The Book of My Life

So, how did the daughter of Midwestern craftspeople become a Harvard instructor and circular economy expert — and then devote her work to living systems, open-source technology, and bookbinding?

One never knows what path life will take us on.

I started my life from a very young age focused on the mind, earning a theoretical mathematics degree from Harvard and pursuing a corporate career focused on high tech. Eventually, I found myself drawn to more than what can be entirely explained by science, in the domain of the heart: getting a teaching certificate in a yoga style focused on deep breathing to relieve anxiety and depression, studying poetry to help me reconnect with my body and my feelings, starting a consultancy business focused on sustainability, and learning the craft of hand bookbinding.

When I was hired to design and teach a class on sustainability (specifically, on the circular economy) at Harvard, I was still heavily engaged in the realm of the mind, but I began to explore my own deeper questions, such as:

  • Do the physical processes of the world really support infinite business growth?

  • How does the mindset of scarcity—as opposed to abundance—shape the world we live in?

  • Related to that, are there beliefs that cannot be proven (or even are not technically, factually true) that actually influence how we engage with the world and in turn changes it for the better?

This latter inquiry led me to understand the importance—and power—of our individual, irreplicable experiences: for example, the feelings and images that we experience in our body uniquely, the pull of the things we love, our intuition. I began to combine my personal experiential learnings with my knowledge from the scientific world.

After years of studying and living in both the mind and the heart, my body and nature, I’m now deeply committed to bridging the gap between the living systems of earth and creating thriving through deeper understanding—both scientific and individual.

One day, all the expertise and calculations felt empty.

The theoretical musings of humanity, separated from nature and the body, were failing to adequately address all the questions I tried to answer.

I had to move beyond our dominant culture—to
simply aim to sustain the status quo— at all costs. I had to face my doubt and live into the question—
could I, could we, could Earth, really thrive ?

And what would that even mean?

Now, I build pathways that support humans in reconnecting their bodies and minds, their hearts and actions, and in choosing thriving pathways in service of all life on Earth.

Specifically, I support leaders and their teams in shifting out of the old paradigms of “sustainability,” visionaries with research for their living systems projects, and creatives such as writers with hand-bound bespoke books to embody their vision in physical form.

I have moved on from more than just sustainability and into a life I love.

Education, Training & Associations

  • Member of the Guild of Bookworkers

  • Global Sustainability Summer School at the Santa Fe Institute

  • Various programs with the Animas Valley Institute

  • Invitas: The Institute for Conversational Leadership Training with David Whyte

  • Inner Axis Yoga Teacher Training with Max Strom

  • MBA, Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia

  • Bachelor of Arts, Mathematics, Harvard University; Editor-and-Chief of the Harvard Yearbook; Derek Bok Award for Teaching

Professional History

  • Sustainability Consulting at CSS Consulting LLC, later More Than Sustainability

  • Clients such as Google (including lead researcher for this whitepaper)

  • Instructor of the Master's degree course “Introduction to the Circular Economy” at Harvard; twice received Dean's Letter of Commendation

  • Roles across multiple functions at Cisco Systems through the Director level

  • Book marketing at fatbrain.com (later acquired by Barnes & Noble.com)