I grew up in Michigan and moved to Boulder, Colorado for college, so I love the great lakes and I also love the mountains. I have always felt a call towards end-of-life work, but never knew what that might exactly mean. In my 20s and 30s I worked as a classroom teacher, and after taking time to raise our children in my 30s and 40s, teaching and presenting on the topic of death turned out to be a natural mid-life career change. Training with the Conscious Dying Institute at the start of the pandemic and working for a time as a CDI faculty member strengthened my understanding around death and laid the groundwork for my deep commitment to this work as a deathwalker.

As I established my Best Life Best Death work and began to offer presentations and teach courses, I found myself curious about an even broader platform from which to share this work, and the Best Life Best Death podcast was born. The creation of podcast episodes combines so many things that I enjoy, including talking with people who have something important to share, synthesizing the gems that fall out of their mouths, and amplifying the message that conversations about death make a difference.

As one of my mentors, Dr. Sarah Kerr, says: “We can do death better.” I believe that with all my heart, and I think ‘doing death better’ begins by talking about it with an open heart and an open mind. As a podcaster and an end-of-life educator, doula and coach, I connect with purpose and meaning in my life every single day.

Trainings: The Conscious Dying Institute – Sacred Passage Doula and Conscious Dying Coach, March – Sept 2020; Conscious Dying Educator Oct 2020 – March 2021; Centre for Sacred Deathcare – What Happens After We Die? – Winter 2021; Crossing the Veil: A Ritual Map for Death & Bereavement – Winter 2021; Grief and Loss as Initiation – Fall 2021; Across the Veil Constellations – Spring 2024; Going with Grace – Expanding Your Toolbox – Spring 2022; Birth, Breath, Death – Understanding Trauma for Birth and Death Doulas – Fall 2022

Teaching and Presentations: The Conscious Dying Institute Sacred Passage Doula and Conscious Dying Coach – March-Aug 2021; Conscious Dying Educator – Nov 2021-Feb 2022 and Aug-Dec 2022; Best Life Best Death – Multiple courses of “Best 3 Months” Sept 2020-present; BLBD Movie Nights Fall 2021-present; On-line self-paced course “What Truly Matters” April 2024-present; City of Boulder “Conversations about Death” group + additional presentations Spring 2022-present. On-going training as a TRU Hospice volunteer in the work of the The Conversation Project, Spring 2024-present.