hello luvs! Buckle up for a backstory... Some of you already know this about me, but I’m a divorcee. I’m a single mom of four kids. I’m somebody’s partner (Hi, John!). I'm an artist, a writer, and a musician. And I’m also...a dating coach. For 13 years I worked with people in a professional capacity mentoring, training, and life coaching. It comes naturally to me. It’s what I love. I’m a student of human nature and psychology who loves to help people maximize their strengths and live out their dreams. Finding out what makes people tick is what makes me tick. So when I divorced and left Chicago to move back to my homeland - the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area - and started meeting new people again, I made it my mission to dig in and truly understand myself and others through this process of dating. Now this was over seven years ago when I started dating again, and the rules (and the playing field) had changed dramatically since I last was “on the market” back in 1998. But I was willing to give this online dating thing a whirl...and, quite possibly, a run for its money. Meeting people online really wasn’t a stretch for me, because I had already built a solid network of true friends I’d met through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. If you've done the online dating thing at all, even for a few months, you won't be a bit surprised to learn that I encountered some unusual things along the way. Plenty of "not my types" and "differently agenda'ed" and "optical illusions". But I continued to study, ask questions, and conduct lab research, so to speak, by going on dates and figuring things out. I was taking in so much new information that I began making mental notes and categorizing what worked and didn’t work...for me and for others. My authenticity radar (which has been my lifeline since I was a kid) picked up more and more subtle nuances, helping me quickly decipher who was legit and who was a total sham. It took some time and effort, along with a couple of failed relationships and hard lessons, but a little over a year ago I met someone who fits me like a glove. It’s wonderful! I’m very content in our relationship. But, more importantly, after years of a marriage that wasn’t working and tons of self-doubt, I’m happy and confident and know exactly who I am and what I’m about. And I want the same for you! In fact, that’s my number one goal for my clients: Achieving a level of confidence and self-truth that are straight up magnets for good things in your life. You might be thinking to your skeptical little self, “A divorced dating coach, huh? Sounds sketchy to me. Why should I entrust my love life to a coach whose marriage failed?” Fair question, and I’m glad you asked. The fact of the matter is that even though it may seem counterintuitive on the surface, nobody understands better or has deeper knowledge of a subject, than one who has not only studied it, but has lived it. Someone who has experienced not just the heights, but also the depths. I think Tracy McMillan said it best in her TEDx Olympic Boulevard Women talk on “marrying yourself”:
“My experience is that the places where you have the biggest challenges in your life become the places where you have the most to give.”
Just like how I learned to be content and whole in myself and found someone equally content and whole in himself, you can have the same! A connected, healthy, fun, and lasting relationship can be yours...and I can help you get there. And it doesn’t have to take you six years, like it took me. So what are you waiting for?
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