The Path I Pushed Down (Until It Pushed Back)

Why I’m Finally Saying Yes to Coaching

I chose coaching back in my twenties — before I ever set foot in a graduate therapy program. It wasn’t even a decision really; it just felt like who I was. I was always that person: the cheerleader, the one people called when they needed clarity, encouragement, or someone to reflect back the best version of themselves.

I loved helping people rediscover their passions, remember forgotten dreams, and reclaim the parts of themselves they’d buried under life.

Between undergrad and grad school, I completed an ICF-certified coaching program. I soaked it all in — building a brand, creating a business, and refining the natural gifts I already had. My plan was to coach during grad school and earn extra income. But when I mentioned it to my professors, they shut it down fast. “You have to choose,” they said. “You can’t do both.”

And so I chose therapy.

I threw myself in fully. I became deeply trained in trauma, DBT, mindfulness, EMDR, grief — especially grief involving the loss of a child. I worked hard. I got licensed. I built a private practice.

Coaching was Whispering

It would whisper to me during quiet moments — like at a mindfulness conference in San Diego 2009, surrounded by some of the most brilliant minds in the field, where my intuition screamed: You’re meant to be coaching. I felt it in my bones. But I was in the thick of parenting a young child, building a career, and trying to stay afloat. So I pushed it down and hit the ignore button.

Life moved forward. We added two more children to our home. I opened my private practice. And again, sitting in my new office, that voice came back: You’re meant to be coaching. I hit the ignore button, again.

I was in survival mode — on the cusp of divorce with three children under eight, overwhelmed, trying to make ends meet while showing up for everyone but myself.

In 2015, the idea returned. I started writing a new business plan. I would stay up late working on it after the kids went to bed. But I couldn’t find the time or energy to follow through. The idea fizzled again.

In late 2018, another version was born. A new plan. A new vision. I was ready to hit the ground running in early 2020 — but the world had other plans, and everything turned upside down.

My caseload exploded. My kids were suddenly learning from home. I was still driving to my office daily, holding space for everyone else. And my dream? Back on the shelf because everyone else came before me.

Here’s what I know spiritually and intuitively:

When I ignore the path I’m meant to be on, the lessons don’t go away — they just get louder. And the roadblocks harder.

By 2022, the universe had stopped whispering. It started yelling. I experienced a series of personal and professional blows that made me stop and say, “OH SH*T… This is why nothing is flowing. I’m not on the path I’m meant to be on.”

I had painted over the signs with a smile and kept going. Until I couldn’t anymore.

2023 and 2024 became the years I let it all fall away — the old definitions of success, the roles I’d clung to, the pressure to keep showing up in ways that didn’t feel true anymore. I listened. I got quiet. I grieved. And slowly, I began to rebuild.

Over the last couple of decades, I’ve learned a lot — about the nervous system, about leadership, about relationships, and about the beautiful, messy process of living a real life. Of showing up, falling down, and trying to find balance through it all.

I’ve lived the chaos. I’ve learned some hard lessons. And I’ve come out the other side with deeper self-trust, stronger boundaries, and a calling I can’t ignore anymore.

Now, I’m clear. I’m grounded. I’m ready.

Choosing ME – Coming Home

Coaching isn’t a “next step” for me. It’s a coming home. It’s the thing I’ve always known I’m here to do.

And the best part? I’m not starting over — I’m starting from experience.

I’m bringing with me twenty years of experience working with trauma, grief, stuckness, and transformation. Thousands and thousands of hours sitting with people in their hardest moments — and walking with them toward the light.

Now I get to help people not just survive, but thrive.To stop waiting for life to change and instead choose it. To change their story — and in doing so, change their life.

You should have someone in your corner, helping you find your way back to choosing yourself.

And this time, I’m finally saying YES TO ME. Are you ready to say YES to YOU?

✍ Journal Prompts:

1. What path has been quietly calling to you that you keep pushing down?

2. What would it look like to stop ignoring the whisper and finally listen?