Somatic Practioner.
Stress Resilience Specialist.
Leadership Coach.
New Mama.

My Story

In the Beginning

I had an unusual childhood. I was homeschooled until college (with the exception of 4th grade). I was a competitive gymnast who trained 40 hours per week from the age of 10. I have 5 siblings, the youngest of whom has Down’s Syndrome and autism. I took on the majority responsibility of caring for him throughout my childhood. Our family was extremely religious and we were raised with strict discipline. My upbringing raised me to be a very good girl—responsible, high-achieving, and putting other’s needs above my own.

The patterns from childhood last a lifetime—unless something changes

I spent the first three and a half decades of my life achieving and doing. I was constantly busy and relentless in my pursuit of excellence. I won competitions, received awards, and was promoted continuously. I achieved success in two domains—first as an athlete and then in my corporate career. Yet, each of these things left me feeling happy for only a fleeting moment. After each success, I would raise the bar and add more to my plate. It sounds like I had everything I ever wanted, but I was feeling stressed, tired, and unfulfilled.

Awareness is (only) the first step

I was acutely aware of how my past influenced my present. Despite this, I continued in the patterns I learned in childhood. Deeply interested in understanding why this was the case I read lots of books, listened to podcasts, and took tests like the Myers-Briggs. I could tell you that I did not want children because of my experience caring for my youngest brother. However, when my friends started having children in our early 30s instead of feeling joy for them, I felt like they were ruining their lives. In this situation, my personal history prevented me from sharing their joy. In addition, I had a fierce inner critic that narrated my life. Even though I was externally successful, I constantly felt like I was failing. As a result of all my learning, I understood more but I didn’t actually FEEL different.

My “Oprah Moment”—how I realized I was the problem

I had a moment, right after I had gotten a huge promotion where I realized the problem was me. I had been given a position where I was in charge of all of the things I loved to do, parts of my job I didn’t enjoy were eliminated, and I was earning a high salary. I had a good boss, coworkers, and clients. Six months into this role I was miserable despite having gotten everything I wanted. I had to face the reality that the problem was within me.

The Beginnings of Change

This was actually good news. I began to seek help in the form of somatic coaching and retreats. Here I learned how to tune into the emotions that were stored in my body, to release limiting beliefs, and to nurture new beliefs and take new action. I was able to build on my strengths and personality and discover new opportunities.

My inner critic spoke less often, I became calmer. I became more grounded in my body, and I checked in with my own desires first rather than relying on the opinions of others.