I’ve spent much of my life in the relentless pursuit of success—whether it was in sports, academics, raising my daughters, or building St. Helena Olive Oil Co. I lived by the thrill of taking risks, by the drive to achieve. And yet, in 2015, everything shifted in a heartbeat. A car accident left me with a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and in an instant, I became a stranger to myself. The sharp edges of my once-clear world blurred, and the symptoms that followed felt like a distant separation from who I once knew myself to be. Contrary to what the doctors assured me, 30 days passed, and I didn’t get better. I got worse.

The body speaks to us in whispers, and sometimes it takes something profound to listen. The turning point in my recovery came when I met a neuropsychologist, Dr Olcese, who didn’t just treat my brain—he acknowledged the interconnectedness of my entire being. He shared that for my brain to heal, I had to heal my emotional body too. At the time, I didn’t fully comprehend the depth of his insight, but I felt a quiet readiness to step into the process—a journey that would guide me back to the innate wisdom within myself.

Through nervous system education, cognitive therapy, and plant and energy medicines, I began to unearth the layers that needed healing. Letting go of my 25-year-old business—my production facility and retail stores—was a profound moment of surrender, requiring me to accept that holding onto the life I had built would only keep me from stepping into what was waiting for me. Two years into this process, I encountered another catalyst—a California wildfire that took almost everything. I escaped with my dogs but left behind the remnants of the life I had known. Moving to Santa Barbara, near my children, marked the beginning of a new chapter. There, I discovered ImagineX and underwent a brain bootcamp, a significant step toward healing through functional medicine. Yoga teacher training grounded me further, bringing alignment to the pieces of my journey.