Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

I grew up in Frankfort, Kentucky. Both sides of my family were early settlers there and everyone in the town knew each other. I had a wonderful childhood. I grew up playing in the woods and around the neighborhood with what seems now like limitless freedom. I used to spend hours daydreaming and looking at the clouds and things in nature.

My dad was a small business owner. I learned the ups and downs of entrepreneurship from him. As a family, we had good and bad financial years. This made my mother very nervous and it set in my mind an early goal to have skills that would provide financial security.

What is something you wish you would’ve realized earlier in your life?

I wish I had learned earlier in life that security is just an illusion and once you let go of your fears you are really free and will attract all kinds of possibilities. The first half of my life I chased after financial security and a big paycheck but I was not satisfied with my work.

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

I work in an emerging field of science, the microbiome. Much reductionist, scientific dogma shades the field. There are more and more scientists and companies starting to look at the whole system and how soil, animals, plants, and humans are connected through microbial networks but we have a long way to go.

Tell me about one of the darker periods you’ve experienced in life. How you came out of it and what you learned from it?

I have experienced many struggles and difficult times in my life – health challenges of those I love, a divorce, single parenthood, difficult work situations, and financial difficulties but I have never seen these as “dark” periods of my life. I have seen them as opportunities to learn. When my husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at an early age my father was very sad for me because the same had happened to him with my mother. He was concerned for a lifetime of dealing with a chronic neurological disease. But I said, “Who is better prepared than me because I have learned from the difficulties in your life.” Perspective is everything.

What is one thing that you do that you feel has been the biggest contributor to your success so far?

I attribute my success in large part to my complete openness to possibilities and my tenaciousness. I am open to the potential for ideas and answers coming from unconventional sources and I do not give up easily when working to solve a problem. If at first, I am unsuccessful, I come up with 1-2-3 more ideas to try and I am constantly learning from my mistakes.

What is your morning routine?

When I wake up in the morning I spend the first few minutes in bed feeling gratitude for the new day and all of the possibilities it will bring. I routinely take an early morning walk in the neighborhood or if time permits a longer 2.5-mile hike near my house. I do a morning practice of Chi Gong as well. I find if my routine with these positive practices gets upset, I am not as even-tempered and compassionate as I would like to be throughout my days.

What habit or behavior that you have pursued for a few years has most improved your life?

Daily gratitude and Chi Gong are the two habits that have improved my life in the past few years.

What are your strategies for being productive and using your time most efficiently?

I am not a slave to the schedule or other people’s priorities. I also do not feel that productivity is necessarily the ultimate goal of each day. I used to have a title in another time and place – VP Operational Efficiency, I was quite productive and efficient and spent my days driving others to be the same. Now I see that’s not the ultimate goal and as a result, my work is more meaningful and I can be more productive as needed but not as the end goal.

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do?

Breathe.

What book(s) have influenced your life the most? Why?

My husband says the house is like the Library of Alexandria, so this is a very difficult question to answer. For many years my favorite book has been The Little Prince from Antoine de St. Exupery. It seems an excellent commentary on the world even today. From a scientific perspective Light in Shaping Life: biophotons in biology and medicine by Roeland van Wijk, Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis by Robert E. Blankenship, and The Life Bridge: The Way to Longevity with Probiotic Nutrients by Richard Sharnat, M.D. are a few books that have influenced the direction of my life and how I think about the systems of the world. From a personal and spiritual perspective, The Bible, Quran, Prayers of the Cosmos, Poetry, and stories of Rumi and Nag Hammadi texts have had a significant influence on my life and interactions with others and the world.

Do you have any quotes you live by or think of often?

My favorite quote is from The Little Prince
“One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eyes.” ~ Antoine de Saint Exupery