of Women This Way, a digital magazine dedicated to stories by and about individuals who identify as female, as well as Founder and Owner of Writers’ Haven LLC, a co-op and consultancy for established and aspiring writers. Wolf also co-authored a biography about two former members of the U.S. Congress; it’s scheduled for a 2021 release.

About Me Stories

About Me — Christine Wolf

Vital Statistics:

True Facts:

Education:

Bio:

Top Performing Articles on Medium:

Other Pubs:

Website:

Sign up so we can stay in touch:

Published in About Me Stories

Written by Christine Wolf

Responses (4)