A self-proclaimed gypsy my whole life, I dreamt of travel and adventure from a very early age. While most kids my age played with toys and other games, I read books and magazines about all the areas of the world I wanted to go to and explore someday. It wasn’t until just before college that I started hiking and going on outdoor adventures and completely fell in love with nature. From that moment, I began a journey that took me from teaching in a charter school in NJ for 9 years to starting DHarmony 1440. The in between parts were filled with attending an Outward Bound instructor course, teaching at one of the largest YMCA environmental/experiential education camps in the country where I eventually became the head of the Team Building Department, and finally taking my yoga teacher certification and life coaching certification courses. Of course, I also filled that time with hikes, canoeing/kayaking, rock climbing, and camping adventures as I traveled throughout the US and the world to places such as New Zealand, Thailand, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and Costa Rica.
Nature has always been the place I go to when the rest of the world doesn't make sense. It is where I find my balance, my energy is restored, and my true self is renewed. I’ve learned the most about myself, my place in this world, my leadership skills and what I’m made of by pushing through outdoor adventures that seemed impossible.
I was standing in the middle of Matanuska Glacier in Alaska in August of 2009, after a grueling and under-prepared hike with a good friend, when I made a silent promise to the world. I’d never seen such a beautiful and serene setting before and never felt so insignificant in such a significant way than I did standing among the ice-mountains of the glacier. I knew this was something I wanted to protect – that nature was something to fight for. I also knew that the only way to inspire people to fight for something was to make them fall in love with it too. At that moment, I knew that outdoor adventure was the career I wanted to pursue. If I could take groups of people into nature and take them on epic adventures where they learned who they were, what they were made of, built meaningful connections to the people they were with, and did all this in some of the world’s most beautiful settings, I knew I could get them to fall in love with the world and want to help me save it.
At the time of the Alaska trip, I was still a teacher. It took me a few years more until I finally got into outdoor education in 2013. I knew I always wanted to start my own company, but wanted to work for someone for a bit to get my foot in the door and come to understand the outdoor world a bit more. I worked at Frost Valley YMCA in Claryville, NY for 4 years. In the summer of 2017, my father became ill and was diagnosed with a Dementia/A.L.S. combination that was very aggressive. I took some time off of work to help my mother take care of him. In December of 2017, I held his hand as he took his last breath and I made a promise to myself and to him that I’d no longer be afraid to go after the things I truly wanted and dreamt of in this life. It was time to chase my dreams.
I spent the first part of 2018 working through my grief and working towards my 200 hour yoga teacher certification. Yoga, for years, had been a way for me to balance and still my mind and emotions. It got me through some difficult times when I couldn’t get out into nature. It helped me through the grief of losing my father. It was in July of 2018 that I took my 200 hour yoga teacher certification with Gypsea Yoga School in Uvita, Costa Rica. Being surrounded by the beautiful beaches and jungles of Costa Rica, among like-minded, beautifully spirited individuals truly transformed me. It was during this class that I mapped out what I wanted the business to really look like and got advice from my teachers at the school on how to begin. It took a couple of years, but with the help of a couple friends, I was able to fine-tune what I wanted the brand to be and how I wanted to present myself to the world. In the end, I decided to be myself: a playful, strong, empowered, and honest woman doing my best to be a positive influence on the world.
I hope that what I'm doing here speaks to you in some way. Life can be a bit chaotic at times. We get so busy working and going through the motions that we forget to look around, breathe, and take in the beauty that surrounds us. We forget to nurture the relationships we have. My hope is that, you’ll join me on a trip or a yoga/life coaching session and open up to that childhood wonder you once had and see the world for the amazing place it truly is and reconnect to the people in your lives in a beautiful setting. I want you to find your strength and be empowered to go into the world and do great things for it. I want to create a ripple…
To the man who always said I could do anything I put my mind to: This one’s for you, Dad! <3
