For years, I was the woman with the vision board, the stack of self-help books, and the next big plan.

On the outside, I looked like I had it all together—owning my home and rocking a successful career as an award-winning writer and communications leader, working with some of the world’s biggest brands.

Deep down, I was exhausted. Restless. Burnt out.

Always people pleasing.

Always seeking to change everything and everyone around me.

Always striving and hustling.

Always waiting for the coast to be clear.

Always looking for the next “fix” to feel and look better.

All that waiting became the weight I carried—emotionally, physically, creatively, financially.

On July 6, 2017, in one of those heaven-parting moments, I wrote my own three-word declaration of independence:

I AM DONE.

On every level, I was done weighting (waiting).

But lightening up didn’t happen overnight.

It’s taken years—and more brick-upside-the-head moments (like literally falling down the stairs)—to snap out of the fairy tales that kept me stuck.

⛓️ Layoffs and feeling held hostage by debt.

🌟 Learning to live without the buffer of alcohol.

💔 A midlife love story turned devastating divorce.

✍🏼 Creative doubt and the long journey back to my voice.

🥵 Perimenopause into menopause and all that upheaval.

Each chapter has stripped away old stories of who I thought I was “supposed to” be.

Day by day, I’m writing the rest of my story—messy, honest, and more fully myself.

And I’m passionate about helping other women do the same. 💜