My Story

I Didn't Set Out to Build The Feisty Human.

For much of my life, I believed what many capable people believe: if I worked hard enough, achieved enough, helped enough, and proved myself enough, I would finally feel enough.

I became exceptionally good at helping other people succeed. I built organizations, led change, taught thousands of professionals, mentored leaders, and collected more credentials than I ever imagined I would. From the outside, it looked like success.

Yet beneath the achievements was a question I couldn't quite answer.

Was my worth something I had earned...or something I already possessed?

That question would eventually change everything.

Life Has Always Asked Me to Grow.

I grew up in the greater Toronto area and left home at fourteen to attend boarding school. Independence arrived early, and so did the expectation that I would perform, contribute, and make the most of every opportunity.

I threw myself into leadership, athletics, music, debate, theatre—anything that allowed me to grow. Even then, I was fascinated less by achievement itself than by what brought people together and helped them become more than they believed possible.

Life would continue to stretch me.

I've lived in multiple countries, moved more than thirty-five times, built a life with the love of my life for over three decades, and together we've raised two remarkable children to adulthood who have taught me more about courage, authenticity, and unconditional love than any classroom ever could.

Every season taught me something new about identity, resilience, and what it means to belong.

Success Was Never the Whole Story.

My career has taken me through nonprofit leadership, executive education, project management, coaching, governance, and organizational transformation.

I've spent more than thirty years helping organizations navigate complexity and helping leaders make better decisions. Along the way, I earned certifications, taught at universities, spoke around the world, and became known as The Feisty PM.

It was work I loved. But over time I noticed something. The challenges people brought to me rarely began with projects. They began with people.

And, behind communication was fear. Behind resistance was uncertainty. Behind conflict was identity. And beneath high performance... ...was a quiet belief that worth had to be earned.

That realization changed the direction of my work forever.

The Moment Everything Came Together.

People often ask what changed everything. There wasn't one dramatic turning point. There were many.

• Reporting misconduct and paying a personal price for it.

  • I learned that integrity isn't tested when it's easy. It's revealed when it costs you something.

• Leaving beliefs and environments that no longer reflected who I was becoming.

  • It taught me that growth sometimes asks us to leave certainty before we discover freedom.

• Watching extraordinary people—including myself—confuse achievement with identity.

Again and again I saw the same pattern.

People weren't struggling because they lacked talent. They were struggling because they had learned to negotiate their worth.

The more I paid attention, the clearer it became.

Leadership isn't a performance.

It's a relationship—with ourselves first, and then with everyone else.