Silver Linings

Welcome to my blog!

I am a single mother of two teens, as well as an author, speaker, love coach, and CEO of EmpowHer Academy. I have a Master of Journalism and have spent nearly two decades studying and writing about personal development and relationships.

I grew up on a stretch of Trans Canada Highway in (very) rural New Brunswick. A true nature nut, I spent much of my childhood climbing maple trees, helping my father in his garden, and riding my bike around our 200-acre property.

My three siblings and I didn’t have much by way of material things – our clothes were hand-me-downs and we didn’t even have a VCR until after I left for university. But we had home-grown organic vegetables, a baseball diamond and bonfire pit in our backyard, a beach only a few kilometers away, and tons of room to run and play and breathe fresh air.

At 17, I left home to go to university and get an undergraduate arts degree. A few years later I met and married a wonderful man, who died of cancer only a few months after our wedding. Losing my best friend and partner shook me to the core and caused me to begin my spiritual quest for meaning.

At 22, I moved to Ottawa to pursue a Master of Journalism, while struggling through two years of depression (losing my partner and moving away from everyone I knew in the same year proved to be a bit too much). Thankfully, I got help and came out the other side with a degree and a new lease on life. I climbed the ladder of success in communications, made new friends, remarried, had two beautiful children, and bought a four-bedroom single home in Kanata. To outside observers, I “had it all.”

But I couldn’t shake a feeling of unhappiness. While my husband was a good man, we wanted very different things in a relationship, and so I wasn’t happy in my marriage. And while I made good money, I wasn’t doing something that made a difference in the world. So I started soul searching, reading and learning about the mind-body-spirit connection. I took courses in meditation, yoga, energy healing, and “finding your life purpose.”

Then in 2009, I took a leap of faith (and a leave without pay from my government job) to start up a writing consulting business. That same year, my husband and I decided to separate, after many years of trying to make two incongruent puzzle pieces fit.

Over the past decade, I have created two successful businesses, a beautiful home and a great relationship with my kids. I started dating again, met some wonderful guys and figured out what I wanted in love. I expanded my network of friends and had a ton of fun travelling and doing cool things like zip-lining and white water rafting. 

I now own a very successful coaching business, working from home and delivering online programs to women across North America. I spend lots of quality time with my kids, have an active social life, and have learned how to nurture myself. Best of all, I love the work I do and the amazing women I get to coach.

Long story short, I love who I’ve become and the life I have created for myself, and I want to help you create a life you love too!

If you had told me twenty years ago that I’d be living in Ottawa, an entrepreneur, widowed and divorced, I could not have imagined it.  It’s funny the twists and turns our lives take. As someone who likes to have a plan, I’ve discovered that you can’t always know what’s coming next…but you can learn how to adapt and thrive, even in difficult circumstances.

Life is a ride, isn’t it? I look forward to sharing some of my discoveries as an empowered single woman with you!