Future Folklore Featuring: Priscilla Zorrilla

Priscilla Zorrilla is a writer and future coach devoted to helping people feel seen, heard, and understood.

Connect with Priscilla on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website | Substack | Youtube

Headshot image by Huong Le

Can you briefly describe your project/work? What it does, whom it serves, and how it works?

I’m creating a body of work that helps people reconnect with themselves during times of change, confusion, or misalignment. My first book, The Quiet Awakening: Dare to Dream, and my growing series of life work PDFs guide readers through themes like presence, inner truth, and self-prioritization in ways that are both poetic and practical.

Through Substack, YouTube, and Instagram, I share real-time reflections from my own inner work that invite people to slow down, listen inward, and feel less alone in their inner work. My audience is made up of seekers, thinkers, and feelers who are craving clarity, self-trust, and a life that feels true. Soon, I’ll also serve clients directly as a holistic coach offering space for awareness, alignment, and action.

Which prevailing story or norm are you trying to rewrite or carry

forward, and what new narrative do you hope to weave for the future?

1. Work & Career

We’ve been taught that a 9–5 career is a great path even when it drains us. I believe you can walk away and build a life on your own terms, even if it looks like a step back to others. The new story I want to write is one where fulfillment matters more than fitting into the mold, and where “success” means freedom to create a life you actually want to live.

2. Success & Credentials

We’ve been told success means credentials or titles, yet I’ve proven you can publish a book without any stamp of approval—and I’m in the process of proving you can build a thriving business doing what you love. The narrative I want to weave is that lived experience and courage can open doors just as powerfully as traditional paths.

3. Speed & Presence

We’ve normalized speed, hustle, and autopilot. I want to make the case for slowing down and reclaiming a present life. The new story is one where presence isn’t a luxury but a baseline—a way of living where peace, clarity, and connection have more value than constant productivity.

4. Self-Prioritization

We’ve been conditioned to think prioritizing yourself is selfish, when in reality it’s the most generous thing you can do for yourself and others. The story I want to help tell is one where self-care becomes the root of collective care, where taking responsibility for your well-being is the foundation for a healthier world.

Looking back, what stories about work and success did you carry with you from your past, and how did you eventually challenge them?

I grew up with the story that success was stability. That a “good job” was one you held for years with steady paychecks, promotions, and a clear title. I stayed in my 9–5 for almost 2 decades because of that story. 

What challenged it was realizing that stability without fulfillment isn’t really stability. It’s actually a slow soul leak. I started listening to the part of me that craved freedom, creativity, and impact beyond a title. Now I’m proving that you can build a successful business around the work you love.

What beliefs about career and identity are you letting go of in order to step into more soul-aligned work?

I’m letting go of the need for external validation. My identity isn’t about the company I work for. It's something you create from within. My work isn't who I am—it's an expression of who I am. 

How did imposter syndrome show up for you during your career shift, and what practices helped you rewrite that narrative?

Imposter syndrome told me: “You’re not certified. You’re not credible. Who are you to write this book or coach others?” What helped me quiet that voice was taking action anyway and getting the training I personally needed to feel grounded in my work. Presence became my anchor—staying in the now rather than spiraling into “not enough.”

If you could thank a past version of yourself for one thing that made this chapter possible, what would you say—and how does that gratitude shape your actions now?

I’d thank the version of me who built a savings account from years of showing up to what no longer lit me up. She thought she was building it for emergency situations, but it actually created the circumstances where I could quit my job to create my dream business (I share more about that in this post). She made where I am today possible and I thank her with deeply. 

What would you tell someone who’s hesitant to make a leap because they’re scared of losing their “identity” in their past role? How did you navigate that shift?

I’d say: your identity isn’t going anywhere—it’s expanding. Leaving your old role doesn’t erase you, it reveals more of you. Yes, it’s disorienting, but it’s also liberating to realize you’re bigger than one role or job.

Why did you choose to write The Quiet Awakening in real time, and how did that choice help you process your own doubts and fears in the moment?

I wrote it in real time because I wanted the rawness, not the hindsight. I didn’t want to write a polished “here’s how I made it through” book. I wanted readers to walk beside me while I was in it with the hopes that it would be a mirror for them. Writing that way helped me process my own contemplations and turned them into art instead of obstacles.

Why did you choose to write The Quiet Awakening in real time, and how did that choice help you process your own doubts and fears in the moment?

I actually struggle with future vision / thinking long term. I mostly live in the present. I try to stay rooted in the micro—writing the next poem, creating the next guide, re-prioritizing when things feel like they are moving in too many different directions, being fully here. I hold trust that these small steps are quietly adding up to a vision I can’t yet see.

Why did you choose to write The Quiet Awakening in real time, and how did that choice help you process your own doubts and fears in the moment?

“She helped me come back to myself.”

How do you want your work to be an invitation to others to join or write a new story?

I want my work to whisper: your story isn’t over, and it doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. If my writing, musings, or coaching open even a crack of possibility for someone—that’s the invitation.