I wasn’t “good” at Math as a student. I honestly faked understanding math all the way through high school which makes my journey to today, running Empower Consulting, a Math Professional Development consultancy, both unlikely and rewarding at the same time. I started my career as an Elementary school teacher and loved it. I never saw myself teaching anyone other than those fun loving kinder through 6th graders. It honestly wasn’t until I was hired to teach after-school math intervention that the light bulb really came on.  I’d like to apologize to all of my early classes of students— I’m afraid I taught them the way I was taught, and I know better now.
 
Once I started teaching intervention, number strategies came alive!  Why hadn’t I ever learned this way before? My third grade after school intervention group was really my intervention group and I spent hours learning the methods and doing the math myself. I finally understood how numbers broke apart.  I understood more about problem-solving and breaking problems down. It changed my life.  No, really.  It was from here that the fire was sparked, and I was committed to being my own teacher.
 
I was going to learn how math really worked and this drive led me down the career path that I am on now.  Teaching math was my ticket to becoming the mathematician I have always been but whom I was afraid to let out.
 
Now I know, exploring, risk-taking and just trying are many of the reasons I AM a mathematician…. and a good one at that!  I’m still my own math teacher, but now I know enough to continue to build my tribe of trusted math advisors.  One thing hasn’t changed. Doing the math will continue to be how I learn the math.
 
Now I get to work in schools across the country and share my passion for math with teachers who are as eager and excited as I am.
 
When I’m not traveling, I spend every waking moment with my beautiful and crazy tribe: my husband, daughter, son, amazing miniature labradoodle, 5 coi fish, 1 gecko, 1 beta fish and a bunch of half dead house plants.  The humans in the family love to spend time in the Colorado Rocky Mountains snowboarding/skiing,  camping  and worshipping my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I love playing games and  I make my sweet family try out every board, card, and dice game out there as they mostly humor the teacher in me.  I’m an avid tennis player, pinterest obsessor, and historical fiction reader.