About

That’s where I’m from! My parents were working in the arctic when they got pregnant with me. One epic cross-Canadian road trip later, and they pulled up in Vancouver just in time to have me.

Did you know that your brain has these two tiny almond-shaped bits that help decide how you feel? They’re called your amygdalas, and I’m a grade-A, certified expert in making them feel good, which makes you feel good, relaxed, and able to sink into learning. Translation: my workshops are not only incredibly fun, they’re also totally accessible and inclusive.

Once upon a time, I took my degree in social work and started a business called Community Works, focusing on how we can use unique methods (quilting, scrapbooking, and storytelling, to name a few) to gather evaluation data about all too common problems (substance abuse, mental health issues, and incarceration, to name a few.) The lessons about learning from each other and the pure gold to be found in multiple perspectives inform my work to this day.

My firm belief — and, incidentally, the name of my second business. Originally a corporate entertainment business that let me work beside some of the best improv comedians in the business, it also showed me the power of humour when it comes to learning. (Seriously, watching two professional improv comedians do a scene about your everyday work issues is way more effective and engaging than clicking your way through a slide deck.) That’s why I’m always telling people, “Suffering is optional.” Learning and laughter go hand in hand.

I love adventure and being out my comfort zone, whether that’s spending a Semester at Sea as an Assistant’s Ship Photographer or taking a group of teens to the high arctic to spend time in an Inuit community. Whether I’m leaving from the Bahamas to study onboard a ship (and visiting 17 countries along the way) or dogsledding in the tundra, it’s all about learning new ways of life and new perspectives — and I bring that willingness to dive in to everything I do.

Picture this: it’s mid-1980s. (And my hair shows it.) I’m sitting on a bus two hours once a week, going back and forth to a YMCA youth development leadership program. And I loved every second of it. My global roots started back in those bus ride days; while I wouldn’t have believed it back then, I later came to oversee the very program I was attending. And those global roots? Still going strong.

Katimavik. Noun, Inuit: “meeting place”. Also the name of a youth program I attended. When I started Katimavik, I was hoping to become a fashion designer — in fact, I dressed up mannequins in my local department store and photographed them for my application portfolio! I landed in Katimavik, and to my surprise, found out that I was “rich”. Or at least looked like it to the other people in the program. And they did not like it.

Cue a dramatic few months — and the end of my fashion career as I became way more interested in group dynamics and conflict resolution, so much so that I turned down my acceptance letter to fashion design school while I was in the middle of Katimavik. Fast forward to today, and I’ve got a B.SW and a M.Ed that focuses on intercultural conflict resolution.

For four long years, I was running my business, taking care of the home and our kids while my partner was doing his PhD and consulting for the UN, living in another country. At the end of his program, it was make or break it time: so we moved to Kenya, where we now live, enjoying an incredibly diverse community of friends and finding ourselves with the expat dilemma of how to answer when someone asks you where’s home.

When I say this business is international, I mean it — I’ve taught people in and from 150+ countries, from C-suite to slums, and everything in between. No matter what you’ve got going on, chances are I’ve seen something similar to it before. (And know just what direction to point you in to solve it!)

I believe in the power and possibility of transformation, always. I’ve seen it over and over again in my life, I’ve helped it happen in the companies I work with, and I can do the same for you. From packing up my family and moving from Canada to Kenya, or getting out of a tough upbringing through the transformative power of education, alchemy is a through-line in my life — and one I deeply enjoy exploring with clients.

How I want to feel all the time, and how I want you to feel too. Because possibilities + plan + people? That’s where the alchemy happens.

Full disclosure: I will absolutely not sit still during our work together. And you won’t either. We might not break out into a full on dance party. (Then again, we might. But don’t worry, I absolutely promise that there will be no aerobics, Spandex, or awkwardness required. All my moves are everyone-friendly.)

The point is that we’re here to learn, not to fall asleep. And that’s an active process. It’s also why I regularly restore by hitting the local dance floor, hosting dinner parties for friends, and getting stuck in muddy river banks on safari. If variety is the spice of life, consider me a connoisseur.

Should be its own food group. Enough said.

Quick question: would you rather be in control of your technology, or the other way around? If it turns out that all those “solutions” you’re using end up wasting your time, we should talk. I geek out hard on information communication technology (ICTs), and love teaching other people how to make the most of them. In fact, almost all of my workshops involve some sort of fun, creative, client-appropriate training with ICTs.