Why I Do What I Do: The Stories We Carry

I do what I do because I love a good story.

I’m an equal opportunist when it comes to storytelling. I am not above something salacious best told after hours, and I love digging into the kind of story that sits under the surface. The ones people carry in their bones. The stories they don’t even realize they’re living by until something cracks open and the words start to rise.

As the daughter of a philosopher, I was—affectionately and unwaveringly—trained to think critically. To ask questions, to look at ideas from all angles, and not to accept anything at face value just because it was neat or familiar. That was the air I breathed growing up: curiosity, complexity, contradiction.

At first, I thought all that training was about analyzing arguments. That led me to law school. But once I started working with clients I realized something: it wasn’t the arguments that held my attention—it was the people behind them. The stories. The humanity embedded in the facts. I didn’t want to craft the best argument; I wanted to understand the person living it.

That insight changed my trajectory. In fact, I graduated and very quickly realized that I wasn’t going to practice law. I didn’t even take the bar. To be clear, I didn't fully understand this then, but I knew enough to know I needed to go down a different path. Now, I sit with people and I help them get curious about the story they’re living in. The rules they were handed. The beliefs they internalized. The protective roles they took on when they were young that made sense at the time, but now leave them feeling stuck, exhausted, or disconnected.

It’s not always about rewriting the whole story. Sometimes, it’s just about naming it. Seeing it clearly. Holding it with compassion. And then choosing—deliberately, wisely—what comes next. That moment? When someone realizes they have a choice? When they see that their story isn’t fixed, and neither are they? That’s the kind of transformation I’ll never get tired of witnessing.

I don’t just do this work for others—I do it with them. Every time I sit with someone’s story, I understand my own a little better. I find new clarity. I make more empowered and connected choices for myself. The bonus of this work is that in helping others step into their truth, I get to be more deeply engaged with mine.

To me, this is deeply collaborative work. It's soul-fueling—for my clients, and for me. So yes—I love a good story. But even more than that, I love helping people step into authorship of their own. Not by erasing what’s come before, but by understanding it well enough to decide how they want to move forward.

That’s why I do what I do.