Since I was 15 years old, I had a passion for working with children which started when I was a childcare provider and nanny. After viewing a documentary about Romanian orphanages, I had a yearning to help heal these children through massage. I had a dream of going to massage school and working with children who had cognitive and emotional delays in orphanages around the world, so I began my studies in early childhood education and got my BA in Humanities with a minor in Education. I started out as a pre-school teacher and worked with young children for several years. When I was a pre-school teacher, my method was to teach through play and art and engage the child’s innate creative abilities. 

I was finally ready to enroll in massage school. At that time in my life I was very athletic and a marathon runner and saw firsthand, the benefits of massage and bodywork in recovery for adults. I became really good at what I did through my passion and intention of “agape”. Then, the life-changing event of birthing my daughter also birthed my purpose in life to become a doula. I had a difficult birth and was fortunate enough to have the loving care and support of my mother during the process. Having my mothers support helped me acknowledge the importance of a supported birth! 

When my own child was born with some complications, I was able to use my knowledge from my early childhood degree combined with my massage therapy training to help her thrive. I massaged her twice a day and gave her other physical therapies. It was a profound and challenging experience that motivated me to help assist and educate women on childbirth and infant care. In 2015, I assisted in my first home birth with a massage client who asked to have me there for physical support. I was so moved by the power and strength of a supported birth that I then pursued a degree with Childbirth International and have been serving my local community as a birth doula since. This work was bigger and more significant than anything I had done previously through the knowledge and understanding that we subconsciously remember everything that transpires during our birth and that experience stays with us forever. To be able to come into this world being loved and having the parents nurtured during the process, sets the stage for a loving, happy life. The birthing process is powerful experience, and I am honored to be able to make this my life’s work.