Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Purpose is one of those hard-to-define words; its meaning entirely relative. I spent the majority of my life – well through my early 30’s – enduring hardship. Buried beneath that hardship, though, was purpose. I thought to myself: “If you can’t make sense of it, may as well make good of it.” In other words, I used my hardship to fuel my purpose. I spent so much time feeling un-well, that I was determined to learn how to live well. I then took that determination, coupled with passion and allowed it to fuel my purpose. Now, I wake up each day with a renewed resolve to hold up my end of the bargain. My desire is to teach others how to live well, and in doing so, it holds me accountable to practice what I preach.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am an author, philanthropist and wellbeing advocate. I host wellness workshops and themed retreats to help others cultivate wellbeing.

My husband and I co-founded The Outlier Foundation with the mission of generosity in all its forms. It’s giving gifts of time, talent and treasure to improve life for others. We foster community projects, as well as collaborate with other non-profits to further their mission in our community.

My debut book, The Art of Balancing Burnout, is a straight-from-the-heart take on mental wellbeing amid burnout. In the book, I guide readers through simple practices and philosophies to cultivate their own self-awareness – encouraging reflection, recalibration and redirection toward a happier, healthier, more fulfilled life.

All in all, my passion is teaching others how to live well, and holding space for them to do just that.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Quality – Resilience: Life has thrown a lot my way, as it does for so many of us. Resilience teaches us to be pliable and adaptable as difficulties and change are thrown our way. Resilience is advancing despite adversity. It calls us to be courageous in spite of our fear and confident in the potential of what life has yet to offer.

Skill – Emotional Regulation: Growing up, we didn’t have many resources at our fingertips. God forbid you had to go to counseling, because what would that say about your stability? With the internet, we have a plethora of resources at our fingertips. Learning how to regulate my own emotions has helped my relationships, my career and achieving my personal goals. It’s helped me move toward peace in so many ways, and it’s a skill I continue to build on.

Knowledge – Cultivating wisdom in general, because it’s abundant. This can be by way of religion or philosophy or art or a past time or even studying a fictional character you wish to emulate. There are millions who have lived before us, experienced many of the same hardships we face each day. They built empires and monuments and businesses and are renowned successes in their own right. What can we learn from them – from both their successes and their failures? Knowledge and wisdom are at our beckoning call.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

As I build workshops and wellness retreats, I am looking to collaborate with other likeminded individuals in the health and wellness space.