Inspiring * Transformational * Courageous * Personable

Going Solo

Thank you Evelyn Wiseman for featuring me for your Go Solo community of entrepreneurs and small business owners. The folks that hustle every day without a safety net are the heroes of our communities and our economy.  I’m honored to be counted among such an inspiring group! ...
Read More →

I miss…

Today as we celebrate our fathers, the fathers of our children and the special father figures in our lives.   We take time to honor all the men who have played important formative roles in our lives and in the lives of those we love. In honor of my father (aka Papi) I went to the...
Read More →

I’m Not THAT Brave

(Photo taken 4 months before my parents were killed on AA Flight #965) “It says something about our country that people around the world are willing to leave their homes and leave their families and risk everything to come to America. Their talent and hard work and love of...
Read More →

The Many Faces of PTSD

According to the American Psychological Association: “PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is an anxiety problem that develops in some people after extremely traumatic events, such as combat, crime, an accident or natural disaster. People with PTSD may relive the event...
Read More →

FAA and Boeing’s Blunder

Did you know I survived a Boeing 757 plane crash on my 21st birthday?  Did you know that’s how I lost my parents?  Out of 164 souls on board, all but 4 died when the plane crashed right into the side of the Andean peak near Cali, Colombia named Monte Delulvio.  Translated, Mount...
Read More →

For the Love & Honor of Friendship

I’m honored to have had my life combine in the paths Denise Henning and Nancy Cline back in 1996. These two beautiful women came into my life when it had been completely destroyed by a plane crash that killed my parents and left me in the ICU for months in critical...
Read More →

Dream On!

My dad came to the United States from Colombia as a professional wrestler in the 1960’s.  He barely spoke any English and was armed with only an elementary school education.  My mother came from Nicaragua and even though she had accomplished a post graduate education from...
Read More →

The Power of YOU

I became a citizen of the United States in the seventh grade.  As a Canadian 13 year old girl with Latino parents, it was a fantastic experience to learn about what an honor being an “American” truly is.  I wasn’t born into it.  It was a choice.  It was a...
Read More →

Dreams DO Come True!

The Olympics Games are an amazing example of watching dreams become reality.  To see all the hard work and dedication invested by the athletes finally pay off is inspiring.  To know when they cross that finish line or score that final point embodies an emotional culmination of...
Read More →

You are that ONE person

You’re just one person. In your mind you might hear “I’m not powerful.  I’m don’t have all the connections.  I can’t make a difference.” Don’t listen to that inner voice because it’s rarely true. Case in point is this...
Read More →

How Did That Make You Feel?

Last week I received a random email via my website.  As many random emails I receive, it started simply with a “I don’t know if you remember me but…” This email was from someone who thought I wouldn’t remember them.  This email was from someone that...
Read More →

Reason to Celebrate… To See, To Feel, To Be!

I have TWO big and adorable reasons to celebrate International Rare Disease Day… Dorian and Wynn Johnson my awesome baby boys.  These little guys are my heroes.  They have brought me to the world of rare diseases.  They have connected our family with other i-cell warrior...
Read More →
12