I left my full-time job earlier in the month. After much anxiety over leaving a leadership position, I was pleased to discover I felt fully alive, connected to the community and in alignment with myself. When I gave myself permission to dream up a business that uses my inherent gifts and years of practiced skills, I became even more in tune with the person I have always been becoming.

At the wee age of 5, I took over as party planner and executer for my family. I wanted to celebrate the people I loved and host a group of people with playfulness and joy. I made plans, sent invitations and hung party decorations as high as I could reach, which was about 5 ft above the floor. This was only the beginning; I went on to host neighborhood productions out of the garage.  I gathered peers to film a movie with a magical flying basketball element, which was a pretty impressive film trick in the 90s! Each year the gathering of differing groups of people became more varied and expansive. I’ve had the privilege of gathering young adults in the western part of China to talk about women’s rights. I have gathered people for retreats, for a two-week long conference, for intergenerational community building, for political action. In addition, I’ve had the honor of leading participants from two very different organizations on an educational pilgrimage to talk about racial justice. I have been crafting and experimenting with groups of people professionally for 18 years.

In middle school, I was deeply affected by shifting social hierarchies and in-groups. I remember deeply believing ‘it’ll be better when I’m a grown up; we just have more to learn.’ Much to my surprise, being an adult did not translate to a life free of shifting social hierarchies and painful interpersonal disputes. In my previous work places, I have experienced “power over” dynamics, using fear to motivate, and work place culture where no one even says ‘good morning’ or ‘good bye’ to each other in neighboring offices. Turns out the skills of working through conflict, communicating with clarity and building a culture of connection and trust are incredibly tough practices; ones where we could all use a little more connection around, shared language and practice doing.

My passion is creating spaces where teams can communicate more effectively with each other, creating a world where curiosity, compassion and courageous conversations are common place. Spark Alignment was born on January 1, 2026 envisioning a year full of spaces where connection is intentional and interpersonal skills are practiced. What’s more, sparking alignment within teams and organizations has an individual payout (greater physical/mental health) and organizational payout (increase your bottom line). I am grateful to be in alignment with myself in this work and partner with organizations who understand the priority of their people.