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In this episode of What We Aim to Do, I talk with Abigail Welhouse, poet, book publicist, and horseback riding instructor, about the art of balancing multiple passions. We explore the freedom of trying new things without pressure, the hidden challenges of book publicity, and the value of curiosity as a core creative practice. Abigail shares insights on living and creating in New York City, teaching, and how embracing diverse interests has enriched her life and writing.

About the guest:

Among other things, ABIGAIL WELHOUSE is the author of Small Dog (dancing girl press), Bad Baby (dancing girl press), Too Many Humans of New York (Bottlecap Press), and Memento Mori (a poem/comic collaboration with Evan Johnston). Her poems have been published in The Toast, Yes Poetry, Ghost Ocean Magazine, and elsewhere, and her writing about food and money has been published in Edible Brooklyn, Edible Manhattan, The Billfold, and more. Subscribe to the Secret Poems of Abigail Welhouse.

She is a freelance book publicist and teaches horseback riding in New York City as a PATH Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor (CTRI).

Connect with Abigail: https://www.instagram.com/welhouse

What We Aim To Do is a podcast about vocation. Featuring conversations with artists, writers, and founders, host Megan Nichols asks questions about the challenges and joys of pursuing meaningful work, balancing ambition with well-being, and finding purpose in the work we share with the world.

www.whatweaimtodo.com

Megan Nichols is the author of the chapbook Animal Unfit (Belle Point Press, 2023). Her poems have appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, The Threepenny Review, Frontier Poetry and elsewhere. She lives in the Ozark Mountains.

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In this episode, I talk with poet, translator, and consultant Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr. about her new poetry collection, After the Operation (Four Way Books, 2025). The book began after Elizabeth underwent brain surgery to remove a benign tumor. In it she weaves poems, medical documents, journal entries, and memories into a thought-provoking and entirely captivating book.

We discuss the decision to have the surgery, how the poems emerged during recovery, and what it meant to give herself fully to this new work. Elizabeth talks honestly about ambition, how she’s juggled a creative life with a demanding career, and what her writing journey has looked like.

About the guest:

Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr. is a poet, translator, critic, and corporate consultant. Previous collections of poetry include Salient (New Directions, 2020) and Series | India (Four Way Books, 2015). Let Us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season (New Directions, 2022), her translations of Iran’s major modern woman poet, Forough Farrokhzad (1937–1962), was a finalist for the 2023 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. The Green Sea of Heaven, a 30th anniversary edition of her translations of Iran’s major medieval mystic poet, Háfiz (d. 1389), appeared from Monkfish Publishing in 2024. She currently serves on the Boards of Kimbilio for Black Fiction, the Beloit Poetry Journal Foundation, Friends of Writers, and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran. She was a founder and managing partner/CEO of Conflict Management, Inc. and Alliance Management Partners, LLC, boutique corporate consulting firms. She holds a BA and JD from Harvard University and an MFA from Warren Wilson and lives in New York City.

Connect with Elizabeth: https://etgrayjr.com/
Order After the Operation: https://fourwaybooks.com/site/after-the-operation/

What We Aim To Do is a podcast about vocation. Featuring conversations with artists, writers, and founders, host Megan Nichols asks questions about the challenges and joys of pursuing meaningful work, balancing ambition with well-being, and finding purpose in the work we share with the world.

www.whatweaimtodo.com

Megan Nichols is the author of the chapbook Animal Unfit (Belle Point Press, 2023). Her poems have appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, The Threepenny Review, Frontier Poetry and elsewhere. She lives in the Ozark Mountains.

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In this episode, James Morehead, Poet Laureate of Dublin, California, shares his journey from writing poetry in high school to self-publishing collections like canvas, portraits of red and gray, and The Plague Doctor. James also talks about hosting the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast, and how he balances his career in tech with his creative passions. The conversation touches on the power of putting your work out there, self-publishing versus traditional routes, and how to embrace the vulnerability that comes with sharing poetry."

About the guest:

James Morehead is the Poet Laureate of Dublin, California, host of the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast, and has published several collections of poetry including "canvas”, "portraits of red and gray", and "The Plague Doctor." James' poem "tethered" was transformed into an award-winning hand drawn animated short film, "gallery" was set to music for baritone and piano, and his poems have appeared in the Ignatian Literary Magazine, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, 2nd Place - Oprelle Oxbow Poetry Contest 2022, Citron Review, Ekphrastic Review, Loud Coffee Press, Cathexis Northwest Press, and other publications. James has performed his poetry at the Patagonia Poet Laureate Celebration, on the SF Chronicle's Total SF podcast, on NPR's Poetically Yours, as Guest Poet at the 20th Annual Haiku Festival (Chicago), and other events.

What We Aim To Do is a podcast about vocation. Featuring conversations with artists, writers, and founders, host Megan Nichols asks questions about the challenges and joys of pursuing meaningful work, balancing ambition with well-being, and finding purpose in the work we share with the world.

www.whatweaimtodo.com

Megan Nichols is the author of the chapbook Animal Unfit (Belle Point Press, 2023). Her poems have appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, The Threepenny Review, Frontier Poetry and elsewhere. She lives in the Ozark Mountains.