About the Founder
of Awake8

The seeds of our life’s work are planted in childhood.

I remember sitting on the schoolbus at 11 years old when a friend sitting next to me turned and said, “there’s something about talking with you that helps.”

That was my first awareness that I was good at something that came naturally.

Decades later, my nest of experiences with supporting and guiding others expanded into a variety of arenas beyond those chats on the schoolbus.

My practice of being a strategic thought partner to leaders, a mentor to emerging professionals, and a spiritual friend have now been informed by thousands of hours of study and practice.

I’ve had an adventurous career working in many different arenas and communities. I have had a lot of fun with teaching, coaching leaders, and developing a variety of progressive programs that continue to positively impact community health and wellbeing.

During a chapter of life serving as a director of spiritual care for a large health system in Omaha, Nebraska I was a board chair and then a consultant for a non-profit grief center that continues to thrive.

Before moving from Nebraska to the mountains of western North Carolina, I was acknowledged with the “Sophia of Wisdom Award” by a spiritual retreat center for my work leading retreats for health care professionals in the region.

My formal education includes holding a master’s degree in Adult Education and completing several specialized trainings related to grief, spiritual care, holistic health modalities and life coaching.

One of my Mentors once told me that what shaped my gifts as a Coach was having extended experience providing spiritual care and grief support as a Hospital Chaplain.

My coach training has been influenced most recently by a Mentor, Coach, and Colleague named Annie, who in retirement prefers to remain offline.

Annie was intimately involved with the early years of transformational workshops led by the coaching pioneer Werner Erhard in the Boston, Massachusetts area during the 1970’s.

In 1994, I first began supporting private clients with navigating their careers.

I called myself a “Career Companion” since I was not yet familiar with the term “Life Coach.”

By 2004, I graduated from the first group of students completing training from the Academy for Coaching Excellence founded by Dr. Maria Nemeth, PhD.

As a Coach, I enjoy serving as a bridge combining the wisdom of industry pioneers and incorporating cutting edge skills relevant to mentor emerging professionals.

Today, I’m happy to supplement my coaching practice by volunteering as Santa Clause visiting local nursing homes each December and contributing to the formation of a new non-profit center that offers children’s grief camps and programs for, “living, grieving and dying well.”

FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS

As a young adult, I benefited from a bold mother and father who made sure that I realized the dream of becoming a first-generation college student. I attended a Liberal Arts College and graduated with a Bachelor’s in history (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Detroit/Mercy.

A couple of wise Jesuit educators and a couple of bold Sisters of Mercy served as mentors in my youth.

During college, the rich experience of building a central-city youth program was as valuable as going to class. The church where I developed a youth program honored me with a recognition by the Detroit City Council called “The Spirit of Detroit Award.”

In Detroit, I was also mentored by an innovative social worker and artist (Patricia Lay-Dorsey) who refined the value of creativity and ritual in my practice.

Today, I serve as an adjunct instructor in Human Relations skills for the Metropolitan Community College.

In this course I support students of all ages as they polish their skills for being successful in their careers and their lives.

RETREATS WITH PROGRESSIVE COMMUNITIES AND EMERGING THOUGHT LEADERS

In high school I felt deeply connected to a progressive youth program in my church that afforded me a rich array of leadership development experiences within the context of a global spiritual community.

I was trained to facilitate engaging retreats and conferences for other youth across the nation and was chosen to represent my faith community nationally on a delegation of youth leaders to Austria and during another trip to Italy.

The gift of this faith community was the sense of being in a community that was part of something global and impactful.

The downside was the lack of inclusion of women in leadership roles and the lack of welcoming of people with different sexual orientations.

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT

After college I served in an internship working for a community organizing group that worked with Appalachian communities around environmental justice.

I then joined the staff of the same organization that sponsored this internship. I gained valuable experience in volunteer management, as I recruited and mentored other college graduates during a year of immersion exploring the four values of social justice, simplicity in lifestyle, community and spirituality.

SPIRITUAL CARE

In my twenties, I explored a whim to play my guitar for kids in the hospital. I stumbled upon an invitation to apply for a funded residency to study spiritual care and grief support at Grace Hospital with the Detroit Medical Center. This rich immersion in health care changed the course of my life.

Overthe past thirty years, one of the brights spots in my career has been to design innovative grief support programs for six different hospices.

Today, I continue working a few hours a week offering spiritual care as a local hospice chaplain.