A little about me.

My path to health and coaching was a winding one, with many peaks and valleys. The journey took me around the world and across continents; from Hong Kong to Chicago to New York to San Francisco to Boston and soon back to San Francisco.

I'd like to share a bit of that journey with you here, so you get a sense of my frame of reference, and why functional medicine and health coaching have combined to bring purpose and meaning to my life.

I started my career working for major corporations. As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA,) I climbed the corporate ladder, eventually becoming the CFO of a regional office for J. Walter Thompson, the world's largest advertising firm. I was continually managing stress - sixty-hour work weeks, a rapidly changing industry, and my share of #MeToo moments. Though I exercised with abandon and tried to take of myself, I didn't have the knowledge or tools; eventually I was desperate for a way out.   

A new phase began when I opened a restaurant with my husband, a trained chef with exceptional talent. Located in an edgy part of San Francisco’s Fillmore district, the restaurant thrived, earning a reputation for innovativeness and intimacy. We were soon a favorite of the famed food critic Michael Bauer. 

Running a restaurant, I soon learned, was every bit as taxing as being a CFO, but I loved it. Then, at 39, I was blessed with a baby boy - the most incredible gift. Still, like many professional women, I didn't let motherhood shift my work priorities or slow me down. 

I took it all on: the long nights, the constant entertaining, a volatile but successful restaurant, raising a child in San Francisco. My father pleaded with me to take care of my health, concerned that I would suffer as my mother did before she died much too young. But, outwardly I relished the busy-ness and our image as the “darling restaurant family,” despite a growing uneasiness about my life.

The first signs of trouble were constant fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, and a faltering marriage. Before long, I was struggling with Hashimoto Disease (low thyroid), frozen shoulder, arthritis, vertigo, and insomnia. Eventually, my marriage failed and, in 2009, I had brain surgery to remove a tumor.

What went wrong? What now?

Laying in the hospital bed, alone, scared, and grieving, I came to see how my choices and life patterns had brought me such pain physically, emotionally, and mentally. I was compelled to find a different path, make a different life.

I started simply – yoga and meditation. I re-invented the way I cooked and what I ate, using the skills and knowledge I had acquired in the restaurant business. My detective mind had me searching for alternatives. I worked with physical trainers, therapists, and doctors. I began to heal.

In 2012, I discovered Functional Medicine, which focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease, not just treats the symptoms. It is a science-based medicine that looks at the body as one whole system. This helped me understand what was possible, not only for me but also for others.

I am now a Functional Medicine Health Coach, certified by the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy. I am currently enrolled in a ten-month course, Full Body System, by Andrea Nakayama. My curiosity about all things health is insatiable (is there a pattern here?)

I have married again, and together, my husband and I maintain a vinyasa yoga practice, meditate daily, eat simply, and periodically do fasts and cleanses.

Samskara Health grew out of my journey and transformation. I see how, with knowledge and on-going effort, all of us can change our samskara, our karmic patterns, from negative to positive. My purpose is to help my clients obtain and maintain optimal health.