My professional career…

…was charmed with opportunities that most people only dream about. Few people get the chance to serve as Associate Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs at an Ivy League school and go on to become a Vice President at another well-known University. My work was extremely rewarding, especially when I mentored bright students, however, for three decades, I exchanged my well-being for the other, unsavory parts of the job, and it came at a personal price.

Life paths I often took…

…didn’t always represent MY whole truth; I often allowed others to influence my career decisions. I consistently performed at the highest level, but during the last few years, before I decided to make a life change, I wasn’t my best self, and I wasn’t living my best life. Two major life events that took place gave me pause–my mother’s illness and subsequent death, and the stillness and isolation that the coronavirus pandemic caused. Do you have a similar story?

I took back my life…

…by listening to the whispers in my ear and following my heart. I returned to a simpler and more fulfilling life that I had neglected way too long. I got back to the basics and to activities that I find personally rewarding. Writing, mentoring, creating, hosting and preparing delicious meals for family and friends give me the most joy.

In 2018, I enrolled in and completed Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Life Coach Training program. I did so to learn new tools to enhance my work with clients and to bolster the social work and mentoring skills that I’ve mastered over the years.

More about me

• The Getting to Wisdom model resulted from a series of personal short stories that examine the ongoing process of learning and making meaning from life’s lessons and becoming a more thoughtful, fulfilled, and wiser person. It’s about living the life you were meant to live.
• I am a life coach who successfully completed Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Life Coach Training Program.
• As an educator, I mentored hundreds (conservatively) of students and student life professionals when I served in the role either as Vice President and chief student affairs officer or as a dean at Yale, Middlebury College, and Sewanee.
• I earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work at UNC Chapel Hill.
• For nearly six years, I served as the Social Worker for the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Duke University Medical Center. I counseled and assisted families and young patients from all over the world on any number of issues, including grief. I also facilitated a weekly family support group and a nurses support group.
• I facilitated daily personal development seminars in a summer scholars program for three distinct cohorts of college-bound students, based on a four week curriculum that I designed.
• I am a motivational speaker, having spoken domestically and internationally to large and small crowds in the U.S., Mexico, China, Japan, Korea, and South Africa.

Education

Program Completion, Martha Beck Wayfinder Life Coach Training Program, Fall 2018 Cohort.

Certificate of completion, Harvard Institutes for Higher Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Institute for Management and Leadership in Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Summer, 2012.

Certificate of completion, Harvard Institutes for Higher Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Management Development Program, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Summer, 2006.

Master’s Degree (MSW), The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1994. Concentration: Families, Adolescents, and Children.

B. A. in Political Science and French (joint major), The University of the South, Sewanee, TN, 1986.

Concentration: Economics.

Certificate of Completion, The Institute of European Studies, Paris, France, Spring, 1985.

Balance

Being in balance is when you have learned to unload life’s unnecessary burdens and focus only on that which is important.

Alignment

Not to be confused with balance, being in alignment is a process of leveling your rough edges, so that when you face life’s challenges, you don’t swerve to avoid them and miss your blessing, but you meet them head-on.

Gratitude

It’s easy to be grateful for the big, material possessions that you own or the perks that you have in your life. Getting to wisdom emphasizes giving thanks for the intangibles, like love, creativity, internal peace, joy, good health, generosity, and happiness.

Integrity

The unwavering moral compass in a person is integral to GTW, and it is a highly valued human trait. Having integrity means that you live in accordance with your values, and that your actions in any situation are reliable.

Atonement

One of the fundamental values of GTW is atoning for wrongs you’ve committed against others and yourself. The key to truly making amends towards others and yourself is meaning it.

Simplicity

Removing all the clutter from your mind and other spaces that you inhabit (and that inhabit you) will lead to a simpler, more productive life, period! Find ways to let go and watch what happens.

Altruism

Removing all the clutter from your mind and becoming a humble servant has a boomerang effect. The ways in which you extend yourself to others will always come back to you, multifold. Doing selfless acts of kindness to help others for the sure pleasure of doing so is altruism at its best.

Mentorship

Someone’s always watching you and is influenced by your behaviors. Maya Angelou was that person for Oprah, Ray Charles was that person for Quincy Jones, and Christian Dior served in that role for Yves Saint Laurent. Being a mentor is an essential attribute in the GTW model. Who are you nudging to take their game to the next level? Don’t let your wisdom go to waste.

Community

The Native American term, Mitakuye-Oyasin (pronounced Mee-tah-koo-yay Oy-yah-seen) means all my relations. It means that all living things are connected to each other, and that I cannot exist without you, and you cannot exist without me. Finding a spiritual home, a center, a base, a community, or a support network is fundamental to the principles of GTW.

Spirituality

Being in communion with a power greater than yourself is foundational to GTW. It’s the powerful and quiet voice of reason, comfort, and love that whispers in your ear and abides in your heart. The power is there to remind you of your truth and guide you towards it.

• I am an educator and mentor.
• I am a memoirist. For many years, I’ve chronicled stories from my past. I strongly believe in the lessons that we learn when we share our stories.
• I am a life coach who successfully completed Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Life Coach training program.
• As a trained master’s level social worker, I am guided by the profession’s six core values: Service, Social Justice, Dignity and worth of the person, Importance of human relationships, Integrity, and Competence. I approach each client interaction with each of these values in mind.
• I am a group facilitator, having, for decades, led weekend retreat sessions for administrators, led family support groups, and led personal development groups for college and college-bound students.
• I am right-brain dominant, which means that I enjoy being creative, imaginative, intuitive, and I tend to think holistically.
• I am at my best when each of my Getting to Wisdom guiding principles is in alignment.
• What I know for certain is that when clients make meaning of their own truth, they will have arrived at the core of Getting to Wisdom, and then they are encouraged to share what they know to be true. The knowledge that clients attain, if shared, just might be the impetus to jumpstarting someone else’s truth journey.