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About Dr. D
What will you do with your "one wild and precious life?"
Hi, I’m Dr. D!
I’ve dedicated my career to inspiring and equipping women with the tools, strategies, and mindsets they need to overcome challenges and step into their power.
From university professor to nonprofit executive to entrepreneur, the common thread has always been joy—joy in the journey, in the work, in community, and in transformation. Mary Oliver’s question in The Summer Day fuels my mission: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” That question is at the heart of the Wild Women Workshops.
Eight years ago, I made my own badass power move—leaving a successful 20-year career to start over. I had a vision, enthusiasm, and a plan, but the overwhelm of stepping into the unknown hit hard. My confidence wavered. I second-guessed my choices, focused on the negative, played small, and gave away my power. Something had to change.
Badass University is the result of taking my own Wild Women advice. I reframed setbacks as breakthroughs, aligned my daily life with my values, asked for help, took long walks, owned my superpowers, and embraced my “why.” It’s the formula I use every day to get out of my head, out of my way, and back to my badass self.
I invite you to do the same. Join me on this journey—let’s find joy, create change, and set a course for your “one wild and precious life.”
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My Background
I’m here to light a fire under women who are done playing small and ready to own their power. With a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies and a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, I’m uniquely qualified to help you get unstuck, or live your truth, or chart a new path forward. When women rise, the world shifts.
For two decades, I taught university courses on family functioning, family stress and coping, healthy relationships, and individual development from birth to death. I’ve trained and mentored hundreds of students to think critically about parenting, trauma, grief, identity, gender, divorce, aging, violence against women, and the messy, beautiful work of becoming who we’re meant to be. I’ve also spent 15+ years in the trenches as a nonprofit executive and activist—so I don’t just know the research, I’ve lived the work. ​
You can read more about my career journey here.
My Approach
My coaching and Wild Women Workshops are spaces built on science, soul, and strategy. They are designed to help you break free from the noise, reconnect with your truth, and take bold action for positive change.
In this work, I’ll meet you where you are—with warmth, care, joy, and energy for your journey. I will apply an intersectional lens to help unpack the complexities of your lived experience, and utilize a values-based, strengths-focused, trauma-informed framework to help you move forward with clarity, power, and a plan.
This isn’t about fixing you. It’s about helping you reconnect with the wild, powerful woman within.