I am a licensed massage therapist, and I am working on my Bachelor’s of Science of Kinesiology at Oregon State University. I am passionate about improving individual’s quality of life and always strive to expand my scope of practice and ability to do more for everyone in my care. I value a strong work-life balance to ensure I can continue providing service.

To me, leadership means showing not telling people what to do, accountability, and empathy. I believe, as a leader I should listen, support, and guide in order to be effective. I will inspire my team to believe in themselves, try new things, and think outside the norms. In myself and in my team members, I value kindness, loyalty, and boundaries. I will not tolerate dishonesty from myself or those I lead. My ultimate goal as a leader is to help everyone and myself become the best version we can be.

Independent Contractor with Aura Grace Medical Group

Independent Contractor with Color Country Holistic Spa

Massage Therapist at Doterra

Projects

Professionalism

and Work Ethic

Becoming more comfortable asking questions and fostering relationships with coworkers.

Teamwork/Collaboration

Coordinate with the doctors on staff to ensure patients receive care that is tailored to their needs.

Delegated creation of my social media materials.

Oral/Written Communications

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

Draft and edit promotional materials for social media presence.

Network to expand my clientele and resources.

Each new patient comes with their own needs and I work with them to curate the treatment to what works best to provide the best healing that I can.

Digital Technology

Developed and maintain bookkeeping spreadsheets to organize income and expenses for taxes.

Comfortable using any number of scheduling apps.

Leadership

Equity and Inclusion

Communicate with the individual who makes my marketing materials what the expectations are, and ensuring she has what she needs to be successful.

Focus on phrasing questions in a more open ended way that encourages a variety of viewpoints.

Career Management

Consistently staying current with new information by taking continuing education courses and reading published articles.

Reflections

Fall 2023

These last ten weeks of working with my mentor have been extremely nourishing and enlightening. My most meaningful takeaway has been the overall personal relationship with my mentor. I have not had a similar opportunity in my academic and professional career. This experience has helped me answer questions I didn't even know I had going into this term. As the term progressed, we have focused on long term goals. It is important to have a complete understanding of the demands and rewards of careers. As a working mother, I appreciate that the other demands on my time are an important part of our discussions since they influence my goals and aspirations. Since I am evaluating the best direction to take, we are exploring a variety of options for what I can do after graduating from OSU. This personalized guidance and understanding has created an amazing opportunity for growth.

I have gone from having a set goal with a set path to what I can a “working” plan. This allows me to maintain a big picture focus and adaptability. I am still refining this technique as an individual who usually plans things out to the letter. At the moment, it looks like having general goals that I use to make plans and decisions until I reach different checkpoints. At these checkpoints, I evaluate the goals and make sure they are still a good fit. If they are, then I look at what I need to work on next. If they are not, I research and adjust them. Currently, my goal is becoming a physical therapist. One checkpoint is graduating from OSU. After graduating, I plan to pursue a career in a Cardiopulmonary rehabilitation clinic. This functions as both a goal and a checkpoint. Once I have graduated, if not before, I will consider its benefits and requirements. The beauty of this system is that I am allowing myself flexibility for life’s surprises while remaining motivated to improve.

Overall, I have implemented this mindset with a lot of success for not having a history of being flexible. My natural tendency to consider all the angles of a problem translates very well to evaluating goals at each checkpoint. At the same time, this technique helps me not get caught up in how things “should be going” and focus on the current situation. In my school life, I have found myself being open to new ways of doing things like note taking styles and study techniques. In my professional life, I am focusing on getting out of my comfort zone by increasing the social media presence for my business and mingling with my colleagues in the office. In my personal life, I have noticed a significant decrease in frustration and misunderstandings as I am focusing on the present and working on being flexible. I am looking forward to continuing this growth and adjusting as I learn even more.

Winter 2024

This past term has been quite different from the previous. On top of taking only Kinesiology courses, I have been able to establish strong routines and enjoyed the most stability in a long time. Because of this, I have experienced a lot of growth this term. My most meaningful takeaway from the last ten weeks was that I have fully adjusted to my new capacities following brain surgery and postpartum mental health challenges. For a while, I wanted to get back to my past habits of working as much as possible, getting the best grades, and always saying yes to helping others. Then, I struggled with the fact that I physically and mentally could not handle that level of strain. Now, as I’ve come through my fifth term back in college, I look back and am able to admire my regained strength and my learned ability to set boundaries. It was about halfway through the term when I realized I was managing my workload as appointments increased, classwork, and home life with greater ease than I have in a long time. I also noticed that it was in part because I was not overstepping my limits and asking for help when I needed it.

I used to think leaders needed to be infallible, so that everyone could depend on them. However, between my experiences these last five years and discussing leadership this term, I have learned that I was very wrong. Leadership is more about your personal values and how they dictate your choices than it is a position you hold. At the moment, I do not operate in any formal positions of leadership, however, I am able to build leadership skills and lift those around me regardless. As we read Dare to Lead by Brene Brown, I tried to apply what I was learning to my “leadership role” as a parent with my husband in our “leadership counsel.” I have worked especially hard on the communication aspect of leadership. As stated before, I am not naturally inclined to ask for help. Unfortunately, this can lead to frustration from both parties and further lack of communication. By spending increased attention on communication, I have noticed that we have found new solutions to problems that we’ve struggled with in the past and experience a happier, less stressful atmosphere in our home. Although this is not directly applicable to leading in a work environment, I know that having an understanding of the difference these leadership skills make is invaluable.

Spring 2024

When I first decided to enroll in the CATALYST program, it was in part due to the fact that I have a lot of experience with the content of the other courses that are available to fill the same graduation requirement, but I didn’t have a full understanding of what this program entailed. Little did I know how amazing of an experience it would be to participate. I am glad that I decided to step outside my comfort zone.

Working with my mentor, I have gained and strengthened so many intangible skills. As someone who struggles asking for and/or accepting help, one of the biggest takeaways I had was that service benefits both the person being helped and the one doing the helping. Rather than feeling like I am inconveniencing the other person, I am working on graciously accepting that I don’t need to do everything myself even if I can. Since the beginning, my mentor and I have focused on balance: balancing time, efforts, expectations, and so much more. I have a better understanding that what balance looks like is going to vary from day to day or task to task, but by recognizing that, I can be productive and respectful of my capacity.

My confidence in my ability to reach my goals professional and personal has grown immensely over the course of these last three terms. So often people give advice to seek out mentors and write out your goals, but no one explains how to do that and do it well. After this experience, I have practice doing both of these, and could do it again. I was just asked to take on leading and directing the children’s (2-11 year olds) organization in my congregation at church. This would have been extremely daunting to take on even a few months ago. However, wrapping up this term and looking back at all I have learned and how much I have grown, I feel confident in my ability to take on this new role and the responsibility it comes with.

I look forward to applying what I have learned this past year and continuing to seek out these types of opportunities in my personal, professional, and educational life. Although, this has been a challenging year for me overall, I know that it was “growing pains” as I look back and realize how different I am from the woman I was in September. I know that this is in part due to this program and the lessons I have learned as I worked with my mentor and took a more planning mentality towards my goals and future while utilizing the tools in this course.