For thirteen years, I taught (and retaught) story structure to middle school students. How to analyze characters, map out plot lines, and understand that the most profound transformations and the greatest lessons only come after the greatest struggle. Characters drive the plot, and the Main Character is the catalyst for resolving the conflict.

In November 2024, with my three-year-old son in my arms, I walked out the door of my marriage, moved into my parent’s house, and, like a Hero starting their journey, Crossed the Threshold to a new story.

Within months, the true hero of my life—my YiaYia—passed away, and everything went from tough to impossible. I found myself in the thick of Act II, navigating the exhausting aftermath of separation, single parenting, and deep loss; struggling to recall the inner strength that had gotten me this far.

I quit my job, shed relationships that no longer served me, and slowly began to see a new horizon.

Weeks after graduating from KU with degrees in Journalism and Psychology, I moved to deep South Texas to teach middle school English with Teach for America, an organization I had learned about only a few months before.

I learned a lot through teaching - about myself, other people, our brains, how impactful context can be, especially regarding opportunity and success.

My ability to thrive in fast-paced, often urgent, environments and my childlike joy for life and love for learning was a great match for seventh graders. The satisfaction I gained from reading translated to enthusiasm in my classroom, and I thrived.

During my thirteen years teaching, I also coached cheerleading, led various grade level and content teams, mentored new teachers and hosted student teachers, planned field trips, behavior and reward systems, and generally managed all the needs of many different people all at the same time.

From COVID to pregnancy, there were many reasons I transitioned from classroom teaching in 2020. While I job searched, I virtually tutored students, provided instructional coaching for teachers, and wrote freelance curriculum. In early 2021, I began working as a specialist for a secondary English curriculum - designing and leading professional development, sales presentations, and implementation support. From there, I worked with a technology product centered on aligning educator data. Through both roles, I realized my desire to mentor and support the learning of others was fulfilled both in leading students and adult learners.

The pivot from classroom teaching to working remote wasn’t immediately difficult for me, even though I’m generally extroverted. After all, it was COVID, and almost everyone was living and working remotely. By the time the world opened back up, I was a new mom, and grateful for the flexibility of remote work. I was too busy and far too tired to realize how isolated I had become.

When I realized I needed to leave my marriage, I was fueled by the hope and belief that a different future would be better. I had no idea just how long, hard, and dark the journey to a better future could be, but I believed in the possibility.

At a lot of points, I felt confused. It felt like so many conflicting things continued to be true. I felt like so many things about me were conflicting, but true. So, I started looking for ways to qualify, and maybe even quantify why I felt so at odds with myself.

As I dug up my results from/ took/ retook all the personality and working style assessments, I no longer felt confused. I felt interested in and curious about my unique blend of core traits.

Then, I had to know… how could personality and/or working style assessments serve as information and data about a person’s character profile. Could we, essentially, create an outline, like when analyzing a character, to analyze thoughts, actions, words, and motivations? Because just like characters are impacted by setting, context, and other characters, so are each of us, and, like readers predicting what may happen in a story, we can better predict, and prepare for our story, too.