I am a starter.  My first blog went live in 2008 after the birth of my first son and the biggest transition of my life. 2008 was the year I moved from New York City to White Bear Lake, Minnesota, got married, and started a family.

Blog #1

The blog was called “Urban to Suburban,” and with it, I quipped about my 23 year old experience moving from big city life to the Northern suburbs of the Twin Cities. I also discussed fashion. I covered everything from high fashion to yoga pants to commenting on the first lady, Michelle Obama’s inauguration style. It was a killer little blog though simple in appearance, and I had a handful of subscribers which in hindsight, I realize was a huge deal. If I had continued with that first blog, I probably would’ve been writing this from the back of my yacht. Unfortunately, I’m not (always) a finisher.

My second blog, Twinningmom.com, went live in 2015 as an attempt to document my surprise twin pregnancy. I posted some practical, humorous, raw, and profound articles on that blog; however, similar to my first blog, I no longer have the record. I don’t even remember where I hosted UrbantoSurburban.com and after failing to renew the domain name, the blog eventually faded away.

Blog #2

My second blog, Twinningmom.com, was a short lived journey through my twin pregnancy that ended with the climactic near-death experience of my twins’ birth. The event that inspired me to launch my first company, Take 12.

Take 12 was a registry for parents faced with unpaid parental leave. I threw my heart and soul into that business to help provide solutions for parents in the US who “just deal with” our national crisis of zero federal paid family leave. That was 2016 by the way. We have made no progress as a country.

As part of our website I did start a blog section to provide additional resources for our users, but I never felt I could use my FULL voice in that text as I needed to stay neutral and informative. I needed to stay with in my Niche. A niche in which I knew a crap-ton, but where my creativity and writing voice went to die. I’m not counting Take 12’s blog as my third, as it was more of a resource center.

I made the very conscious decision to shut down Take 12 in January of 2020 due to my progressing health issues and hitting the end of our financial runway. We were just short of successfully launching the new B2B facing model of the business. It was heartbreaking and humbling, but by March of 2020 I understood that my faith in trusting when to stop was the correct decision for everyone involved. Q1 of 2020 would have not been a great month to pitch a software product to HR departments to help companies allow parents to stay home from the office.

Blog #3

From 2016-2022 I climbed the corporate ladder, earned my MBA, and wrote a book! After extensive research and discussion with publishers who loved what I had to say, I learned that it is difficult to successfully launch a book when nobody knows who you are. Although I find my memoir amusing, these days you need to have a strategy that helps to bring your book to life and your voice to the masses. You also need to have a niche.

That is what brings us all here to my third blog. After a lot of soul searching and prayer, I realized that determining “my voice” did not resonate with me. I could not square the echoing call to show up as my “authentic self” while also whittling my ridiculously eccentric life into a palatable niche for everyone to “get”. My authentic self is multifaceted and ever evolving. I don’t want a niche.

Beginning the Journey

In an effort to show up as myself I have also learned how difficult that actually is. Writing my book was a grueling exercise of telling my stories, making a point, then deleting the whole thing because it felt forced or fabricated. As I dig further into the blogosphere I find myself comparing myself and wondering if I am enough.

I question if the things I know and the guidance that comes so naturally to me is really of value compared to the perfectly curated graphic design and 500K Instagram follower of the blogger next to me. It’s time for me to cut that shit out.

This next step is a journey in faith, self-expression, and longing to show up unapologetically and help others do the same.

So that’s what I’m here for. To explore what it means to bring my gifts to the surface without judgement in an effort to contribute to humanity in a way that only I am able. To dissect the overly-abused term “authenticity” and challenge myself to bring my whole truth instead of filtering to fit in a bucket that someone else created.

My niche is teaching others to live unbridled and to explore what makes them amazing as well as identifying where they may be called to grow outside of the ONE lane the world has told them to stay in. I am here to challenge others through challenging myself.

In this space I will share my favorite and messiest parts about success, failure, entrepreneurship, parenting, and more.

I will add value by teaching on the areas where I know a thing or two including career pathing, “Starting Up”, real estate investment, and raising imperfect offspring. Let’s co-create a space where we can be ourselves, all the while exploring the word “authenticity” instead of figuring our our “brand” and labeling it authentic.

I’m glad you’re here and I ask you to subscribe and reach out on social to join me in becoming a No Niche Wo/Man.