"Set the intention to be extraordinary."

Someone once asked what I would say if I could place a message on a billboard for all humanity. What is the first step for everyone to embark on the journey of realizing their potential?

I believe it starts with a decision, the decision to refuse to settle and to instead take a stand for excellence.

But what does excellence really mean?

This is the question that motivates me. And I hope you will join me on a journey of curiosity and discovery to not only find answers to the question, but to embody and live excellence on principle.

I don’t allege to have all the answers. It’s why I keep asking, “What does excellence mean to you in your work?” in the interviews I conduct on my podcast, elevate10. Every answer from every guest draws out new facets (and sometimes even more questions) about what excellence is, could, and ought to be.

Though I don’t believe I’ll ever have “the final word” on what excellence entails, I’ve certainly learned much along my life’s journey thus far.

In fact, some of my earliest childhood memories revolve around a feeling that I was different from most of the adults who surrounded me, because they were content to live small, routine lives just getting by, working their 9-5 jobs in order to relax on the weekend and gossip about their peers. And I wanted to do something big with my life, something deeply worthwhile and worthy of being remarked upon by humanity at large.

I wanted to see the world, to explore, to understand: what is it possible for humans to be at our very best?

I began my career as a Ph.D. candidate in English Language & Literature at New York University. It was a brilliant opportunity to study humanity across the ages and from multiple perspectives as I simultaneously pursued interdisciplinary studies in History, Philosophy, Psychology, and Neuroscience. However, I came to realize that a career in academia in its current form could never fulfill the lifestyle of abundance, freedom, and self-actualizing that I craved. I left with a stronger vision of human potential, a desire to empower more people to live deeply meaningful lives, and a personal commitment to pursue entrepreneurship.

I started as a freelance ghostwriter and Pilates & Yoga instructor. I became fascinated by the work of coaching and studied life coaching, creativity coaching, and peak performance coaching. I experienced a significant epiphany when I realized that my own most profound transformational experiences came through travel. So, I decided I needed to integrate travel into my coaching offers, and I plunged headlong into developing the skills, tools, and credentials to become a successful travel advisor. This led to my establishing a travel agency, Delve Travel.

Soon after, I experienced a second epiphany when I found myself simultaneously drawn to, yet wary of, the luxury sector of travel. In confronting this vexing sense of contradiction, I came to realize I admire luxury when it truly stands for the highest levels of quality, yet I was simultaneously dismayed by all the ways many "luxury brands" fall short of this ideal.

This sparked new wide-ranging research, a new focus for both my travel brand and coaching pursuits, as well as a new mission: to elevate luxury to make it truly synonymous with excellence, human flourishing, and creative greatness.

I am now regarded as "The World's Premier Excellence Coach.” At Open Horizons Coaching, I empower and connect other entrepreneurs building high-end, premium, and luxury brands. I do so through my personal coaching, which combines consultation in luxury business strategy with peak performance training, specifically training in flow states and self-actualization. I also run an application-only exclusive club specifically for high-end and luxury entrepreneurs, Club Elevate+Aspire+. (Note: there is a complimentary level of membership to the club, but we curate to ensure that everyone accepted is serious about growing a high-end, premium, or luxury brand).

I live with my husband and young son just outside New York City, but hopefully you’ll find me absorbed in one of my favorite luxuries: taking a long walk along a beach.