Before becoming a somatic coach and nationally recognized leader in PAIL, I wore many hats over the years: non-profit executive, program director, consultant, health and wellness instructor, naturalist, outdoor educator, camp director, and forest service ranger.

For 18 years, I have practiced and taught Nia, a holistic movement practice that provides me with deep knowledge of the body's intelligence, freedom for movement exploration, and confidence in guiding others to reconnect with their bodies.

These professional, outdoor, and movement-based experiences have taught me lessons in leadership, presence, adaptability, and human resilience, lessons that continue to shape how I guide and support others.

Everything changed when I lost my second child, my daughter Eliza.

At 31 weeks, we learned she had HLHS, and over a two-week journey explored interventions, none of which offered hope. At 33 weeks, we learned she also had trisomy 18, and we continued the pregnancy knowing her life would be brief. She eventually died in utero at 41 weeks.

Her death tore through my world in ways I could never have imagined, leaving a grief that was raw and overwhelming.

Heartbreaking and transformative, it demanded that I confront the depths of loss and reimagine my life, my purpose, and my work.

The paths I had known no longer existed, everything had to be rebuilt, reconsidered, and realigned with meaning at the deepest level.

In the wake of Eliza’s death, I found purpose in supporting others. I pursued specialized training in perinatal death, bereavement support, and perinatal mental health, and became a credentialed somatic coach to deepen my ability to support grieving parents. I also stepped into a leadership role with the national non-profit Return to Zero: HOPE.

My work with Return to Zero has become a central part of my professional life. I continue to serve as Director of Community Support, leading retreats, facilitating support groups, speaking at national events, training providers, and developing programming, becoming a recognized voice in the pregnancy and infant loss (PAIL) community.

As I supported others through some of the most difficult moments of their lives, and continued walking my own healing path, my work naturally expanded into the deeper layers of the human experience: all types of trauma, the impacts of early adversity, complicated family dynamics, parts work, reconnecting with self, and rebuilding boundaries.

This journey led me to seek advanced training and mentorship with renowned leaders in trauma, attachment, and somatic work.

I stepped directly into advanced clinical training that deepened my understanding of how we carry our stories in the body when words are not enough that was trauma-informed, mind-body integrated, attachment-sensitive, and grounded in the belief that healing is relational and deeply human.

This interdisciplinary education shapes my practice centered in resilience, adaptability, personalized care, holistic mind-body approaches, lived experience, and core competencies like empathy, attunement, and human-centered presence.

I come to this work not only as a bereaved parent but also as someone who has lived through childhood abuse, neglect, abandonment, and scapegoating.

My family appeared “normal” from the outside, but inside, I navigated a chaotic world with no structure or support, carrying a wired nervous system, chronic anxiety, and deep patterns of survival.

The family dynamics demanded that I was broken and used me as a lightning rod for their own unprocessed trauma and dysfunction.

For many years, I carried these experiences without the language or framework to understand them. Over time, through self-reflection, somatic practice, and trauma-informed education, I began to make sense of how these early wounds shaped my identity, relationships, patterns of coping and how the body often remembers what the mind cannot.

These lived experiences inform everything I bring to my work today. They allow me to recognize complexity without judgment, meet clients where they are, and hold space for the full spectrum of human experience.

I’m someone who finds wonder everywhere. I come alive near water, soak up sunshine whenever I can, and feel most grounded when surrounded by nature, music, or those I love. I’m endlessly curious, drawn to learning, depth, and the beauty of human connection.

I delight in play, movement, and adventure, but I’m just as nourished by quiet moments, spiritual reflection, and the reminder that we’re all part of something much bigger.

Whether I’m spending time adventuring with my family, dancing with my Nia community, or getting lost in a non-fiction book or puzzle, I try to bring presence, joy, and reverence to the everyday.