I am a lifelong hiker, outdoor educator, and community leader. For decades, I built a life that looked “successful” on paper while quietly ignoring the parts of myself that needed space, movement, and meaning.

In 2025, a series of reckoning moments arrived all at once: a divorce, life-threatening illnesses, the loss of nearly all my belongings to toxic mold, and finally, a layoff. Simultaneously, the political climate’s impact on tourism left my business with its lowest bookings ever. For years, my pattern was to get knocked down, get back up, and resume the status quo. But this time, the old way simply wasn't working anymore.

In that unencumbered space—where certainty fell away but possibility rushed in—I realized something new was waiting.

Within weeks of being laid off, my life partner and I radically pivoted. We gave up our lodgings, put what remained into storage, purchased a teardrop trailer we named the Lovebug, and set out on a "flip-flop" thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. This journey became my turning point. Over hundreds of miles, the trail taught me to slow down, listen, and advocate for myself—skills just as essential in the boardroom as they are in the backcountry.

This is the story of how I stopped getting back up and started moving forward.