Watching a mom and tween girl eating snacks and chatting at my favorite café, I told them I’d never had time like that with my mom when I was young.

"She was too busy keeping my brother alive."

I grew up in a family with a child with a catastrophic illness. By the time my oldest brother was ten, my parents had planned four funerals for him (...and he's still alive...!!). 

My childhood wasn’t easy. Who knows what kind of childhood I'd have had if my brother hadn’t almost died all the time.  

In retrospect, I see that my parents' stress must have been through the roof. 

As a social worker for families with kids receiving specialty medical care, I witnessed, from an adult perspective, a bit of what my parents went through.

I even had a phone conversation with a mom, sitting beside her son in the same hospital where my mom sat with my brother, watching her son suffer from radiation side effects as they both fought for his life, just as my mom and brother had done ... SO many times.

Now I help families like mine create more joy and less stress than what I grew up with. I give them what my parents didn't get, so they can protect their children from unnecessary stress.

Because stress invites family conflict. And chronic stress often has lifelong effects on children, impacting quality of life by creating health, social, and economic problems. 

— . —

But how did I actually become The New Normal Coach?

After losing my social work career from an injury-turned-disability, I found a way back to my calling—using my voice to decrease unnecessary suffering. 

First I found my topic—unexpected identity loss—and started the Bold Becoming podcast. I interview people about regaining their footing after the rug’s pulled out from under them. 

I discovered patterns in their overcoming adversity stories similar to mine.

Then I wrote a book on the topic—Masters of Change. 

Then I developed a coaching program. 

New Normal Coaching serves parents strengthening their internal resources as they navigate the grief and daily challenges of parenting a child with special needs. 

I support parents moving from feeling powerless, scared, sad, and mad to feeling more competent and at peace with their new roles and family trajectory.