Currently, most of my work is focused on service design in healthcare. I focus on working with healthcare organizations to co-create services and experiences that better serve the needs of their patients/clients/communities and also their providers and staff. This may manifest as digital tools (mobile apps, online platforms), or in the built environment (redesigning the entire primary care experience), or a combination of both. Ideally, the work that I do promotes wellbeing, care, and agency for everyone within the system, and enables healthcare providers to do their best and most fulfilling work.

I wear a lot of hats in the work that I do! One primary role is that of listener, synthesizer, and reflector back to clients: helping them see what exists within their organization, and what could be. Another role is that of facilitator and encourager: inviting active participation and encouraging people to flex their creative muscles. Another primary role is of visualizer: bringing things to life through images and prototypes so that people can align around a shared vision.

I aim to do increasingly more meaningful and impactful work. I often feel that the work we do is both very impactful at some levels, while at the same time only scratching the surface of a very large and complex system and set of challenges. Over time, I want to be doing more work that zooms further and further out; Holds more complexity; Helps create more systemic and lasting change that can expand beyond the parameters of each individual project.

A few things that come to mind in this moment...
- Self esteem and honoring my own value and wisdom over concern about the perception of others.
- Being a better listener, especially when I disagree.
- Treating myself with more kindness, and acknowledging the growth and work that I AM doing for myself.

Developing a better practice of checking in with what I need and taking care of myself within my work.
Moving beyond imposter syndrome.
Being more proactive about taking on new work that is more aligned with my values and goals. Saying no more!

I've invested heavily in my community and my family. Time spent supporting others and inviting them to support me has carried me very far in life. It's been a continual learning journey fueled by inspiring, thoughtful, heart-centered and challenging people who see the best in me and support me along my journey of becoming more of myself.
I have also invested time and financial resources in coaching and counseling, most recently in somatic therapy, that has enabled me to better understand who I am and my true potential, as well as providing actionable guidance along my journey. I've invested in education, formal and informal. I've invested in my wellbeing and taking care of my body so that I am physically capable of being here.

Hmmm. This is a good question! I don't quite know how to answer it. I feel that I've learned the most in the interplay between fields. Learning a bit of something over here, and then seeing patterns and picking up on similar themes and ideas in seemingly unrelated places. I often learn the most from doing and experiencing things myself! I learn from other people, but just as much from the lived experience of an "ordinary" person who is very different from me as from an "expert" who writes extensively on any subject.

I think of life as a great interconnectivity, in each moment and across time. The best way I can describe it right now is as energy. We are energy, we pass it between us, we are immersed in it. Each encounter we have with other living beings is an opportunity to transfer our own energy, and to absorb theirs. When we die, that energy lives on in the lives of others. In this basic sense, I think humans are the same as any other living being.