I want moms (moms-to-be) to feel empowered to protect their peace, tap into their thriving energy, and align with their life’s overall vision, so they can get off the hamster wheel of survival and exhaustion. It’s time to connect AND accept who YOU love to be.

A Journey to Self-Connection Begins

What lead me to working with a life coach?

(And how a flute lesson led me to the power of mindfulness )

So, I tried going to one of the therapists at NYU but it wasn’t a good fit. I felt like I was supported during each session but when I walked out of my therapist’s office, I felt alone and completely unsure of what to do to process and heal what happened in each session. I’m sure this counselor was a great fit for someone else, just not me. I was desperate and reached out to a trusted mentor for some guidance.

This beautiful Soul invited me to a flute masterclass that embraced me as a human being and not just a flute playing machine. This is where I meditated for the first time, where I started listening to my body, and where I was introduced to the power of mindfulness. 

I learned early on that trust was key for me to heal and that I wasn’t meant to do this alone. And, 11 years later, I am deepening my trust in myself and God.

My life coach is an integral part of my self-connection and healing journey (the same person I’ve been with since that flute masterclass!). I have an amazing support system that I lean on without guilt (okay there’s still some guilt there), and I am living life in a way that overflows my cup, not just filling it.

Becoming a Mom

As a mom, it doesn't feel natural putting myself first, ahead of my kids. But here’s the thing, prioritizing myself doesn’t put me ahead of my kids, it puts us on the same level playing field. It sets us all up for a nurturing day, helps me support them through their emotional development, and keeps us all grounded.  

When I became a mom, my superwoman self tried to adopt those old workaholic tendencies and push my needs to the side. Out of fear of making a mistake (perfection) and putting unrealistic expectations on myself, I put my needs to the side. I poured all my energy into their needs and didn’t address mine. I was depleted, short tempered, and absolutely done. AND this still happens to me. The difference now is that I don’t judge it, I just get back on my self-connection wagon. 

Unexpected Joys & Challenges

Let’s back up shall we? My motherhood journey truly started when I met my now husband. I will never forget the morning we met. It was a partly cloudy day in New York City and we were in a studio room waiting for our woodwind quintet coaching session to begin, only to realize we were in the wrong room. From that moment on, we were inseparable, our quintet that is. The five of us did everything together. We rehearsed, we ate, we indulged in many beers and tacos, and learned about each other. We were all from different backgrounds, cultural upbringings, and through our musical expression we blended them. Coming from a small town in Connecticut, this was the best education I could have ever received. I learned a lot about myself those early years and it was then that I really began to embrace and love all that was different. Those four other people in our quintet quickly became my chosen family and my family embraced them with open arms. My mom often says that I find family wherever I go. So it’s no surprise that I was on a plane going to Brazil four months after meeting my husband to meet his family.

Our love story blossomed and led to our States wedding the summer of 2015, followed by our religious Brazilian wedding 6 months later. We were sharing so much of ourselves with each other. One of our favorite ways to express ourselves is through food; he loves cooking and I love baking.

We were embracing the beauty of diversity through blending my husband’s Brazilian and Korean heritage with my blended background of Italian, Swedish, and English immigrants that found home in the United States.

Five years later our beautiful son was born. What many of you don’t know is that I experienced a miscarriage a year and a half earlier. I was already working through so much fear and then the world shut down. We navigated my high-risk pregnancy due to a genetic condition I have called Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I had a planned c-section and while in recovery started experiencing the true power and wisdom of what it meant to blend mine and my husband’s backgrounds.

Hindsight is 20-20. I didn’t realize how much I needed my mother-in-law as I needed my parents. My parents and my husband’s mom were able to visit and celebrate our son’s birth before all international flights were cancelled. There’s something incredibly beautiful watching your husband and his mom bond over your child. And at the same time care for me.

As musicians and entrepreneurs, we have lived in many places and have adopted family along the way. Moving with a newborn during a global pandemic and then again with two toddlers was a lot to say the least. As an aside, my husband and I have moved upwards of 11 times in the last 10 years living in 5 different towns/cities and 3 different states. Mostly because my husband’s work dictated where we would go next. As challenging as it was to navigate, there was a sense of hope and fun that we cultivated for ourselves. The fall of 2021, we found a place to settle in Columbus, Ohio!!

We welcomed our daughter nine months later and feel so blessed to have safely navigated another high-risk pregnancy and c-section surgery and recovery. This is the part of motherhood you aren’t always aware of, where your body takes such a toll that you aren’t sure what it means to be in your body anymore. Only just recently have I gone deeper with my own healing journey. I have been doing energy work around my c-section scar, and working on shifting the limiting beliefs I am still holding about my body.

You know what else I wasn’t expecting? All the emotions. Mine, my husband’s, and our kids. I am forever grateful for my own emotional healing and tools because we are using them with our kids too. We have recognized that we weren’t taught about emotions the way we are teaching our kids. It’s not because our parents didn’t try, it’s because it wasn’t something anyone was talking about over 30 years ago. It’s been greatly enjoyable to see how we were both raised and blend that into what we are doing now. How we parent is different from how our parents parented.

Together, we are dedicated to honoring and blending our cultures, instilling in our children the richness of the Brazilian Portuguese language and the traditions we hold dear. While we have only been able to visit Brazil once with our children, our connection to family remains strong through WhatsApp and video calls, sharing pictures and updates that keep us close even when we're miles apart.

Our journey is one of love, patience, and continuous learning, as we strive to teach our children the value of their multicultural heritage. We celebrate the diverse roots that shape our family, and embrace the unique challenges and joys that come with raising bicultural kids in a world where traditions intertwine and cultures harmonize.