MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER KERI WILT | Tools and Inspiration how to Grow

Keri Wilt, a motivational speaker with a mission to share inspiration and tools on how to grow in any season.

Keri Wilt is the great-great granddaughter of Frances Hodgson Burnett who you may already know as the author of the beloved Children’s Classic, “The Secret Garden”. Keri is a speaker, writer, and heart cultivator with a mission to equip others with tools and inspiration to grow through any season through her platform “The Well-Tended Life.”

She became a motivational speaker by carrying on the legacy of her relative, the beloved author, Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Can you please tell us a little about yourself and how you got into motivational speaking?

Becoming a motivational speaker came quite naturally actually or perhaps by accident, depending on how you see it. I was giving a historical lecture on Frances in Utah one summer and a group of women who had seen the presentation found me afterward and commented that I was a “fabulous motivational speaker”. I blushed and told them that I wasn’t a motivational speaker, that I was just up there telling our stories. They argued back with me and then each proceeded to tell me one thing they had learned and what they were now motivated to go and do differently! I was shocked and thrilled at this realization that I could help, inspire, and motivate people through sharing Frances and our stories with others. 

“I told them that I wasn’t a motivational speaker, that I was just up there telling our stories.”

Keri Wilt

I continue to give historical lectures and am beyond privileged to tell intimate stories about my great-great-grandmother, prolific author Frances Hodgson Burnett, and of the life she tended inside her own Secret Garden walls. But I also speak about the diligent work of daily, weekly, and seasonal tending that can unlock dreams, unearth gifts, revive relationships, and help us bloom into our truest selves. I love sharing with audiences how if they are willing to get their hands dirty and commit to living a Well-Tended Life, with the help of just a little bit of work-magic, they can grow practically anything! 

What does being a heart cultivator mean to you?

A heart cultivator is someone who is willing to dig in, get dirty, and do the hard and heart work with others in order to help them grow. You see, I believe it is my calling in life to help create fertile hearts by telling my truth and sharing tools and inspiration to help others transform their hearts and minds from weed-covered abandoned places into fertile fields where their dreams, relationships, and gifts can flourish!  

Would you please tell us about the impact your great great grandmother has had on you? How it influenced your platform “The Well-Tended Life”?

My Story: Not long ago, I looked down and discovered that my life had become an over-planted mess that was choking out my relationships, creativity, and purpose. I was irritable, exhausted, and watering everything but myself.That’s when some soul-searching journaling time and a late-night re-reading of my great-great-grandmother’s classic book The Secret Garden unearthed this Well-Tended Life Truth: That EVERY locked-up, weed-filled, withering life can bloom and grow again with the help of a little magic. Now I am not talking about the kind of magic that needs a wand and a trick top hat. I am talking about a dig in, make room, prune away, work on, water well, weed, and feed your soul kind of life-tending magic that I now share over on The Well-Tended Life Podcast, YouTube Channel, IGTV, Instagram, and Facebook. 

Do you have a favorite quote(s) from “The Secret Garden” that have influenced your writing, blog, or podcasts?

I think this quote has influenced my mission the most: “Where you TEND a rose…a thistle cannot grow.”

Speaking of podcasts, can you share the inspiration behind your first series of Joy, Goodness, & Growth?

Yes! This series was inspired by a quote from The Secret Garden, which in turn inspired a daily journal practice for me where I take a moment to remember(so I don’t forget) the Joy, Goodness, and Growth from the day before. 

“Mistress Mary always felt that however many years she lived she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow.”

-The Secret Garden

Good things happen every day: flowers bloom, children giggle, kinds words are said and received, awards are given, projects completed, goals accomplished, high roads taken, joy spread, and rainbows streak the sky after dark and dreary storms. We think we won’t forget these things, but sometimes when the pain, overwhelming issue, negative thought, or aching heart is staring us right in the face, it can be a real struggle to remember what the good stuff was and still is here in our gardens and lives. I wanted to start the podcast with this series because remembering the joy, goodness and growth in our everyday lives will help us to weather the stormy days ahead.We love the message you spread of working through the sun and storm.

We love that you call yourself the “not so secret gardener”. How long have you been gardening and is it a tradition carried down through the family?

I have been gardening for about 7 years now, but please don’t mistake me as someone who has a lush English garden that is magazine perfect. I grow big, beautiful zinnias and rows of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers to feast on… if the bugs or birds don’t eat them first. As far as a family tradition goes, yes, there have been garden lovers in every generation since Frances and the garden bug even preceded her. But each generation has cultivated this love in their own unique ways. 

Can you share some of your daily practices that help you tend your life garden every day?

My best tending tool is my journal. It is where I can get quiet enough to reflect on the day before and spot any pesky weeds that have creeped in. It is where I can read and write things down for my heart to remember. And where I can dream, plan and plant seeds for the life I want to grow in the days, weeks, and months ahead. 

Lastly, we feel the Well-Tended Life and It’s a Charming Life both seek to share the message of mindful living. What is something you like to do to add some charm to your life?

I probably channel my “charm” through my obsession with big, bright, leather earrings. And I truly believe that bright colors can spark joy in even the darkest of hearts. So this small fashion accessory is my way of attempting to start joy fires wherever I go.  My favorites come from www.lavishleathers.com

P.S. Please join and support our blog on Patreon! For as little as a cup of tea you can get exclusive perks and BTS. We look forward to having you with us!