I grew up on a small farm in Missouri.  That should tell you almost everything about my upbringing you need to know.

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I went to college out of high school and quickly found myself disillusioned and not happy with what I was doing nor satisfied with my direction. 

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So I left and went on an adventure.

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I found myself outside St. Louis, MO working at a summer camp with inner-city kids from all over the greater St. Louis area. And I loved it. Living in cabins and leading teens out on canoe trips, hiking, and teaching them about life was a learning experience for me as much as it was for the teens.  

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After 2 years, there I ended up traveling all over the East Coast, ending up in Florida, and after many adventures as an explorer landed a job working with adjudicated youth in Pennsylvania. This was an intense learning experience and I rose through the staff ranks while developing my leadership skills facilitating their transition back into their lives.

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My experience and direction both got focused attention when I moved to Maryland and started leading single-day and multi-day team development experiences for all ages and backgrounds of participants from the greater Baltimore and Washington DC area.

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I had the great opportunities to work with teams from fantastic companies like McCormick, various Baltimore businesses, government agencies, and the corporate leaders from a new, start-up restaurant company called, Chik-fil-A. (If I had only known!)

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The groups ranged from school-aged children to adults. My 2 favorite types of groups to lead were inner-city Baltimore students who had never set foot outside a place not covered by cement!  We had a full working farm with cattle, pigs, sheep, turkeys, and geese; as well as tons of wildlife, including beavers, snakes, squirrels, and fish!  The kids were everything from extremely frightened to enthusiastically enthralled with the farm. 

 

We even had a group of adult visitors who had never seen a sheep get sheared.  I'll never forget how a grown woman was freaking out about shearing the wool from a sheep and worried we were actually skinning the poor animal alive!

 

City folks got to get out some more!

 

It was during this time I finally found my purpose and niche! Training and developing teachers to not only discover their greatness and talents but also developing them as leaders to make the greatest impact on student learning possible!

 

This deep insight led me to finish my college degree in Education and pursue a graduate degree in Experiential Education with a California Teaching credential.  

 

My path from there resulted in leading experiences in Arizona for Outward Bound, Comcast Cable, and teaching at Prescott College. 

 

Then after moving to Sacramento, I had more adventures teaching at California State University - Sacramento, leading groups for Roseville Department of Recreation and then eventually ending up a charter school leading teachers. I also, had the pleasure to teach some education courses at William Jessup University.

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The adventures I loved have allowed me to take the experiences of working with a huge diversity of people and all the while develop my skills.  I quickly understood that my knowledge, skills, and talents were not meant to hide under a basket, but to share, encourage and help develop them in others.

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I deeply desire to make the greatest impact I am able with the gifts I have been given.

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And I truly believe that the greatness that lies inside each of us only needs a bit of love and encouragement to begin to grow and flourish.

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I love people and I love seeing people grow into their full potential so they can go and change the world.

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I hope you will join me in this adventure and mission!

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