Reclaim Your Mid-Life Magnificence

My light dimmed after losing my father to cancer when I was 4. As the child of a newly single mother who worked to support her five children, I often was left alone to figure things out. A short year later, my life was turned upside down again as my mother remarried, and we became a blended family of 13 children, taking me further away from the  healing energy that was really needed for me to thrive. 

In high school, I turned to dance to express my creativity in new ways. Eventually, I turned this passion into a profession by earning my B.F.A. in Modern Dance Performance from the University of Michigan. While formally trained in the Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, and Gus Giordano techniques, if you put on the best Paula Abdul or Michael Jackson music video, I’ll hit all the marks like it’s 1988!

For 28 years, I encouraged and inspired others to achieve maximum health and fitness. I trained for women’s physique contests and taught kickboxing, strength training classes, and aerobics as a personal trainer. I dedicated myself to keeping busy and satisfying my unquenchable craving for expressing my creativity through movement. These years of teaching and training gave me the confidence to find my voice.

Becoming a mom brought a new dimension to my life. My sweet Hayley amped up my life purpose and gave me the gift of slowing down. Being Hayley’s mom has made my life richer – from becoming room mom, and resident choreographer to H and her friends, and sharing a love of dance and N’SYNC. As a mom, every decision I made was in her best interest. Unknowingly, those decisions gave me the grounding force I needed to reflect and be present.

Moving 11 times within 18 years for my husband’s career, we lived abroad in places like Singapore, China, and Luxembourg. Visiting places like Cambodia, Bali, Tibet, Thailand, Italy, Belgium, France, Egypt, London and Dubai was an enriching experience for all of us, especially Hayley. But soon, the constant changes and uncertainty revealed what I had always avoided – the whisper of a voice that said you can’t run from your problems forever.

As an adult, I prided myself on being easy-going, on not making waves – striving to be a model mother, perfect wife, ambitious professional, and fun friend. I set aside my own dreams time and again, subjugating my needs to fit around the edges of everyone else around me and living up to unrealistic standards. I needed to learn self worth.

I never thought I was headed for a midlife crisis but Lyme disease turned my world upside and shuffled my perspective. It brought to light that many of my habits and patterns were no longer serving me or moving forward. I learned when when we decide to settle, we stop growing. Working with a life coach at this point was a godsend. Although, I’m sure I would have suffered through and found my way to level ground somehow but I definately would not have experienced the deep personal growth and the wisdom to allow my soul to shine. I’m so glad I heeded the calling to reinvent myself becasue I am forever changed on the inside as a result. In all the good ways possible! That’s why I pay this work forward.

I was diagnosed with Lyme disease, and for a while at least, I went through the motions. I kept up my breakneck pace and sacrificed my well-being for that of my family and friends. But my mindset only got worse. I turned to Life Coaching to help me breakthrough the frustration, resentment and anger that I was holding onto. it would prove to be the best decision I ever made for myself!

After tiring of my daily pity parties, I decided to reach out to a life coach and got hooked on the power of transformation! It ignited a fire inside me. I now hold 4 premium coaching certifications and I’ve created a mind, body, spirit workshop called AffirMotion. I’m feeling more alive, present and content in my life than ever. As a Reinvention coach, I’m honored to pay forward the gift of transformation to women who are ready to up-level their lives and feel alive and vibrant again. This is by far the most gratifying and inspiring job I’ve had to date!