My Story

Growing up, I never knew exactly “what I wanted to be”, but I knew I wanted to help people and I was really passionate about learning why people make the choices that they do.

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I was a psychology geek, and I knew I wanted to dive deep into studying the human mind and spirit.

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I followed the American dream and did what I was supposed to do: I went to school, then graduate school, and then looked for a career I could love, helping people while being able to make money to pay my bills. 

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When I graduated with $50,000 in student loans in 2007, I wanted to find a job that was of real service to the world, but I couldn’t afford to take the starting salaries that were offered. 

 

Since I've always loved helping people, I figured a career in Human Resources would be a good corporate application of my skills. 

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It wasn’t. 

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I quickly realized that HR people are there to enforce company policies NOT to help people. 

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This became clear when I repeatedly got into trouble for not following appropriate procedures, like emailing another department for information in order to get my job done. I was pulled into my bosses’ boss’s office. I left in tears.

 

I was frustrated, stressed out, and exhausted. 

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I knew I had a serious problem when I caused a stress fracture in my hip from over-exercising and under-eating. Both were unhealthy techniques that I was using to numb the stress in my life. 

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At the time, I didn’t know what was happening, but looking back I know I was stressed to the max and suffering through an unhappy marriage and a job that was destroying me.

 

Enter doctor-prescribed yoga.

 

I took a basic Ashtanga yoga class at a local studio. It was great. I could move and breathe and clear my head. From there I vowed to find a yoga studio when I moved home to Michigan so my then-husband could attend law school so I could continue doing yoga and breathwork.

 

I started studying yoga at the same time of taking my first direct recruiting job. I was told to be competitive and work hard to place people, but then I was told I was too competitive. I felt like I couldn’t win. Confused, I leaned into training and learning new skills.

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Teaching yoga, breathing, and meditation opened up a whole new world for me and gave me a way to focus on something other than a stressful 9-5 job. 

 

During this time, I became the first HR Manager at a small family-owned construction company. 

 

I also took on a side gig as the Office Manager for my dear friend’s donation-based yoga studio. 

 

I learned a ton, but it was a lot and after a while, I was burned out. 

 

I thought maybe I’d become a full-time yoga teacher or something, but meanwhile, I needed a new job and a new life. 

 

Right about here is where my former husband and I ended it for good. We were going in different directions in many ways and wanted different things in life. He became a newly minted lawyer, and I became a recruiter at another company.

 

I began teaching yoga at multiple studios, and I took on more projects at the yoga studio that I was already working. I also got busy with CrossFit, ecstatic dance, and walking my dog - obviously staying active.

 

I learned ways to stay in the system while also staying sane and doing work that lit me up!

 

One job led to another and I knew for sure I had to get out of Corporate America, but I wasn’t sure when or how. 

 

I had a home mortgage and bills to pay. I had student loan debt that would give me panic attacks.

 

The bills and big loans kept me in corporate jobs because I thought the only way to pay them off was to keep climbing the corporate ladder and making more money, so I could pay it all off.

 

The anxiety of debt was impacting my freedom so I focused on paying them off. It took me ten years to pay off about $70,000. 

 

By this time, I was working as a Corporate Recruiter for a global company. I was working from home which made Corporate America less stressful and yet I still felt dissatisfied.

 

I realized I wanted a serious career shift, but I wasn’t quite sure how.

 

I turned my focus from yoga and studied Thai bodywork, Shiatsu bodywork, and also got my certification in Acudetox. 

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But, none of these modalities were "the thing" that would enable me to have a new career and finally quit my day job for good. 

 

I strongly considered a major career move, like going back to school for my MSW/Therapist degree or Acupuncture, but I didn’t want to take on even more loans and debt.

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I have a vision of a world where people do what they love, get massively compensated for it and actually enjoy their time here on Earth.

 

I believed (and still do) it can all be different, so I immersed myself in study with the Orphan Wisdom School while starting a Marketing mentorship program to figure out what my work in the world could be and how I could explain it to people.

 

I kept learning, growing, and moving forward, dreaming of the day I would quit Corporate America for good. 

 

When I became pregnant with my first (my son, Cedar) I knew this was an opportunity for me to finally quit Corporate America.

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Now that my student loans were paid off, I realized there would always be “one more thing” to do, save up for, or pay off. 

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I planned to leave my job after my son was born so that I could care for him and start my new business and life.

 

Cedar was going to be a home birth, but after 20+ hours of laboring, we ended up in the nearby hospital. Birth there was fine and I was excited to get back home! We were about to be released, but Cedar’s oxygen levels were at just 88%.

 

The next few hours were a flurry of activity and tears and a whole lot of fear.

 

One test led to the next and we learned something no parent ever really prepares for: Cedar was born with heart problems. 

 

He had multiple congenital heart defects, an AVSD, and mitral valve issues, among other things. 

 

My perspective on life and what matters changed in an instant.

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Cedar had his first open heart surgery at only 30 days old. 

 

Still employed, I was concerned about holding onto our corporate insurance policy. It was terrifying to think about all the bureaucratic sh*t when your son’s life is at stake - yet, it's a reality in America. 

 

In 2018, my son had two open heart surgeries and a pacemaker installed. Between the timing of his second open heart surgery and pacemaker, I had a tumor removed. That year our total healthcare costs were over $500,000. With insurance, we only paid our high deductible of $13,000.

 

I kept my corporate job for the insurance and to give me time to plan my next step.

 

Something about watching my baby at one, four, and six months old, live through having his rib cage cut open, a gore-tex patch put into his heart, and a small electronic device in his belly, had me seelife’s priorities very differently, very quickly.

 

I didn’t want to spend 40+ hours a week doing something I didn’t love.

 

I wanted to do something that mattered. Something that helped people and made a difference in the world.

 

I decided to figure out what I could be really good at and what I knew a lot about. 

 

Our biggest strength is who we are, what we’ve come through, and what we’ve learned from our own life.

 

I worked my corporate job one year longer than I wanted to so that I could keep our health insurance, build my business plan, create programs, and practice perfect strategies. 

 

I learned what it takes to implement learning and training into your day to stay focused on a side hustles and business so that you can finally leave a corporate job and do your own beautiful work in the world.

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I chose to figure out what my soul-driven, purpose-filled work in the world was, and then do it.

 

I invested in learning how to run a successful, online business. I combined what I learned with what I knew from HR and Recruiting and all the beautiful healing arts modalities I’ve learned over the past decade or more.

 

Sacred Intimacy

Energy work

Psychic training

Intuitive studies

Astrology

Tarot

Plant Spirit Medicine

Elderhood

Death

Shamanism

Acupuncture

Five Elements Theory

Shiatsu

Thai bodywork

Ashtanga

And other modalities that I’m sure I’m forgetting... 

 

I wanted to help people who were like me and let them know that they weren’t alone and that they could do healing arts work in the world and create the income and impact they craved.

 

Life is precious.

 

Cedar teaches me that every day. He is happy and healthy and gets to live like a normal kid. He will have more open heart surgeries (I don’t know when or exactly how) but I do know that every moment I work I will be doing something that matters with people that I care about. 

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My work in the world does and will continue to help other healing arts professionals reach their dream clients - helping each other one beautiful session at a time.