First a snapshot of where my head’s at: I’m passionate about how our personal, inner journeys affect our everyday work and the overall health of society. I believe self-limiting beliefs and habits keep us from creating positive change. I believe dominant society creates harmful, widespread trauma that we’re learning how to heal. Doing so creates life-giving possibilities. My personal experience is a great illustration of this! 

 

I have always sought to be of good use, and (stubbornly?) insistent on walking my own path. I created a bachelor’s degree in theology and world religions and pursued a master’s degree in pastoral studies and small community formation…just because they interested me. I didn’t know what I’d do for work. I’m certified as a group facilitator because I hate pointless, non-participatory meetings. I’m an empath and have high sensitivity to group dynamics from being the youngest of 10 kids. I’ve been an artist, hops grower and backyard chicken advocate. I write songs.

 

My journey of work

Before being a coach and consultant, my career focused on leadership and community development. I started as a professional social justice Catholic and then found my way into the rarified air of philanthropy. The former taught me to think like an institution and that “no one likes a grim do-gooder.” The latter taught me that “culture eats strategy for lunch” and all the money, talent and bright ideas in the world don’t do much good without the ability to create tried-and-true, trusting relationships. 

 

I’ve had the good fortune to work with a wide variety of people and professions, including business, banking, entrepreneurship, social services, non-profit management, K-12 education, higher education, government, farming and ranching and more. I’ve worked with people in situations of extreme wealth and extreme poverty. 

 

I think women and BIPOC voices should finally lead. I see my role as learning to embody an ongoing transformation of my male whiteness and skillfully change European-dominant institutions that benefit people like me. I think white men can become part of the solution for an equitable future and am eager to help discover that path. I start with the belief that we suffer from a widespread failure to realize we are all interconnected and interdependent. 

 

Mindfulness-based approach

I practice as a coach while pursuing International Coaching Federation accreditation through the Mindfulness Coaching School. I am trained in using EMDR and Internal Family Systems in coaching contexts. I’m a certified meditation teacher and have explored mindfulness and meditation through many traditions, including Vipassana, Zen, “Mondo” Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism. I have dedicated recent years to learning “effortless mindfulness” as taught by Loch Kelly. I believe effortless mindfulness is the core practice for accessing our innate, transformative traits when they’re needed most. 

 

Since 2015, I have been recreating a life of wellness and integration after developing a painful gap between my inner and external life. This has included difficult and transformative changes, including divorce, creating a new career identity, making significant improvements in my mental and physical health, and learning how to care for myself, partner and daughters in new ways. I am so grateful for these changes. They inform how I seek to help others nurture change in themselves, their families, workplaces and communities. 

 

If you’re still reading…wow, thanks!

If any of this resonates with you, please reach out. I’d love to discover how we might help one another find a new path forward.