About Me
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I was born to be a change agent, someone who speaks truth to power and transforms people and organizations.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been committed to converting ‘good enough’ to better.
I started with my own life and career. My childhood was chaotic, unconventional and, at times, miserable. My family was seemingly always struggling to pay the bills. I lived in 13 different homes growing up and even called a rundown motel home for a time. My parents were good, honorable people who never seemed to catch a break.
Unlike a lot of families at the time, my mom was the breadwinner. She worked non-stop to put food on the table. She was a real-life Wonder Woman to me, making things magically appear when times were low for our family. She didn’t have much help from my dad, as he was an alcoholic who was fighting his own demons. But my mom refused to give up. Her grit inspired me and made me who I am today.
When I was 5 years-old, I was sexually assaulted by a group of teenagers who lived in our apartment complex. I didn’t tell a soul until I was in my 40’s. I was forever changed and went from being a kid who had been goofy and precocious to one who was constantly anxious and guarded. On that day, my worldview changed from toys and games to battlefields to be conquered or fled.
Trust was not in my vocabulary.
One day, I quit on the spot — without a safety net. I knew that I couldn’t survive one more second in that toxic culture. I also knew I wanted more from my life and career. I knew it in my bones.
I embarked on a 10-month journey of self-actualization. I started therapy and confronted my demons from childhood. My therapist put me on medication, and it transformed me.
I also went on a quest to find my first CEO role. I found that role in a private equity portfolio company, and the rest is history.
As a first-time CEO of a global e-commerce company, I turned around and grew a mature business and led a successful sale to a strategic buyer in 3 years. I went on to run a retail business during the pandemic as well as a former Navy SEAL’s training business.
I also served on a private equity board in the retail beauty business, helping to facilitate a successful exit. In 2022, I was appointed by a state legislative delegation to the Gunstock Area Commission (GAC). The GAC is the oversight body for Gunstock Mountain Resort, a treasured all-season resort in Gilford, NH.
I launched Themy in late 2021. I bootstrapped the business, investing my savings and selling a sports car and a prized watch collection. I wanted to prove that growing a profitable business and doing right are not mutually exclusive.
My mission is to put more women in positions of power — especially women of color.
Today, I have 400+ clients, and I’m curating a community of exceptional women who are ready to lead in every type of industry, organization and role. As part of my commitment to doing right, I’ve awarded over $450k in scholarships to talented women in career transition. 60% of those scholarships have been awarded to Black, Brown, Indigenous and other women of color and from other historically underrepresented groups.
I spent the next several decades learning how to navigate the world as a broken person. I had severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety disorder. But I was what people refer to as high-functioning. Achievement became an obsession – sometimes an unhealthy one.
I climbed the corporate ladder quickly, starting my career in market research and moving onto strategy consulting. I was always looking for the best impact roles and worked in a wide array of industries including education, health care, metals, energy, entertainment, retail and e-commerce.
At 34, I parlayed my gift for analytics and counterintuitive thinking into an executive career in marketing. I became one of the youngest chief marketing officers (CMO) in the television industry at Outdoor Channel, a small, independent cable network. The company was full of people who didn’t look or think like me. I loved it.
Years later, I joined HGTV as CMO. It came with a fat compensation package, a giant team and a $70 million budget. It was supposed to be a dream job.
Instead, it was a nightmare. A small group employees, led by the SVP of HR, harassed me from my first day on the job. Even so, I revitalized the tired brand and architected a game-changing strategy that propelled the network from #17 to #4. I was succeeding my job, but inside I was slowly dying.
