About Me

It all started with a story.

I ‘dual enrolled’ in a creative writing course at the local university while I was still a junior in high school. I quickly found myself ‘peer-editing’ one of my classmate’s papers. This one was a creative writing assignment sharing a personal story.

We chatted in class and she carried on a great conversation. She was a single mom, 26 years old, and I still remember her kind smile and passionate heart.

She was so sweet, yet it was painful for me to read her writing. I was so nervous to give her my honest feedback – especially since I was a decade younger than her. I found myself wondering: How do I nicely tell someone we need to start over? 

I was bewildered by how a woman so full of personality and stories could write something so confusing and dry. I went light on the red pen so that instead of focusing on what wasn’t working – we could expand on what was working for her.

I sensed there was a damn good story underneath her paragraph-long sentences (and my goodness was there). 

I took my focus away from her written words.

And we casually chatted about her story and ideas.

I quietly made edits as she talked.

Before long, we’d re-written the entire paper...together.

She was in tears of gratitude. 

That day I saw how important our words are in connecting us to ourselves and equipping us to communicate with others. I saw how moved someone can be when they feel understood, heard, and accurately expressed. This was true about my college classmate and it’s still true today when it comes everyone from my kids, my clients and those they want to impact in their lives and work.