I've spent my life asking why.
Not to be difficult — to actually understand. That question is still the whole of my work.
This is my story...
I've spent years helping people think more clearly — about themselves, their choices, and how they show up in the world. The path that brought me here hasn't been linear. It's been shaped by moments when something didn't sit right — and, if I'm honest, plenty of times when I kept going anyway. Eventually, I learned to stop, question what I thought I knew, and pay attention to what I was already seeing.
Growing up in Seoul, South Korea taught me early on that more than one perspective can be true at the same time. Later, working inside universities and organizations showed me how powerfully systems shape the way we think — and how easy it is to operate inside them without questioning what's actually happening.
Life added its own education. Adoption, health challenges, loss, reinvention, and seasons when the structures I trusted stopped making sense taught me something deeper: resilience isn't about pushing through. It's about learning what deserves your attention — and what you can no longer ignore.
That combination of experience, curiosity, and reflection became the foundation of my work.
So, where do I start?
With the person in front of me — you.
Not a formula. Not a prescribed path. Not the assumption that I know what your life should look like.
My work begins with paying attention — to what's happening, what you're noticing, what you're questioning, and what you may already know but haven't fully trusted yet.
Intentional Optimism is the philosophy that forms the foundation of my work. Not positivity. Not pretending things are better than they are. It's a way of living that begins with seeing clearly — questioning the assumptions we've inherited, paying attention to our own experience, and choosing how we want to respond.
Because I don't believe you need someone else to hand you the answer.
I want you to understand something far more consequential:
You are trustworthy.
And sometimes, yes, it takes courage to trust what you find there.
What I've Come to Believe
I've spent more than 25 years building programs, leading teams, working with executives and university faculty, designing learning experiences, and helping people navigate change inside complex organizations.
Along the way, I've trained and certified in executive coaching, behavioral analysis, leadership development, and process improvement. I use what is useful. I question what isn't. The tools inform my work, but they've never been the point.
What has stayed with me are a few convictions:
Your instincts were never the problem.
Internal authority is not rebellion. It is responsibility.
We often reward people for the very adaptations that disconnect them from themselves.
Awareness is not transformation.
The ability to think for yourself is a form of freedom.
A Few More Things About Me
All of these things are true. Make of that what you will.
- I grew up in Korea — third-culture kid, true fan of K-Beauty, K-Dramas, and K-Pop. My BTS obsession is not a phase.
- I also grew up on planes. These days my passport mostly collects dust, and frankly, it's insulting.
- I'm an adoptive mom to a son who is somehow nearly grown, which seems administratively impossible.
- I love fast cars — mine, and pretty much anyone's on an F1 grid.
- Give me sun. Poolside, beach, patio — I don't need much convincing once the temperature hits 80.
- I have a deeply ingrained do it right the first time gene and an equally strong aversion to doing something the hard way just because that's how it's always been done. Less effort, better result? Now you have my attention.
- I like my coffee flavored. Yes, flavored. Coconut, caramel, something involving chocolate — plain coffee had its chance.
- Grilled cheese may be the perfect sandwich. Dress it up with apples and fancy-schmancy cheese, or give me cheddar with tomato soup and leave perfection alone.
- Fall is lovely. Fall scents are not. Pumpkin spice can stay home.
- "Why?" I've been asking that question since birth, to the enduring frustration of my parents, my bosses, and now my son. I don't see that changing anytime soon.
On Air
I've done a lot of interviews — more than 130 at last count — and I genuinely love them.
Not the scripted kind. The live ones.
Someone asks a real question, and I get to think it through with them in real time. We follow the thread, make connections, and usually end up somewhere neither of us quite expected. More often than not, it turns into a little on-air coaching — which might be my favorite part.
I'm going back through those conversations now and collecting them here around the ideas and questions we explored — aging, grief, body image, personal growth, leadership, Intentional Optimism, and plenty more.
If you want to hear how I think, this will be a pretty good place to start.
I'm building the collection now. Check back soon.
And if you're looking for a guest who'll actually engage instead of reciting talking points, that's what you get.
Get Started
You are trustworthy.
But when you’ve spent years listening to expectations, expertise, urgency, and everyone else’s version of what you should do, hearing yourself clearly can take some practice.
This three-day email series is a place to begin.
Three short invitations to notice what’s shaping your thinking, hear what you may have been talking yourself out of, and begin trusting what you find there.
