Alongside being a certified coach focusing on leadership, life, and mindset development, Michelle has indeed found her passion. Over the last 30 years

 

Michelle has overcome many adversities in her life that lead her to have some pretty strong biases. She has survived childhood physical and sexual abuse, cancer, divorce, and the blending of two families. She was born in California, raised in Alaska, and earned her bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Carroll College in Helena, Montana. 

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Michelle was a single mother to her son Alejandro for ten years before meeting her husband Kevin and his two beautiful daughters, Rusty and Madeline. She and her son have an amazing relationship. He has grown to be a strong independent man who can identify and talk about his feelings and listen to others with an open and compassionate heart. In 2018, Michelle and Kevin decided to blend their two families and currently live in Vancouver, Washington.

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After a 27-year career with Multnomah Co. Juvenile and Adult Community Justice, Michelle retired at 53 in 2019. Her Career journey started as a Custody Service Specialist in the Juvenile Detention Center and ended with her being appointed as Deputy Director. A few months before her retirement date, Michelle looked back over her career, trying to figure out how in the hell she got there to that moment in time. She started young, overweight, and full of hope with grandiose ideas of changing the world, making her mark, and making a difference. In her first 30 days, Michelle discovered that this young overweight girl was working in a white male-dominated culture and would have to rethink who she was, wanted to be, and how to get there. Along this journey, she learned the difference between males and females, how they communicated, how they spoke to each other, and how they needed to be heard.

She also learned that leadership is NOT about the position you hold but more about how you show up, your willingness towards continual learning, and lasting changes for growth and grace. Yes… GRACE.

The grace needed to give herself and to others along the way.