My journey started with a vision.

Well, to be more accurate, it started with a vision board. I always did the thing I was “supposed” to do. I was always the kid that did my homework. I went to college directly out of high school. I got a teaching job directly out of college and I spent the early part of my adulthood in front of a classroom imparting wisdom in the minds of countless students. I was walking through my life doing exactly what was expected of me.

It was fine, but I started to realize that everything that I was doing was for other people more than it was for myself. Now, don’t get me wrong, teaching was a tremendous experience. I loved it the same way I love therapy, but they are both careers in which it is SUPER easy to ignore your own needs and put all of your energy into other people.

And I did.

For years.

And because it feels good to give to others, it was fine. But then I realized that fine wasn’t good enough for me. Not that it was that simple, there was a lot that contributed to that realizatio, but the bottom line was that I wanted more. I wanted to build a life that I love to live. I wanted to stop expending all of my energy taking care of other people and start giving some of that energy to myself.

Then came the deep dive into what the heck that actually meant. Because I had spent the better part of my life concerning myself with the goals of other people, the needs of other people and the benefit of other people-I legitimately did not have words for what a “life I love to live” even looked like. And figuring that out was not always easy. I also had to work REALLY HARD to allow myself the grace to (gasp) change my mind about what I wanted out of life! But what I discovered was that I could change my mind. I could be more than one thing. I could reach for goals that I didn’t even know were possible.
And I am telling you, friend, that just deciding to create that life is the moment that changed my life.

It was that moment when I realized that I deserve my own energy, my own time, my own efforts. It was in that the moment that I realized that there is one person that is in charge of my relationship with myself; ME. And, as the person in charge of my relationship with myself, it is my job to ensure that my needs are met equally to the needs of the other people in my life. It is my job to take care of myself.

And that is true for you, too.

So, that is what brings me here. To this Brutiful Journey and back to the fact that I am a helper after all. The Brutiful Journey Blog, Podcast, Speaking Events and Vision Board Workshops all exist to help YOU hold your needs as equal to the needs of others-regardless of the season of life you find yourself in. It exists to help you define your vision. It exists to allow you the space to be more than one thing.

Why?

Because you matter
Because you are valuable
Because you are enough

And I am here to walk beside you while you determine what a life you LOVE to live looks like.

Thanks for being a part of my journey, and for allowing me to be a part of yours.