Essence Blog

Have you ever made something harder than it needed to be?  

Once, I gathered with some entrepreneur friends. I had my head in my hands, stress in my chest, and dread in my gut over what seemed like an impossible mountain of work I had in front of me.  

They patiently listened to my pity party-esqe whine and then pointed out a few things. What if I simply send an email about problem A, switch around problems B and C, and drop problem D altogether? 

I, of course,...

Did you see the Oscars this year? I was in NYC, and after seeing Little Shop of Horrors, my family returned to our hotel room and turned on the TV immediately, hoping to catch the end of the Oscars. 

And that's when we watched Michelle Yeoh's historic win for Best Actress. Of course, seeing someone achieve a dream they worked so hard for always makes me emotional, but this was bigger than that. My eyes filled with tears. 

In 95 years of awards given by the Academy, only two women of...

This month I did something really hard.  

Much to the surprise of my clients and myself, I closed my Soul Sister Alchemy program. 

I'd been running this monthly sanctuary for four years. I loved the program, the members, and as an entrepreneur-the recurring revenue.  

So why would I close it?   Because everything has a cycle.  

And despite my connection to the work and the women, I intuitively knew its energy was waning, and its season was...

Welcome to 2023. 

How have you spent the first week of 2023?  I’ve been taking it easy and enjoying these last precious days with Ethan before he heads back to college.  

I’ve been easing delicately into the new year. I’m moving slowly, aware that we are in winter and so is my body. I’ve been sleeping in, making home cooked hearty meals, finishing my Reflection Ritual, and hanging out in my cozy robe a little more. 

I will not be starting any...

Stress, overwhelm, self-doubt, and loneliness will show up unexpectedly in our lives. Sometimes they stay overnight. Sometimes they move in for a while.  

When we get into the weeds we can’t always see ourselves clearly. Our wisdom feels less accessible as our feet sink into the quicksand. Sometimes we go into auto-pilot letting the busyness swallow up whole chunks of time leaving us feeling depleted. Sometimes we shrink down and isolate- out of protection, inadequacy, or a...

As many of you know, I have a special knack for planning and organization. This year, I got a jump start on creating my own 2022 planner.  I get a lot of questions about planning and I love helping clients and friends come up with a system that works for them because that’s what it’s all about. 

With Black Friday sales happening and longer shipping times, now is a great time to pick out a planner for next year. There are so many options out there!  

I created a...

When kids head off to school with new backpacks and new hopes for a new year- so do I. Maybe it’s because of my first career as a teacher or maybe because I love a blank notebook and the feel of new pens. Fall feels like a new start. Even when the weather in Florida is still 90 degrees, and the world feels uncertain, Fall holds the promise of hope. 

With a new schedule comes the desire to get back into routines, prioritize, and plan. One of my fall rituals, besides putting cinnamon...

Do you know that draining feeling of being stuck because you can’t make a final decision on something? You keep ping-ponging back and forth between two choices or you agonize over the research or the details?  It’s this classic overthinking which leads to limbo. It’s what I call the Wishy-Washy Gremlin.

Recently,   I’ve been wishy-washy over picking two much-needed appliances because I got overwhelmed and worried about making the wrong decision....

You might be hearing the phrase  “spring is in the air”. 

Are you nodding your head yes with anticipation, or looking the other way? 

How about we make both totally ok, shall we?  

You might be a person who is feeling the sense of hope and renewal and initiation that embodies the energy of spring. It might feel extra this year given how the world shut down just as we entered spring in 2020. Metaphorically some of us have been in a year-long winter and are...

It was a late Sunday afternoon approaching the edge of evening, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was out, and the temperature was a perfect 75 degrees. It was the kind of afternoon that reminds me why I live in Florida. It felt too beautiful to stay inside, so my family hopped on our bikes. 

We took the back roads through one of my favorite streets lined with big oak trees and spectacular houses with a jaw-dropping water view overlooking a gorgeous lake. The water...