Linda Donahue

Hi there!

I’m Linda, an award-winning writer,  photographer, digital CEO, podcaster & mindfulness coach who has turned big dreams into big successes.

Recovering Type A who lives for sipping tea in foreign lands, chocolate (& champagne truffles), and creating a life that fills me with me joy. 

ONCE UPON A TIME

I died. I was just 28. Fortunately, my death wasn't permanent. What it DID do was wake me up to life and put me on a path to find my meaningful mission.

July 11, 1993. Almost two months after my wedding and four months since I'd started a job managing a tech start-up, I had a massive heart attack. I know ... wtf?! Well, I was a smoker, was on The Pill, had a family history steeped in heart disease. It wasn't a great combination. Actually, it was a deadly one — almost. It took two big jolts of electricity to get my heart beating normally, again.

It was the best thing that could have happened to me.

I found my passion and my purpose: helping women take control of their destiny.

I spoke at medical conferences and to women's groups, sharing my story to dispel the myth that heart disease didn't impact women. I appeared on local and national television programs. I appeared in magazines and local newspapers. I served on the local and state Boards of Directors for the American Heart Association, and was appointed to a state task force by the governor of Florida. 

In the midst of this, I launched a creative agency that provided copywriting and design services to small businesses in South Florida.

Flash forward 25 years. My entrepreneurial ventures have taken me around the world. I built and ran Parisien Salon, one of the Top 10 travel websites dedicated to Paris. I created e-commerce sites that earned six figures. My fine art photography was featured in art galleries in New York and Miami, and sold into private collections around the world. And my copywriting and editorial consultancy has earned me seven figures.

What lights me up now is helping women harness their experience, their talent, and their power to create the lives they dream of living.

Top: In my favorite place. Left: Bonzo, aka "Dr. Destructo". Above: I taut I taw a putty tat.

IF HINDSIGHT WAS 20/20

I might have realized that the little girl who, with her bestie, put together a charity variety show to help a local burn victim, might find her calling in helping other women shine their own light in the world.

SUPER FUN
FACTS

NOW FOR THE IMPORTANT STUFF

01

Bobby McFerrin & Liza Minnelli once sang 'Happy Birthday' to me ... and to each other.

02

I HATE posing for photos more than anything. But I need to schedule a photo shoot. Clearly.

03

My superpower? I can find anything, no matter how small or where it's dropped. 

04

I published a collection of poetry in 2019 — it's called illusions and misdemeanors.

Your at-a-glance guide to where I stand on all the truly important things.

THE QUIZ

MY MOST TREASURED POSSESSION

The teddy bear my grandfather gave me at birth.

celeb i'd love to meet

Jeff Bridges or Jane Fonda. (How 'bout drinks, you two?)

favorite indulgence

Teuscher (or Neuhaus) Champagne Truffles

most marked characteristic

I think it's my straightforwardness.

favorite place i've been:

Paris. Paris. Paris.

skill i wish i had

Singing. Gosh, I wish I could sing. (I can't.)

real life hero or heroes

My father's doctors and nurses.

biggest fear

Spiders. I've tried to make friends with them, but ... no.

Someday i want to

Create a non-profit to empower girls around the world.

next on my wishlist

Seeing a wild elephant on an African savanna.

Instagram

Wanna hang out together. Instagram is my kind of place, so grab your drink of choice and join me.

@thelindadonahue