My personal mission is to help people transition from where they are to where they want to be. I cultivate this mission by sharing the skills, techniques and tools I have acquired along my journey.

I am no stranger to life's transitions. My introduction to adulthood was rough, to put it mildly. After becoming a mom to my oldest son, Shaun, at 18 I found myself living in public housing and being the recipient of government assistance to care for him. Two years after Shaun was born, I gave birth to my youngest son, Brandon, who was born with Down syndrome and a slew of associated health challenges. I spent nearly the next decade of my life trying to figure out who the stranger was staring back at me in the mirror.

With the love and support of my small circle of family and friends, along with a deep faith, I was able to fight my way out of the darkness and find my way back to my “happy place”. As a child, education was always my respite. I would get lost in solving math problems and exploring a good “choose your own adventure” book. My greatest dream was to graduate from college. But the situation I found myself in as a 20-year-old, single mother of 2 children, one with special needs, living in poverty, made the thought of graduating from college seem far beyond my reach. That’s when my “water table moment” happened.

One day, the social worker who made regular visits to my home to provide support for myself and my children challenged me to revisit my wildest dreams. She asked me what I would do if I had no barriers. She asked me to think about what I would do if money, child care, time and access were not a consideration. I replied without hesitation, “I would graduate from college!” What she said next changed the trajectory of my life. She told me to take my word processor with the 5” x 5” green screen and write out the 3 most important goals that I wanted to accomplish in the following 3 years. Next, she instructed me to come up with a set of action steps I could work toward in the short term that would get me closer to those goals. Suffice it to say, that was the motivation I needed. That was my "water table moment". I got back in the race and accomplished the majority of my educational, career and life goals. I've earned multiple degrees, moved my family into a newly built home and I have been able to impact lives in a meaningful way. But I am not out of the race just yet.

I would never consider myself a runner, but I often think of life as a marathon. I imagine, much like racing through life, when a marathon runner reaches their point of exhaustion and justifiably considers throwing in the towel, that is the moment when they approach the water table. I imagine the water table being surrounded by well-wishers offering encouragement and refreshments to re-energize and motivate the runner to stay in the race. I have found myself navigating this marathon of life, facing what seemed like insurmountable obstacles and nearing my breaking point more times than I care to admit. I have learned to pause, take stock of my resources and resilience and look for my water table.

If my story resonates with you, then I welcome you to your water table moment. I am here to cheer you on, re-energize you and provide you with tools and strategies to keep you in the race.

Let’s cross the finish line... TOGETHER!