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Miami Living (ML): Your journey spans high-powered law firms, front-row seats at Fashion Week, and now, heartfelt storytelling through your creative writing projects. How has each chapter of your life helped you reclaim and redefine your identity on your own terms? Caitlin: I’ve been lucky to have a diverse range of experiences, but everything is connected. My legal background continues to be very useful. Every industry has contracts and deal terms. Even now, as I’m figuring out the comic book industry, I’m thinking of the potential long-term legal and financial consequences of every option and decision. I love knowing how things work, and I bring that curiosity to everything I do. Learning about the fashion industry has been fascinating. A big difference between fashion and law is the value placed on individual expression. There’s not really a place for that as a practicing attorney, but it’s the mainstay of the fashion world. Of course, practicing law requires a lot of writing, but the creative writing I’m doing now is a true celebration of individuality. It is important to me to carry what I’ve learned into each new chapter; I always want to be the best version of myself I can be. And rather than be defined by external labels, I focus on internal development. All forms of knowledge are power. ML: As someone who openly shares the raw realities of chronic illness, has it been difficult to be so open in a public way? Caitlin: It’s super important to me now to foster genuine connections and to raise awareness for the realities of living with a chronic illness. I can only do that if I’m willing to share private, personal information. I’m not only willing to do that, I’m happy to do it. You can’t raise awareness for something without speaking honestly and openly. After years of therapy and inner work, I have a new and healthier perspective. I’m done hiding. I no longer value secrecy; I value transparency. I don’t care what anyone thinks of me. If you don’t like me, that’s fine. I like me. ML: Your Lupus diagnosis dramatically changed your trajectory. What did it teach you about resilience, and what does resilience look like for you today? Not in grand gestures, but in quiet, daily choices? Caitlin: Living with Lupus and the constraints that it puts on my body means I spend a lot of time alone. So, I’ve also had to become my own best friend. Learning to befriend myself has been another unexpected gift of my illness, one that no one can ever take away from me. When I went on medical leave after my diagnosis, the freedom to put my health first felt strange. Even after a month, I still found myself hurrying as I made lunch, rushing so I could get back to . . . Oh wait, there is nothing to get back to. The Real Housewives aren’t going anywhere. I had to force myself to slow down. I didn’t know it at the time and didn’t