We recently connected with Twyla Franz and have shared our conversation below.

Twyla, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I’ve long loved words, reveling in Shakespeare and poetry, completing two English degrees. But then came graduation, marriage, kids, and homeschooling. I stopped making time to write.

One day, spring of 2019, I felt a gentle God-nudge to start listening to podcasts. I sensed He was preparing me to write, but I thought it would be an eventually. Soon it was a now, and I picked up my laptop and asked an honest prayer: “But what should I write?”

“That thing you’re doing in your neighborhood,” came the clear reply.

“That thing” was a dream to get to know our neighbors. Let God seep into casual conversations, show up in lived-in houses with open doors and front yards and carpools. So I began writing for the ones wanting deeper relationships with God and their neighbors but unsure where to begin. For the self-doubters, fellow introverts, and those who’d lived years in one place but didn’t know many neighbors by name.

The Uncommon Normal was born, first under the tagline of “neighborhood missional living for the imperfectly ready” because that’s how I felt too—imperfectly ready. I write, not as one who’s got this discipleship thing down pat, but as one who’s still learning. I write to invite others to lean into a ripple-effect way of living, where we don’t keep what God’s doing inside us to ourselves.

Here’s what I want you to know: you’re invited too. To mission. Community. Purpose. Open-hearted living. You can start from where you are right now because the direction is so much more important than the pace. Learn more at www.theuncommonnormal.com.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a relentless believer in direction over pace and ripple-effect living. An enneagram 9 learning to live open. A blueberry tea drinker, sourdough bread baker, minimalist wanna-be, chalk painter, mom of three, and wife to my first and forever. I play worship songs loud and on repeat. Write, speak, podcast, and create graphics. Number my thanks to remember gratitude is a before, not an after. (And that picture of the couch? Welcome to the space where I meet with God and share my heart through words.)

I used to know very few neighbors by name. Now it’s my joy and privilege to help you deepen your relationship with God and the people near you. I didn’t know how much I was missing until we started doing life in everyday ways with the people in our neighborhood.

I’ve come to understand that the things God does inside me are not meant just for me. The same is true for you. Our lives are meant to overflow. Have a ripple-effect. It looks like getting close to Jesus and letting others in close enough to know the ways He’s growing and guiding you. I call it missional neighboring.

On The Uncommon Normal blog, you’ll find weekly encouragement to help you embark on your own journey of missional neighboring. If you prefer audio, subscribe to The Uncommon Normal podcast to get the same content. For my best encouragement and a more personal peek into the things I’m reading, baking, and playing on repeat, sign up to get Tuesdays with Twyla, my weekly note to my email friends.

I wrote a little book to help you make sense of missional neighboring because I get how overwhelming it feels to look at the gap between the way you’re living and what you want your life to look like. So I broke it down into 30 bite-sized devotions. You’ll learn how missional living begins in your heart, and then ripples out into the way you think, talk, live, and open your heart, home, and life to your neighbors. You can learn more about my devotional at www.theuncommonnormal.com/book.

Instagram is my favorite place to hang out, and you can find me there and on Facebook @theuncommonnormal.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I created an Instagram account when I started blogging. As a newbie to the blogging world, I didn’t know how to use socials to connect with new readers. But I started simply showing up. Writing honest. Sharing my heart.

An ad for Hope*Writers popped up in my Instagram feed, and I soon found myself in a community of writers who made space for each other on benches, linked arms and learned together, and ruthlessly cheered each on. I learned to write to one person in the room, create valuable lead magnets to help real people with real-life problems, and begin building an email list.

Instagram is my favorite hang-out spot since it’s geared to cultivate community, but my second favorite is Pinterest. I like creating graphics almost as much as I like to write, so I started experimenting. A few months in, my Pinterest started exploding. I kept experimenting, paying attention to what worked, and doing more of what worked and less of what didn’t.

Paying attention to which pins gained the most traction eventually helped me create a brand for The Uncommon Normal that is now consistent across my website and socials. It also gave me insight into which titles, topics, and designs were resonating with readers.

There’s a lot I’m still learning, but I’m constantly experimenting, and that’s my best advice for you too. Develop the discipline to keep showing up consistently, take wins and flops both as gifts (for both have much to teach), and stay attentive to what’s working and what’s not.

Learn more about my Pinterest for Writers E-Guide at www.theuncommonnormal.com/pinterest.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

Yes, a book. The one that’s been in my heart since 2019 when I chose the word open as my word-of-the-year.

I’m one to hold it in. Not be vulnerable. Get rattled. Show emotion. A stoic Enneagram 9. Open invited me to shift my trajectory. Become better at building friendships than walls.

What I find over and again is that other women are also lonely. They long for deeper friendships even more than to have more friends. To be real with their people so they can really be known.

But we band-aid the ache with busyness. Tell ourselves we have to maintain an image of perfection. Exhaust ourselves trying to please all the people.

And we’ve unintentionally shut out the people we long to be close to. We’re stuck behind walls we didn’t think would get so high.

I want to help other women find freedom and connection on the other side of their walls by teaching them the power of one simple, life-changing habit.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theuncommonnormal.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theuncommonnormal/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theuncommonnormal
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/twylafranz/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncommonnormal
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/twylafranz/

Image Credits
Twyla Franz