It always makes me giggle when someone asks me about my bio.
Which version of my life should I be telling right now?

Enter version 1. I was born into the strangest of circumstances. In 1971, my white mother met my black father during the height of Oakland, California’s Black Panther movement. My hippy parents hitchhiked up Interstate 5 in an old Volkswagen bus, attempting to get to Canada so that I could be born with dual citizenship vs. “under the man”. Despite best efforts, the November 1971 snowstorm slowed our progress, and my mom went into labor while passing through Bellingham, Washington, just 45 minutes shy of the international border. So, we landed in the cool little hippie town in the most upper-left corner of the country.

Growing up there was hard. I learned early on that belonging anywhere was going to be a struggle, and I would have to constantly push to make something of myself. My father left when I was 2, and through the madness that became our lives, I developed a penchant for fixing things, including chaos and everyone around me in order to calm the waters and keep things safe.

Eventually I left that small town and struck out on my own to the University of Washington and the big city where I set the foundation of what would become a very successful career in the corporate world. I used those skills of "fixing" and made a name for myself as somewhat of a corporate fixer. I married and was blessed with a beautiful and talented son who has grown into an incredible man, in his own right. In 2017 I divorced my son's father in an effort to reclaim the real “me” – my true self before the path rearranged me.

And now, in so many ways, it feels like my story is just beginning to take shape as I embark on the quest to become my own hero and live into the dreams that still shine bright inside of my soul.