I love my life. But I didn’t always. I am excited about my future. But I wasn’t always. I know that my dreams are inevitable. But I didn’t always.

This is my story. I hope it helps you to know that anything is possible for you. YOU are the expert of your life and YOU have the power to make anything happen. 

Growing Up

I grew up in a suburban town in the Midwest and was a perfectionist people pleaser from the time I could remember. I got good grades, went to school at a top-tier university, got a Master’s degree and quickly climbed the ranks in my career, became engaged and got a dog. All by 25. 

This should be the end, right? Success story – check.

Nope — that was all pre-self-realization. And a lot of that story is really rocky. 

Growing up I always wanted to explore the world. I thought the key to having a great life was to get an amazing job that made amazing money so I could explore the world on my 4.5 weeks of vacation I got per year. 

I pinned all of my hopes and dreams on getting into a great school, so I could get that great job. I worked my ass off. Got straight A’s, was in all of the extracurriculars. Did everything “right.” Got the praise and got the status. Blah blah blah.

College

When I got accepted to Tulane University in New Orleans, this midwestern girl thought it would be the key to the start of my life. I would make a ton of friends, have a huge adventure in NOLA, get a great job and have the perfect life. Oh and also, I would finally have time for boys. Perfect! 

When I got there and found that the culture shock of not just the city, but the difference between myself and much of the student body, was more than I was anticipating, I then realized that it wasn’t going to be easy. And I got mad. And that didn’t feel good, so I got self-righteous. And when that didn’t feel good, I got sad. 

Long story short, college was a struggle. I attempted suicide my sophomore year, went through a tremendous battle with depression and anxiety, didn’t have many friends and lost any sense of confidence I had.

And to be clear – I do not state that lightly or in a blase way. When I say I almost didn’t survive college, I mean it. But in the grand scheme of my story, that is not the chapter that I like to devote my time on. It shaped who I am, but I refuse to dwell in anger, sadness or pity. 

I still tried hard, I still worked hard because I just kept thinking that even if college wasn’t what I had anticipated, the NEXT chapter of my life would be great. I loved my major and was on the pre-law track, all set to apply to law school my senior year. 

The summer before my senior year, I started to date a boy because it felt good to finally have attention. It made me feel good about myself. And looking back, there were several red flags, but I ignored them because I didn’t want to rock the boat. And besides this was the “right” thing to do- right? 

One of the most profound moments of my life (that I didn’t realize until many years later) was the day I decided to not go to law school. I told everyone it was because I just wanted to delay a few years. Go out and do some “good” in teh world. It made me feel good to tell the story this way.

The truth was— I was scared. Terrified, actually. I barely survived the world of undergrad, how would I possibly survive going to school full-time AGAIN? I felt awkward, unloveable, unworthy and frankly not even likeable. And as a person really struggling with depression and anxiety, it felt like I literally might not survive going through something like that again. 

The Big Move

So, I joined TFA and moved to Dallas. When I was offered an opportunity to get my Master’s degree as part of my experience, I did because it was the “right” thing to do. I didn’t really stop and evaluate if it was what I wanted to do. It was the logical next step, so I took it.

A few years went by and although I did not enjoy my job as a teacher, I kept doing it because it was the “right” thing to do. I was tagged for leadership in my second year and I clung to the hope that “when I got there” everything would be perfect. 

Then, I got engaged. It was almost immediately after, that I realized something was off. I am the girl that has planned my wedding since I was 5. I wasn’t excited and I wasn’t doing anything to actually plan the wedding. This was a sign. 

I kept trying to find “things” to make me feel better. Got a puppy, moved apartments, started a new hobby, got a promotion. Nothing worked and I was steadily more and more uncertain. 

The New Era

Enter, Life Coaching. 

I was first exposed to the concept of life coaching through Natalie Bacon. She now coaches Mom’s, but at the time she was chasing her dreams to Chicago and I wanted what she had. 

It was through the process of looking at how I think and what I truly wanted for my life that I made some of the toughest and most amazing choices I could make.

I ended my engagement, moved to an awesome townhome, quit my job, got hired making more money, and gained so many new and amazing friends. 

My life was so much richer and so much happier. I took risks in relationships and in my career. I was promoted into a leadership position as a Dean of Students at 26. I was living alone, but thriving socially and finally feeling like I had the life I was meant to have. 

This was perfect and just what I needed for a year or so. As time went on, while I felt happy and in love with my life, I still felt like something was off. I didn’t feel like I was doing what it was I was called to do. But I didn’t even allow myself to believe in the possibility of anything else. 

Taking my life from good to great

I was working with a life coach at that time and had a major realization. Fear had been the driving decision maker in my life. I made decisions to do or not do things because they were scary. I was scared of consequences. 

And it was the best thing I could have realized.

Fear was what had held me back. 

And while I certainly wasn’t unhappy with my life, I saw so clearly how fear was keeping me from embracing my authentic self and the most authentic life I wanted for myself. 

As soon as I realized that, I made a decision that fear would never hold me back again. In fact, when making big decisions, if I didn’t feel at least a little bit of fear, then I wasn’t thinking big enough.

In the span of 3 months, I quit my job, surrendered my lease, moved across the country back to my family, started a new job, went to coach certification with my dream school, The Life Coach School, took part in 2 master classes, started a business and began the journey of getting healthy. 

I didn’t do any of that because I wanted out of my life. Or because I was angry. 

Instead, I had made peace with and actually quite loved my life when I made all of these changes. 

It was bittersweet to leave behind a life I had created and that I was proud of, friends that I loved and a place that had helped me grow up. 

But I knew that the next version of me, the truly authentic version of myself, deserved a chance to shine. 

So I did things that were scary, that people said were crazy, took financial risks that I would have thought insane a year ago, all for the 100% committed belief in who I was meant to become and where I was meant to go. 

Because of the simple, yet powerful tools that life coaching has given me, I am currently taking my life from good to great. I am now certified through the absolute best coaching school in the world, I am changing careers into what I am truly meant to do, and I am about to finally take that world adventure I have always dreamed of. 

My coaches have helped me see my thoughts in a new light. I recognize my limiting beliefs and decide instead what I want to believe about myself and my life. It was not always easy, but I learned to trust in myself and my feelings. And I am still learning and evolving and growing. And that is freaking awesome. 

So, all of this to say that I am so glad you are here! I hope to help you in any way I can because I am truly so passionate about the power of learning how your mind works and helping direct it in the way that you choose.

The tools I am sharing on this blog are all tools that I have been trained in via The Life Coach School and I promise that if you take even a small nugget of information away and put it into practice- it will change your life.

The best decision I have made for myself was to decide that my life was no longer going to happen to me. I am not passively along for the ride. I am driving the car and I am so excited for where I am headed.