I love being outside. Whether it's going on a hike, bike ride, swimming, or paddling; being in nature clears my head and helps me feel more connected, grounded, and in tune with my life. I love getting out on the river on my paddle board - I can paddle alone or head out with a friend and it's always exactly what I need.

In fact, l've taken several over the course of my career. In my mid-20s I went to Italy for two months to try and relearn Italian and spend time with my family there. I couldn't be more grateful for that time, especially time with my grandmother who has since passed. Prior to starting business school, I spent time living and working in Tahoe, and after graduation, I spent the summer living in a tent as a volunteer at a yoga retreat in Hawaii. There's nothing like sleeping outside and waking up to sunshine and an ocean breeze to get rid of the business school team room blues! Then, eight years into my ED role, I took a three month sabbatical and finally felt my burnout lift. And when I closed out my time as ED after a decade, I lived in a cabin on a lake for three months to rest and unwind before jumping into next steps.

As Executive Director, I was fortunate to be a part of several different ED peer groups. These relationships nurtured me, and were incredible sources of inspiration, connection, and understanding in a role that can be incredibly unique in responsibility. I'm thankful to this day for these relationships. More broadly, feeling connected to community is critical for me. Whether it's regular dinners with my neighbors, walks with old friends, or meditation and discussion with my mindfulness community, this is at the heart of what helps me feel connected, and inspired.

For me, this looks like aiming towards minimalism and cutting down on purchasing products in plastic packaging to reduce the waste I create. It looks like being mindful about where I'm spending money and prioritizing companies that are aligned with my values. It looks like being intentional with where l'm speaking up, and how l'm showing up as anti-racist, and looking at where I need to do better. It looks like being vegan for animal welfare, climate, and health concerns. This isn't perfect and I'm not always on course, but l've found that the more that I live my values, the more free I feel.

I first learned about "leaning towards joy" in a positive psychology course several years ago, and have used it as a guiding force ever since. I may not be someone who has the next 5 to 10 years mapped out in detail, I do however know the next right step. When in doubt, I think about what feels like leaning towards joy, and I go in that direction. One step towards joy leads to the next, and it's been a wonderful guide so far.

My zone of genius is making dreams and plans come to life. I've done this again and again in my own life and work, and I love working with people to make this a reality in their own lives. In fact, I became a positive psychology coach to employ the most effective research backed tools and strategies to support my clients in taking action and making their goals a reality.

Curiosity, appreciation of beauty and excellence, love of learning, gratitude, hope, bravery, and perspective. These show up in many different ways, and have served me so well through moments of challenge, celebration, and everything in between.

If you're interested, you can learn your top strengths by taking the VIA character strengths assessment, a free psychometrically validated assessment developed by positive psychology researchers and used by millions of people around the world.