Hello! I live in Missoula, Montana – a family-friendly town nestled in (what are now referred to as) the Rocky Mountains. I’m back in this hometown of mine after 10 years in Maine pursuing college and barefoot living with farming, song-loving, joyous souls.
I was drawn to working with children early on through babysitting, and then kept being pulled in that direction during college and beyond, while I worked in public schools, tutoring, subbing, nannying, working with children in group homes, Head Start, preschools, and summer camps. I studied music, psychology, and neuroscience in school, but then kept veering back toward my work with children. Looking back at it now, I wonder if I picked up the message from society that those paths weren’t a “respectable” choice for my fancy East Coast education, so I didn’t pursue any degrees related to kids! Eek!
I then dove deep into yoga, meditation, mindfulness, craniosacral therapy, and intuitive energy work, alongside my work with kids. It was a perfect journey as I learned to listen deeply to myself, my clients, and especially children. They say SO much to us through their hearts and their bodies, and we can do them a great service by listening well.
I started my own business then in Missoula in 2013. It houses my preschool, summer camps, family classes, yoga and meditation for adults and kids, professional development for teachers, parenting classes, craniosacral therapy and mindfulness classes. I kept on diving in deeper and deeper to learning the best way to hold space for young people. I began teaching parents and educators what I had learned, and this “call” to do right by kids kept pulsing through me. I see it as my contribution to a world in which people have access to their whole selves and can thrive.
I had my first child in 2017, and despite knowing that it would rock my world, it did indeed rock my world! I clawed my way and sobbed my way through an unhelpful narrative around mothers and our deeply important work. After my second child was born 3 years later (to the day!), and Covid started, and my grandmother passed, I was feeling stuck on how best to parent my 3 year-old! This age of kid defined my career, but the stuff kids show us at home is a completely different story than what they bring to school!
Enter, Hand in Hand. I hadn’t read anything new and true about children in a long time, and I drank up every word of this deep, intuitive, and compassionate body of work. It contained all my missing pieces. My daughter and I did our hard work, and I am blissfully grateful now for this (current patch) of smooth sailing I have with her at 9 years old. My son is 6 now, and we are all confident that we can emote, be heard, repair, play, and feel joyous connection despite the hard parts.