There are two big reasons why I do what I do: 1) I believe every person deserves to feel free and have a life they love. 2) We need more women’s voices in the world. And not the cookie cutter voices – your true, authentic voice.

You know what gets in the way of both of these? Putting constant pressure on yourself to succeed. Imposter syndrome and doubting your brilliance. Running around like a chicken with your head cut off, completely exhausted and overwhelmed. Holding yourself to ridiculously high standards in every area of your life, from work to exercise to being a "good" mother, daughter, friend, employee, leader and any other role you might fulfill!

I know this because I see it in my clients, I saw it in the women in my leadership development programs when I worked in corporate – and I experienced it myself. An overachiever since birth, I drove myself hard to succeed no matter what. I worked way too many nights and weekends, was always the first to volunteer for yet another project, and even suffered from shingles when I was just 30.

The pressure I felt to fulfill expectations was holding me back from joy, fulfillment, and my true potential – in my work and life as a whole. I knew I wanted to change. I worked to let go of feeling like everything had to be successful the first time around and adopted a mindset of progress over perfection. I practiced quieting the inner critic that told me I should always be doing more and started trusting my true inner voice - the voice that already knew I was enough.

I also began to understand it wasn't my fault I felt this way. I saw the messages we get every day to "Coffee. Hustle. Repeat." I remembered the times I got feedback that I was too direct. And then too accommodating. And then too direct again. I heard the subtle and not-so-subtle voices telling women they needed to be responsible for everything, take care of everyone, and never disappoint anyone.

As I started to break these rules, I began to feel like I could take a breath and release the pressure valve. I could fail without feeling like I was a failure. I could go hiking on a Wednesday afternoon without feeling a guilt-ridden pull back to my computer. I started following my own knowing instead of what I "should" be doing. I still overcommitted sometimes (that one might always be a work in progress for me!), but the difference was amazing.

Seeing my own challenges in so many other women led me to speak on imposter syndrome, creating your own rules for success, and using your authentic voice to create change - and audience members saw results too. They grew their careers because they had the tools they needed to let go of imposter feelings and perfectionism so they could focus on high-impact work. They walked into meetings and spoke their true mind instead of nodding and going along. They broke the rules they'd been taught and stood in their unique strengths.

In the fall of 2020 I published my first book, An Overachiever’s Guide To Breaking The Rules: How To Let Go Of Perfect and Live Your Truth.Part-memoir, part self-help book, each chapter will guide you to slow down, reconnect to your joy, quiet the inner critic, and start listening to your true inner voice.

Since being published, the book has won multiple awards, including a gold medal in the Personal Growth & Self-Help for the Living Now Book Awards, the top award in the Motivation category for the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and the short-list for the Eric Hoffer grand prize. And, yes, I do see the irony that my book about letting go of overachieving has, well, overachieved.

I realized soon after writing An Overachiever's Guide that disconnecting my worth from achievement was just the beginning. Another level of realizations and rule-breaking was on the horizon and about to split open my entire world.

Grounded Wildness: Break Free From Performing Your Life and Start Living It, was published in October 2023 and details my story of recognizing ALL the suffocating rules that keep us feeling behind, broken, not enough, or too much - and reclaiming our freedom. The overachieving rules are part of it, but there is so much more. The book takes you on a journey to break down the rules you were handed and rediscover your own grounded wildness - whatever that looks and feels like to you.

My work has been featured in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (twice!) and The Everyday Real as well as podcasts like Career Cloud and Improve It! where we discussed everything from imposter syndrome and letting go of criticism to trusting yourself and following the nudges of your heart. I loved being a guest on podcasts so much that I decided to start my own in 2022! The Grounded Wildness podcast can be found on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. The most popular episodes to date are Giving Yourself Permission To Slow Down and Feeling Like You’re Not Enough.

Women just like you have redefined success on their own terms and discovered you make the biggest difference when you live a life true to yourself instead of the expectations others have laid out for you. They started playing by their own rules – and you can too.

It's time to join a powerful revolution of women living in grounded wildness. Are you in?

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Because I know we all need help with that one!