About Me

I am an educator, adventurer, author, speaker, purposeful travel advocate, leadership and personal growth expert, life purpose coach, seasoned traveler, curator of transformational experiences, Reiki Master, and serial ex-pat.

My objective through Venture Within is to cultivate deep learning opportunities that enable you to create more meaning and purpose in your life, which in turn, ignites more good in the world.

I have seen first-hand the positive changes that occur in a person as a result of mindful intention and inspired action. By immersing ourselves in new opportunities to learn, or to share our stories, we create more meaning in our lives.

We explore, we learn, we grow. We positively impact lives and fully change our own lives through unique and purpose-driven experiences.

Hailing originally from both Nashville and Southern California, I earned my Master’s degree and Teaching Credentials while living in Sussex in the UK. Beginning my career as a high school English teacher, I learned the importance of versatility and the power of authentic connection.

During my 7 years living in Brighton, my passion for travel and teaching began to take shape and reveal my life calling – that of curating impactful experiences within education, leadership, mental wellness, empowerment, and personal growth.

I spent the next several years living in Melbourne, Australia delivering seminars on Personal and Social Leadership while lecturing in several universities, all of which further fueled my passion to blend travel, personal leadership, altruism, and education to create inspiring and life-changing experiences for others.

Since 2011, I have launched my own companies delivering leadership programs overseas by way of educational and conservation initiatives, working with professionals, students, educators, institutions, small companies, and non-profits internationally.

In Australia, I co-founded EDventure – a company with a dynamic international team that created and facilitated socially impactful personal development and leadership programs overseas for university students.

For 5 years, I traveled extensively around the globe, delivering incredible programs that included collaborative projects such as:

• Forming personal connections with local communities that resulted in founding a school in Phum Oh, Cambodia.
• Learning from Xhosa farmers about their history, economy, and culture and worked alongside them to build a mud-brick kindergarten in a rural village outside Chintsa Beach, South Africa.
• Trekking nighttime beaches to provide hands-on support for sea turtle conservation efforts in Playa Junquillal, Costa Rica, and recognizing the need for a shift in education about climate change and our environment.
• Harvesting cacao alongside local ranchers in the mountains of Mastatal, Costa Rica, and gaining greater knowledge of the nutritional benefits of the foods we eat.
• Learning local rice and sugarcane farming techniques in Surin, Thailand, and the importance of community connection and contribution.
• Immersing in local rehabilitation efforts for injured elephants in Ban Taklong, Thailand, and experiencing the unmistakable human and animal interconnectedness.
• Exchanging and connecting with refugee monks in both Siem Reap and Chiangmai, Thailand, challenging and expanding our belief systems and life outlook.
• Delivering coaching and mentoring workshops for burgeoning entrepreneurs and remote workers hustling in Ubud, Bali.
• Creating and facilitating mindful personal growth retreats, immersed in tropical, barefoot luxury on the beaches of Nosara, Costa Rica, and the Emerald Coast in Tola, Nicaragua.
• Outdoor adventuring– climbing waterfalls, hiking through jungles, walking epic beaches, encountering wildlife, enjoying horse treks, deep-sea diving, jungle zip-lining, bungee jumping, volcano boarding, volcano summiting, off-roading, yoga-ing, sound journeying, celebrating with cacao ceremonies, spending reflective and self-nourishing time with others and ourselves, and so much more . . .

Drawing on 20 years of experience and leaning into my expertise as an international travel and education-based business owner, writer, professional coach, educator, facilitator, and traveler, I create a fusion of immersive, purposeful, mindful, reviving, and life-changing experiences.

I can do this for you.

 

My Travel With a Purpose Retreat Curation and Consultation services will create an opportunity for you to experience inspiration, connection, and deeper personal fulfillment.

Reach out. I am deeply passionate to help you step outside of your routine to create stories in purposeful travel or help you write your story.