I have always had an innate drive for learning, healing and helping. I was the kid hiding under her blanket with a flashlight reading late into the night and the friend others came to when they needed support. I was always a little “different”, asking the deeper questions, exploring spirituality and the meaning of it all.
While on a scholarship at the University of Texas at Austin, I surprised everyone (myself included) by getting pregnant and eventually becoming a single mama. While my son was a true gift, it was challenging and a test of my spirit and courage. It took me a couple of extra years, but I did graduate with honors with a degree in Creative Writing. In pursuing writing, I followed my heart. After college, I spent a few years waiting tables and furiously typing away in coffee shops, writing short fiction. I continued to have the feeling that there was something more that I was supposed to do.
Because I love people, I pursued post-graduate education in healing and personal growth. I have an eclectic toolbox of skills after graduating from the following programs: Santa Fe School of Massage, The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching, and M.E.T.A., a mindfulness-based counseling program. I have also studied Coaching as Activism with Andrea Ranae Johnson and continue to take anti-oppression training in order to be a better, more justice oriented human.
I really do understand what it feels like to lose your way. Because I have lived through the dark moments of self-doubt and hit the walls of seemingly impossible obstacles, I am even more passionate about seeing my clients thrive. There is nothing more inspiring to me than helping others deeply connect to their own meaningful purpose. I believe that everyone has an inner wisdom that can guide them to be their most true, creative and fulfilled self. In our coaching sessions, we explore that together.
I started Nurture Life Coaching in 2004 as a healing practice that integrates life and career coaching with bodywork and somatic awareness. As a feminist who believes that change for the individual is deeply connected to change for the collective, I take an anti-oppression lens in my work and focus on supporting women and LGBTQIA+ individuals in loving and believing in themselves, following their own clarity and creating positive change in their own lives and in the lives of others.
I came to this path from my own challenges as a young single mother, as a person who was traumatized by oppressive religion and patriarchy, and as someone who has struggled life long with anxiety. I take a very human and present approach in my work and hold space for other people to see themselves and the systems that impact them more clearly so they can move towards a more fulfilling and authentic experience. My mission is radical love and radical change.
In the past 18 years, my life has changed so much. I have a life partner who is a writer/photographer/journalist and together we had a second son, now fifteen years old. I have a close relationship with my grown son; we love to hit the ski mountain together and we have long talks about most everything.
I’m not currently seeing individual clients. I currently work at Lyra Health as a Coach Supervisor, supporting and training other coaches and furthering the mission to make culturally responsive mental health care more widely available. I am also supervising and mentoring Stephanie Bekooy and you can schedule sessions with her by clicking the “Schedule Now’ button or click the link to schedule a quick, free phone consult with her.
