My oldest son, Mark, was born during my senior year of college — an experience that grew me up faster than anything else. Since then, I’ve worn many professional hats: physicist, classroom teacher, robotics instructor, professional editor, HR director, and now therapist.

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Life has been anything but linear. I married a police officer 17 years my senior and became a grandmother on my wedding day — raising his oldest granddaughter, Monae. Together we had three more children: Maisy, Maxwell, and Maia Rose, whom we tragically lost to stillbirth at 36 weeks. That loss changed everything. It was several years later that I felt called to return to school to become a counselor — to help others navigate their own hard places and find healing through faith, resilience, and compassionate support.

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I am no stranger to challenge, conflict, or loss. I was likely one of the few — if not the only — Black, female, single-mother physics majors in the country at the time I graduated. That path came with discrimination, isolation, and barriers I had to push through daily. I’ve been a single parent, a teacher, a first responder’s wife, and now a first responder’s mom. My marriage has a large age gap. My family is beautifully blended — more “scrambled” than picture-perfect. We’ve faced financial hardship, personal tragedy, and countless moments that tested our faith.

Through it all, God’s grace and good therapy helped me rise — and now, I’m here to help you do the same.

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“Still I rise.” – Maya Angelou