My Story

I was raised in Northern California, 30 miles south of San Francisco in the heart of Silicon Valley. Growing up, I spent much of my childhood competing in gymnastics and track and field. I studied nutrition in college and it wasn’t until my own pregnancy and childbirth experience, both of which were so unguided and unsupported, that I started to wonder how many other women had similar stories. So much so, that I changed my studies from nutrition to nursing, earned my bachelor’s degree from the University of San Francisco in 1996 and landed my first job as a labor & delivery nurse in 1997. It’s a job I still have to this day.

Looking for an opportunity to care for a broader population of women, I graduated from UCSF in 2007 with a graduate degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner with a focus on women’s health. As an NP, I cared for highly successful career women in Silicon Valley. Yet, for all their outward success, they struggled internally. Many were in survival mode, disconnected from themselves. After working five years both as a nurse practitioner and labor & delivery nurse, I was burned out. I felt I couldn’t help women the way they needed in just a 15- to 30-minute office visit. So, I went back to working solely as a labor & delivery nurse to focus on supporting women through this vulnerable and unpredictable period in their lives. And it gave me the balance I needed to take better care of myself.

I started exercising again and fell in love with riding bikes. Before I knew it, I was racing, ultimately winning six Masters World Champion titles and multiple Masters National Champion titles in track cycling. During this time, while I was racing, “it” happened. One day, it felt like there was an invisible heat lamp shining on my face. All day, waves of intense heat came on without warning. It took awhile to realize I was having hot flashes! And so started my adventure through the menopause transition. I became curious and dove into the research finding there wasn’t much there at all! Fortunately, I found a few women researchers, physicians, and scientists who were doing the work, and I started following them, learning what I could. 

The most important thing I’ve realized along the way is that everything is connected, and in order to optimize health and wellness, I believe we need to nurture each of the four realms of health: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I created 4 Realm Health and Wellness as a way to empower women with the tools and knowledge to create and navigate their own journeys through pregnancy, perimenopause and postmenopause. My goal is to guide and support you to reach your own personal health and wellness goals. Let the journey begin!