About Me
My 8th grade English teacher posed this question to our class: If there was an earthquake, which of the other students in this room would you trust to lead you to safety?
I’ll never forget that when the votes were tallied, my peers had chosen me. At 14, I knew other people looked to me for leadership and I claimed space as a leader. That journey continued as I navigated adolescence and young adulthood.
But somewhere along the way , I noticed that I kept accepting leadership roles, but I didn’t know what it meant to be fully me while doing them. Too much of my work felt like mimicking what seemed to work for other leaders I admired. I decided that wasn’t satisfying anymore. I was hungry for something different for myself and the people I was leading!
I am still learning how to listen to myself. I am learning how to bring all of the complexity of my story, my cultural experience, and my inner wisdom to each opportunity I have to lead and influence. I’m learning to access my own full palette. And I’m passionate about helping other women access theirs as well.
I regularly look at my daughter and hope she never internalizes a sense of having a limited palette. I want her to know a deep sense of clarity about the gifts she brings to the world by being all of herself. I want that for every woman.
My husband and I are parenting three young children – our two sons and our daughter – in a rare pocket of cultural and economic diversity in Portland, Oregon. Our home is filled with laughter, moderate chaos, and the singing of half-written parody songs.
In addition to coaching and consulting with the women leaders the world needs, I value and make space for history and political podcasts, baking, books by BIPOC authors, long conversations, and occasional yoga.