my journey

I love helping others help themselves and provide guardrails that keep them on the path of their choosing. Why? Because this is what I wanted for myself and I believe that others want the same thing.

There are a lot of things I could tell you about the path that led me here, but here's a little story that explains why I see coaching the way I do.

I've always sought a type of guidance that held me as I moved toward my goals without forcing me into a particular groove. As a youngster, I was a fast learner with too many interests. I ended up dropping out of high school because I didn't see it as an institution for learning. I saw it as an institution for socialization. So, I “boycotted public education” for about a year.

Luckily, my parents were willing to move to a smaller home which enabled them to afford my request to go to an independent study boarding school. I wanted to learn at my own pace and explore my vast and varied interests. Yes, it was another institution for socialization, but at least I could nerd out in my own way. My faculty advisor guided me through the entire bureaucratic process while supporting my intellectual interests. On top of this, I was able to graduate with honors. Not too shabby for a dropout!

After high school, I went straight to college. On my way there, I had a car accident and missed all my placement exams so I ended up in classes that I found incredibly boring and insulting. On top of that, I couldn't decide on a major that suited me because I didn't want to limit myself just yet. I did not know that I could have had a faculty advisor help me through all of that. So, instead, college just became another institution for socialization that I had the pleasure of dropping out of.

When I finally decided to go back to college, I found that I still couldn't focus on one major and I didn't want to be bothered with more boring classes. Luckily, by this time, I knew that I needed a faculty advisor. My faculty advisor told me about individually designed majors and I was able to design my entire curriculum. This led me to have FOUR faculty advisors—one for each discipline and one administrative one—all to keep me on track for graduation. What fun. They all guided me in their particular areas of expertise and I was challenged enough to stay in school and get my undergraduate degree. Phew.

Luckily, my master's program came with a great advisor who encouraged me to thrive and to pursue my studies from my own particular lens.

So, why all this talk about my struggles with dropping in and out and school? My faculty advisors were my guardrails. I set my general trajectory, choosing my path with interest and curiosity, while they listened, supported, and nudged me to stay on track.

You can easily have what I struggled to have.