FINANCE TO BUDDHISM…

My journey began in my twenties, working in the financial and tech industry. For nearly a decade I climbed the corporate ladder, chasing stability and success. But in 2008, as the financial industry faltered and layoffs swept through my company, I faced a turning point.

I was offered a choice: stay in my role with added responsibility, or leave with three months’ pay. It was one of the scariest decisions of my life — yet I knew I wasn’t living my dream. Something in me longed for more.

I chose to leave. With my severance, I went on a one-month silent meditation retreat, seeking to understand who I was and what I truly wanted. When I returned, I stepped into a new path — working at Shambhala, a Buddhist meditation center in Chicago. For the next seven years, I immersed myself in mindfulness, heart-centered practices, and tantra within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

BUDDHISM TO COACHING…

Working at an urban Buddhist center meant sitting with people in every kind of life circumstance — from anxiety, depression, and stress to joy, excitement, grief, and loss. I held space for new parents, people starting or losing jobs, those navigating homelessness, and many more. Whatever walked through the door, I was there to meet it.

At the time, I didn’t think of myself as a coach. I saw myself more as a spiritual doula or chaplain. But in truth, that’s where my coaching journey began. The Buddhist practices I had trained in gave me steady ground to meet others in their uncertainty, while the work itself taught me the power of listening people into their own wisdom.

COACHING TO MENTORSHIP…

By 2013, our community recognized that we had become too insular — and that the practices we carried needed to reach new audiences who could benefit from them. We turned our attention outward, asking why our city was suffering from so much gun violence.

We met with 25 nonprofits across Chicago working on youth violence and, together, co-created a conference we called Imagining Peace. Out of that gathering, many young people impacted by violence chose to continue working with us. From their energy and vision, an open mic night and youth program were born.

It was in this space that I stepped fully into mentorship. I became a steady presence for many young people — some of whom I’m still connected with today. This work deepened my understanding that healing is not only individual, but also collective and cultural.

MENTORSHIP TO FACILITATION & PLAY…

As more new people — including inner-city youth — became part of our community, it was clear we needed stronger tools for communication and understanding. What had once been a mostly white, middle-class sangha was evolving into a multiracial, cross-class community. With that change came both richness and challenge.

In my new role as Director of Social Engagement, I realized that simply practicing together wasn’t enough — we needed frameworks for navigating conflict, listening across difference, and building belonging. This led me to immerse in new trainings: The Art of Hosting, InterPlay, Restorative and Transformative Justice, and other embodied practices that opened fresh pathways for dialogue and repair.

When I eventually stepped out of my role at the center, I carried these tools forward into independent facilitation. They became the foundation of how I now hold space for groups — with playfulness, depth, and the ability to stay present even when conversations become difficult.

FACILITATION TO RITUAL & ANCESTORS

As I deepened in facilitation, I began to see that tools alone were not enough. Circles and dialogues could hold conflict, but there was something more ancient — something beyond words — that communities were yearning for.

Ritual began to call me. I found myself drawn to fire, to water, to song, and to the ways our ancestors created containers for transformation long before modern facilitation methods existed. The trainings I had immersed in — InterPlay, restorative and transformative justice, The Art of Hosting — gave me frameworks. But ritual gave me roots.

This is when ancestral work entered fully into my life. I began tending my own lineage, learning practices of ancestral healing, and accompanying others in remembering theirs. Bringing together facilitation and ritual allowed me to weave spaces that are not only about dialogue, but about belonging — to one another, to the land, and to the lineages that live through us.