I am a pathfinder who has been on my own journey to empathy empowered leadership. 

As a kid, I remember the way my mom would give me gifts wrapped in meaning – jewelry, flowers cards became my protective companions. My dad would take me on thrilling motorcycle rides and taught me how to boogie dance in our living room. My parents filled me with love, courage and a powerful sense that anything was possible.

But when I was 9 years old it all broke down in belligerent divorce. I stayed with my mom, and my relationship with my father blew up. As I grew, I worked hard to build a life on ever shattering terrain. I powered through. My body got drained, my heart felt anger, grief and shame. But these feelings only seemed to get in my way, so I shut them down. I became a PhD, a User Experience leader in the high-tech industry. I burned out at work, and came home with no energy for my loved ones. I was a success machine with chronic stress and a heart locked inside a steel box. 

It wasn’t until I started studying empathy for work, that I awakened to what I had lost personally – the ability to connect in a deeper and healthier way with myself and others. I initiated a long journey of reclaiming my emotions and caring for myself. Where I had struggled in relationships, I began to heal and to cultivate loving, long lasting ones. I reconnected with my father. I created a resilient marriage that I once deemed impossible to exist. It changed everything about my leadership.

I am now a new kind of leader. I foster success that is grounded on the courage to care for yourself and others. One that fills you up with child-like love and joy. This new way of leading is rooted in deep and meaningful connections, and brings profound fulfillment.