Abrazo!  Welcome!  

 

I am mother, entrepreneur, adventure seeker, community builder, wild spirit.  The opportunity to take care of others, make the world a richer better place for everyone, spread love and warmth, and continually explore and grow are what excite and fuel me.  I want to share this spirit with others to support and encourage them to find their own trails, strengths and experiences. 

 

As the daughter of a single widowed mother who did not have a college education, I have always been driven by a sense of independence and desire to always be able to provide for my family.  For this reason, I pursued a PhD to allow me to provide and at the same time make a significant difference in the lives of others around me. 

 

Several years ago my mother passed away and a new phase of my life began. I’ve learned that there is joy in listening to your own spirit in voice, there is freedom in following it even if it travels through dark and uncomfortable places at times to rise up to the next high point.  There is amazing strength in vulnerability.  Joy tastes infinitely more wonderful when you have felt and tasted pain.  And lastly – If you can sit with your own – joy, pain, vulnerability, strength – then you can with others in their’s and help them walk through those hard sections and celebrate the other moments.

 

I have spent most of my life battling the image of women being told to conform to a certain image, which does not fit me.  I have always been independent and a non-conformist raised by a single mother who taught me that regardless of gender, you do what needs to be done.  The older I get and the more I explore my own path, the more I want to encourage and support other women to get outside of their comfort zone and realize just how strong, resilient, and amazing we each can be.

 

Through this program, I provide an encouraging supportive spirit to help create safe space for everyone to get uncomfortable and explore and build.  I want to share and model what I have tried and explored and encourage others to do the same.  A sense of creativity and thinking/exploring outside of the box will be fostered.  I like to help to push others (and myself) to explore new perspectives and to look at things from a variety of angles and perspectives.  

 

I have reconnected with my innate connection to the natural world, responding to the draw of outdoors, rawness, and celebrating the interconnectedness of all of the natural world. Nature brings us the opportunity to suspend our assumptions, test ourselves in that safe space, and to truly think creatively and expansively.  As I sit under the old live oaks by the coast, my fig trees in my yard, or on the solid rocks of the Appalachian Mountains – I am reminded that it is older than us, carries with it the joys and sadness of generations before us, it is a part of us and therefore is a safe, accepting space to explore and grow.  My greatest feeling and growth occurs in these natural environments where I am rooted in myself and the past but also given the wings to soar and explore.