My early days were a real slog. My dad committed me to the nuthouse when I was sixteen. I was rebellious, and my mother, a religious fanatic, was convinced that I was possessed by the devil. I escaped and developed a thick coat of body armor to feel safe. Tough as nails on the outside with a mess of insecurities hidden away. Armed with my sole possessions – smarts, determination and the folk songs of the 60s -- I set out to become the architect of my life without emotional support or a safety net.

I married the first man who loved me and tried to navigate his paranoia when my career took flight. I gave up, divorced him, and started my own business before getting into another unsatisfying relationship. I was like two different people for years. My career defined me. I was applauded professionally (award-winning and nationally acclaimed.) Homelife, however, was a different story, complicated and exhausting. I struggled to juggle my roles of being a mother of three, a wife, and a businesswoman, for a long, long time.

I sold my company for millions of dollars at the height of the tech market and tried to retire. I struggled playing golf, volunteered, and traveled extensively, looking for my purpose. My “American Dream life” bored me. When I saw a young girl my granddaughter's age with flies on her eyes while traveling in Niger, I had an epiphany. It was time to overcome my fears and “supposed-to’s” and take a big risk. I decided to invest my entrepreneurial skills and resources and founded Global Team for Local Initiatives. I wanted to help indigenous people gain a chance to live a healthy life. With no connections and no experience in global development work, I moved to Ethiopia, where I lived alone for eight years. Building capacity of the locals and working non-stop to raise funds, we implemented initiatives in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Functional Adult Literacy, Women’s Empowerment, Reproductive Health, Environment, and Orphans and Vulnerable Children for 100,000 extremely marginalized people in South Omo Valley (the corner of Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Kenya). 

Living alone in Addis Ababa, sitting in the dark without sufficient candlelight to do anything other than think, I began to reflect and extract lessons from my experiences. I realized that many curious, ambitious women saw what I saw when looking in the mirror, a collage of what we are “supposed” to look like according to our socioeconomic status, education, and family role, not our “real” self. I came to understand that the essence of me – my core – demanded a deep sense of self-awareness and integrity. 

It became clear that to experience happiness, I needed to set myself free by shedding the attachments hindering my personal growth. My journey led to the discovery of sixteen pathways to finding harmony and a sense of inner calm and tranquility regardless of external circumstances.

The Magic of Yes is the result of my compulsion to share what my inner wise woman has revealed. Many women are seeking to reclaim their power and need tools for self-discovery and growth. They need stories that inspire and heal so once they confront their struggles, they emerge stronger, more resilient, and aligned with their true selves. They require a blueprint that is a compassionate roadmap to embrace their wise woman within.