My Background

When I was in fourth grade I started getting interested in Indian mythology at the library in Troy, Ohio where I was born. At this age the Native American stories interested me greatly. During the summer from 7th grade through High School I attended classes at the Dayton Museum of Natural History. This greatly influenced me to become an archaeologist. I then went to High School in Dayton, Ohio and studied various subjects. I excelled at art, biology, geometry, and english.

During High School I had a job as a counselor for teens with problems. I also worked at the Dayton Museum of Natural History cataloguing artifacts from the mastodon site and from a Hopewell village site. It was this experience that gave me incentive to major in archaeology at Wright State University. At this university I minored in art and I majored in archaeology. We had a club that was a survey group designed to locate sites. We learned how to use a theodolite and how to map out the prehistoric sites we found on private land.

After receiving my BA I decided to go to a field school near Cuautla, Mexico. Here about 30 Americans had a camp and we excavated a site with about 3 pyramids. We learned some Spanish and spent weekends traveling to nearby archaeological sites. This was an excellent way for me to get acquainted with another culture. Many weekends I traveled by myself exploring small villages and viewing various markets full of a variety of medicinals, vegetables, beans, corns, and squashes. I also visited Teotihuacan site and Tula as well as Oaxaca. All of these travels made me think of how different we live in America. Mexico seems to be so laid back compared to our rushed schedules in America. Three of us traveled together to markets and villages to get acquainted to the various Mexican tribes. We spent about 3 months there and we became very friendly. One of the places we visited was Guanajuato where there was a museum of mummies found in nearby caves. How weird it was to see these mummies. The city however was beautiful with narrow winding streets and hilly paved walkways. I also really enjoyed the city of San Miguel de Allende.

I then entered graduate school at Arizona State University where I majored in Archaeology and Anthropology. Here my future husband and I went hiking in the Superstition Mountains as well as in Sedona and other wildernesses. We both entered graduate school and made many friends. I enjoyed viewing rock art sites and I recorded (with the help of other students) the rock art covering Tempe Buttes.
Of course I studied Mesoamerican archaeology and found it fascinating. I researched the social hierarchy at Teotihuacan as well as the different types of workshops, the physical layout of the rooms for farmers vs. the priests and rulers of the city. I also had photographed the various limestone sculptures on the pyramids and other buildings.

In Phoenix I worked for the BLM as an archaeologist where I primarily became a leader of a District for protecting historic and prehistoric sites. I was a sole archaeologist on many surveys and traveled to Kingman, Tucson, the Yuma River and to northeastern Arizona. I was part of a multi-disciplinary team that wrote a large Resource Management Report. I also worked on contracts for preserving a solar observatory built by an astronomer from the Smithsonian.

I then was employed by California State Parks and Rec as an archaeological technician where I supervised a team of archaeologists to record and survey lands where underground installations were planned. I traveled throughout northern California.

I then worked for the Mendocino National Forest also as a District Archaeologist where I supervised a couple of crews doing surveys of 1000's of acres for timber sales and for tree replanting as well as for various other projects. We found hundreds of sites since the forest had a large fire the year before I arrived.

In 1999 I became a Freelance professional anthropology lecturer entertaining a number of retired people at rest homes, the public at libraries, people on retreats, and at nature preserves.

I became enlightened by watching a PBS special on Barbara Sher who spoke about her work as a Professional Coach. I had an "aha" moment and decided right then that I would take classes in life coaching and lead retreats outdoors using these skills.
This became my devotion for 3 years as I also demonstrated Alvarado Street Breads in four counties. I began to speak in front of a wide variety of audiences and gained more self esteem. I was hired by a number of clients who I attracted through trade fairs, speaking, and having a website.