Every career starts with a story. Mine began with the fierce ambition to build a life of security and impact, a world away from watching my mother scratch for coins to buy milk. After an English degree felt too self-indulgent for someone shouldering family responsibility, I went to law school with a single-minded mission: to outwork everyone.
 

I became a “robot,” the last one to leave the library every night, believing that brute force and unrelenting effort were the only tickets to success. And for a long time, it worked. I earned a prestigious clerkship at the Supreme Court of Canada, landed roles at top-tier law firms from Boston to Toronto, and climbed the corporate ladder until I was the Global Head of Tax for an $85 billion real estate investment company. I had mastered the game. But I was paying for it with my soul.
 

Behind the success, I was navigating toxic managers and the constant, draining friction of being one of the only Black women in the room. As a woman in a hyper-masculine environment, I saw firsthand how the rules were different. As a Black woman, I carried the additional weight of unspoken expectations and biases, wearing the "cape and crown of thorns" that so many of us are taught to bear with pride. The pressure to perpetually prove I belonged left me in what felt like a never-ending interview, completely alienated from my own body. My body was screaming for a change through symptoms of severe burnout, a pre-diabetes diagnosis, and a terrifying breast cancer scare. I was succeeding on paper while silently enduring what I now call “unnecessary suffering.”
 

The breaking point came unexpectedly. The day I was let go from my final corporate role, I didn’t feel failure. I felt “relief and euphoria.” The cage door flew open. It was my rebirth. A long-awaited opportunity to reclaim alignment and purpose.
 

That freedom gave me the space to finally listen to what my body had been telling me for years. I embarked on a journey of healing, recognizing that the constant “fight or flight” mode of corporate life had left my nervous system wrecked. I pursued certifications in Yoga and Inferno HIIT Pilates, practices that I credit with saving my life. Through a holistic approach that integrated mental, spiritual, and physical fitness, I learned to slow down and meditate. In the process, I reversed my pre-diabetes diagnosis and gained the capacity to think, reflect, and be truly present in my own life—a clarity that allowed me to codify my hard-won lessons into the transformative solutions and strategies I now offer professionals and organizations.
 

Today, I help professionals and organizations redefine success. I provide the sharp, business-minded strategies needed to thrive in competitive environments, combined with the hard-won wisdom that true, sustainable power comes from alignment—mind, body, and purpose. I am living proof that you don’t have to wear a crown of thorns to win.