You’re not broken. The systems are — and you’re waking up.
Like the moment you ditch the underwire and wear your linen “vacation” dress on a Tuesday — this is where you stop performing, start listening, and let Ease and Pleasure lead.
When everything looks fine on the outside, but something inside you knows.
You can feel what’s no longer working, even if you can’t quite name what comes next.
Part of you wants to slow down. And part of you is scared of what might fall apart if you do.
Maybe you’ve stopped trusting your own yes (or your own sacred no).
Maybe your calendar’s full of things you wish you could cancel.
Maybe you’ve done everything the experts said to do, and it’s just not working for YOU.
You’re not crazy. You’re not lazy. You’re not behind.
You’re waking up.
And that can feel confusing, disorienting, and really lonely.
But you’re not alone. And your Inner Compass hasn’t gone anywhere. You’re just learning how to hear her again.
It looked like I had it together — and I almost convinced myself I did.
I had the degrees. The job titles. The carefully curated calendar. The discipline.
I said yes to the leadership roles. I kept chasing the next goal.
Because that’s what I was told would bring satisfaction — and I wanted so badly to feel proud of my life.
But the truth is, I was deeply unwell: seventy pounds heavier and thirty thousand dollars in debt. Overworking, overspending, dissociating. Carrying trauma from high-control religion and a childhood that didn’t feel safe.
Until I finally asked myself:
“What is this really costing me? Who am I when I stop trying to be ‘good’?”
That unraveling wasn’t glamorous — not like the movies where the Leading Lady has one big breakthrough and everything clicks into place. It was slower. Messier. More sacred than I expected.
It was grief — for the roles I’d outgrown, the systems that never saw me, the parts of myself I silenced just to belong, and all the joy I missed while I was living in my head instead of my body.
Even grief for losing the identity I’d built so carefully, and the illusion that it would keep me safe.
But it was also something else:
Laughter returning to my body.
Spaciousness to follow my curiosity.
Permission to make Pleasure my North Star — after a lifetime of withholding it from myself.
Because our purpose isn’t healing. We heal to make space for joy.
This is the ground we walk together.
> Love over force
Fear and shame don’t create real change. Love does. Always. This growth is rooted in care, not control.
> Sacred timing over urgency
We move at the pace of your nervous system — not your to-do list. No rush. No race. No deadlines. Here, Time is presence, not a performance metric.
> Belonging without self-abandonment
You don’t have to change to be loved. You get to be fully you, held and free.
> Deserving, not deprivation
You learn to start giving to yourself so you stop taking for yourself, and it changes everything.
> Intuition as a birthright
You already carry wisdom. My role isn’t to hand you answers — it’s to help you hear your own.
> Presence over performance
There are no roles to play or hats to wear here. You finally get to be fully seen, and fully loved.
> Curiosity over judgment
When part of you resists, I assume it has very good reasons. We bring compassion and reverence to those parts — and integrate their wisdom.
I work with people who are feeling the gap between who they’ve been and who they’re becoming.
You’ve probably done a lot of work already — you’ve read the books and binged the podcasts. All the Instagram therapy terms are like your second language.
But lately, something in you has been saying: I know there’s something more for me.
You don’t need another mindset mantra. You need a space where your whole self is welcome — and someone to walk with you while it all settles.
→ If you’re craving steady, you-shaped support, learn more about [1:1 Guidance].
→ If you long to be witnessed in community, explore [The Circle].
“Jess has a way of listening to you and then asking you questions that sometimes, quite frankly, blow your mind. One of the reasons I love working with her is the perspective she brings, and the way she frames situations to make you think about it in a completely different way. This is invaluable and has helped with my growth so much.” — Jen V.
“Jess really listens and cares. I feel like she actually hears what I am saying, even when I don’t know how to put it into words. She’s honest, loving, helpful, compassionate, and responds to questions quickly.” — Michelle F.
“I really felt deeply understood and held. It was like having a cheerleader in my corner, someone I knew was rooting for me.” — Kristin H.
if you want the official resume
- I earned my life coaching certification from the International Coach Federation
- I hold a master’s degree in non-clinical counseling and life coaching and a bachelor of science in psychology
- I earned my nutrition certification from the American Nutrition Association
- I’m a certified reiki master and yoga instructor
- I have dozens of hours of professional and continuing education in psychedelic integration coaching and spent 2 years in apprenticeship training with a psychedelic therapist
- I’ve been “professionally” coaching since 2017, mentoring and guiding since 2004, and leading women’s circles since 2023
- Before coaching & entrepreneurship, I worked 9 years as a manager in higher education administration and accounting, specifically with the military & veteran student population and their families, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Department of Defense
- I’m also a former Starbucks barista (though this New England girl would rather choose Dunkin iced coffee any day), bank teller, elementary school office administrator, and pastor.
if you wanna get really personal
- Human Design: 1/3 Splenic Projector
- Zodiac: Virgo Rising, Aries Sun, Cancer Moon
- Enneagram: 1w9
- Myers-Briggs: INFJ
- Mayan Nawal: 3 E’
- Aces (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Score: 9/10
- VIA Character Strengths: Spirituality, Perspective, Fairness, Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence, Prudence
- I’ve been married since 2005 and a mom since 2016.
- I grew up in Massachusetts; went to college outside Philadelphia, PA; lived in Long Island, NY; Toledo, OH; Detroit, MI (like actual Detroit, Hamtramck); and now I’ve lived in Virginia Beach, VA since 2011.
- I love traveling the world with my family and would love to live abroad someday. My favorite travels have been to my ancestral homelands of the Azores, Portugal, and England, Ireland, and Scotland.
- One of my greatest woundings came from being overweight and heavily criticized as a child. Up until my late 20s, I struggled with disordered eating and lived in my head instead of my body. I found profound healing (weight loss and food freedom) in 2013 when I focused on eating high protein and unprocessed foods (what I call eating Nature.) I first started coaching as a weight loss coach for women, and I always will be.
- My dad was a gambling addict and both my parents were alcoholics. Most of my life I thought I inherited some kind of chemical imbalance, but entering trauma therapy during the pandemic finally unlocked a restorying of my life that I needed.
- I’ve also experienced profound healing & expansion with the safe & legal use of psychedelics. An unexpected side effect was becoming completely enchanted by Nature.
- I lost my dad in 2017, 4 months after my daughter was born, and seeing the regret at the end of his life is what inspired me to finally start fully living my own.
- I grew up in a high control religion, went to Bible college, became a pastor, and eventually wound up in a cult. It took me years to heal and forgive myself and others, and now one of my greatest gifts is staying attuned to my own inner authority and helping others do the same.
“Having a coach who so deeply understands personality wiring, recovering from religious trauma, nutrition, weight loss, the menstrual cycle, and so many other sets of knowledge gives an integrative 360° approach to healing. Never have I felt more seen and understood by one person. Trusting other people is hard for me, and Jess exceeded my hopes and expectations in her ability to see and meet my needs.” — Maria B.