1. What are the most challenging and rewarding aspects of your job and why?
The most challenging aspect of my job is without a doubt balancing my role as a coach and healer with my role as a business owner and manager. My clients are my first priority and the recipients of all my continuing education and ongoing development. However, I can’t do business without also devoting time to the day-to-day operation of my studio and staff. It’s a tough balance!
The most rewarding aspect of my job are the texts and emails I get from clients when a part of their life opens up that they had not expected to return — the woman who gets to feel the breeze of a bike ride after ending five years of chronic hip pain, or the man who gets to go home for Christmas and have his mom see him walk normally for the first time in seven years. Seeing people’s lives restored makes my heart sing.
2. Who do you look up to or admire in business and why?
Lara Fritts, the current economic development director for Salt Lake City, Utah, is and always has been my business idol. Lara took a chance on a relatively inexperienced marketing professional, gave me the reins of a department, and let me make mistakes, succeed, and learn. She showed me that women have a significant and important place in the business world, and taught me to hire and surround myself with people who are capable and passionate so that I am free to pursue my highest calling.
I also really respect and look up to Seth Godin. He is authentic, down to earth, kind, and phenomenally successful because he’s been unwilling to follow the “should” path. Listening to his podcast interview last February with Tim Ferriss was a turning point for me philosophically and professionally.
3. What has been the high point of your career so far?
The high point of my career so far has been opening a brick and mortar yoga/strength studio in Middleton just two years after moving to the area, then being able to develop it into a private space that caters to exactly the clientele I’m so excited to work with and host. I am grateful to have worked with the Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic and the Small Business Development Center at UW to get the initial business and model framework built, and humbled daily by the process of being an independent, small business owner at 32. I’m even more blown away by the process of listening to my intuition and following my drive and passion since opening the studio. That has grown PULSE into the community that it is today.
4. Thinking back on your career, what advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
Make mistakes. Make LOTS of mistakes. Because they’re not actually mistakes — they’re course corrections. You get the opportunity to make these little deviations and explorations that will ultimately guide you to a path that is uniquely yours, so don’t sweat the small stuff (even though it seems huge).
Let your curiosity define your success. There is no direct path to success and allowing others to tell you what the next step should be will only leave you feeling empty. Listen to that little nudge in the center of your chest, and follow the path that creates a sense of purpose and meaning.
Most importantly, have fun. Play. Jump on life’s trampolines and swing on its swing sets. Being an adult will get you so far, but being yourself will get you anywhere.
(Continued)
5. What would you say are the best things about living and working in Dane County?
The business community here is incredible. I’ve met colleagues who care so much about my personal wellbeing and who I now consider family. That, in conjunction with the ability to have a really fulfilling work-life balance make me feel so blessed to live and work here. Running my business in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Washington, D.C. left me with a sense of disconnection and created a bit of a workaholic monster. It is amazing to have a full-time, self-employed career while still having space to create deep relationships and time to camp and travel on the weekends.
6. Do you have any secret talents or abilities that people would be surprised to discover?
I play guitar and absolutely love sitting on my porch with a glass of wine in late spring and early fall, playing and singing by myself. Music and I parted ways after my first year of orchestra in college, so it’s rewarding to have it as a fun, creative outlet totally unrelated to my day-to-day work. It’s not much of a secret but no one here except my teacher, Aaron Katcher, has heard me play, so I’m counting it!
7. What are your guilty pleasures?
I LOVE concerts — the Majestic is my favorite venue in Madison — and am a huge Dave Matthews Band fan! This summer for his 25th anniversary concert tour, I snagged tickets on StubHub, packed up my camping gear at the last minute, drove five hours to Indiana by myself, racked up 20,000 steps dancing my heart out at the concert, camped out in a farm-turned-campground with 500-plus other people, and drove myself home at 6 a.m. next day on caffeine and adrenaline from the night before. It’s one of my favorite memories!
Click here to sign up for the free IB ezine – your twice-weekly resource for local business news, analysis, voices, and the names you need to know. If you are not already a subscriber to In Business magazine, be sure to sign up for our monthly print edition here.
