I am a mother, poet, writer, and I have been teaching yoga & meditation for over twenty years. My debut chapbook, Pier 40, has just been selected for publication by Finishing Line Press, and it will be available for presale in November 2024. Pier 40 is a lyric essay that takes a walk through the West Village on the tension that lives between motherhood and career. I also have two collections of poems in process. Additionally, I am a volunteer reader for Only Poems.

Like poets Mary Oliver, Kenneth Koch, Toni Morrison, and Rita Dove, I was born in Ohio. I graduated Cum Laude from Miami University in 2003 with degrees in Psychology and Linguistics with a minor in Poetry. Additionally, while in university I did research in the field of Positive Psychology, and explored relationships between Emotional Intelligence, Flow, and Buddhism’s Mindfulness. Through this work, I was hired by the Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Dennis Roberts, Ph.D., to co-create a leadership curriculum that is still being taught at Miami University today. This, in addition to doing my first (of many) Yoga teacher trainings, which all led me to establish a career in the wellness industry.

I moved to Chicago upon graduation and taught and managed at many wonderful studios including Yogaview. Then I moved to NYC in 2007, and I continued to teach, write, and build community. For years, I woke up at 5:30 am and practiced Ashtanga Yoga with Eddie Stern at the Broome Street Temple, and I taught group classes as well as one-on-one for athletes and other students with specific needs. In my downtime I wrote a novel called “The Golden Mirror” about a young woman who has the ability to travel into other people’s bodies to experience the world from their perspective.

In 2011, I co-founded an online journal, Breathe Repeat, which I ran with the author and teacher, Tracey Toomey McQuade. The best part about that endeavor, besides working closely with a dear friend and publishing so many incredible pieces, was working with Manorama D’Alvia to create an interactive Sanskrit Glossary.

In 2012 I married, had a baby, and co-founded Yoga Shanti NYC. It was a tremendous learning experience, and I am grateful for the people I met and connected with as we successfully grew our community and business for several years before my business partners and I decided to go in different directions. In 2016 I attended Yale’s Summer Writing Workshop for Poetry, I delivered my second child, and I started writing a collection of poetry titled Revolving about the ways we can become lost commuting in circles. I then went on to contribute professionally as the founding Director of Mindful Movement for the integrative health and wellness company, The Well, where I established the department, recruited a diverse team of teachers, created custom classes, collaborated with a brilliant team, and taught courses and trainings. I resigned in 2020 to take care of my family and to study and write poetry. I began working with the poet, Genine Lentine, and I have greatly appreciated her mentorship.

I recently moved to Miami, where I continue to study writing through classes at The Writer’s Studio, and I am working towards my MFA in Creative Writing at Florida International University.