Hi! I’m Allison (she/her)
I’m a self-trust coach for exhausted over-extenders: the big-hearted helpers and ambitious achievers who are ready to prioritize and honor their own needs.
Let’s interrupt the Culture of Not Enough-ness and break free from being positively perceived & deeply depleted.
It’s time to establish a secure, satisfying, & sustainable relationship with your life — and yourself.
I’m certain I became a coach because I eavesdropped on my Mom’s phone calls as a child.
She was a caterer by trade. She was also the person all her friends would call when sh*t hit the fan in their personal lives.
I’d sit on the landing of the stairs with my feet up the wall, listening to the conversation around the corner, never knowing what was happening on the other end of the line but sensing we all trusted that her presence was big enough to hold them through it.
I aspire to hold space like she does.
I was educated as a geographer. It shapes everything I do as a coach.
Geographers study the relationship between people and their environments, scaling between the experience of the individual and the collective. It’s a practice that has made me excellent at synthesizing constellations of information and identifying how cultures and systems of power manifest in our stories about ourselves, one another, and our society.
What this means for you is that I will re-contextualize your challenges to help you dissolve shame. When we realize our limiting beliefs about ourselves are a byproduct of a larger Culture of Not Enough-ness and not because we are uniquely broken, we can depersonalize and release them with a lot more ease and self-compassion.Geographers also create maps, which give us perspective. They help us orient when we feel stuck or lost, indicating important features that we want to move towards or, sometimes, avoid. They’re handy when we are seeking reassurance that we’re going in the right direction or when we’re pinpointing our arrival at a specific destination.
What this means for you is that we will help you make informed decisions aligned to your values and vision. We’ll hone your inner compass so as you navigate your context, you feel grounded in your integrity and self-worth.
I served as an educator because I love learning. I left because I needed to learn how to honor my own needs and desires.
As a former educator and high school administrator, I hold nearly a decade of experience in designing and facilitating learning experiences for both young people and adults. This shapes my love of working with clients 1:1 as well as in groups.
What that means for you is my number one priority is to support you in growing your capacity to apply your learning on your own, so you trust your inner wisdom. I am excellent at meeting you where you are and differentiating the learning process to help you develop the knowledge or skills necessary to bridge the gap to where you want to be. As someone who left a career field that holds a lot of virtuous subtext, I’ve had a lot of practice untangling my sense of self from the work that I do and how I am perceived by others.
What this means for you is that I can hold space for big existential questions and support you with gently untangling the spoken and unspoken “rules” you’ve picked up for how your life is “supposed” to look. I also know just how valuable it is to have someone who will stand by you as you courageously reorient towards your own truth.
My Credentials
I am curious and I love learning. I invest my time, money, and energy in my own personal and professional development, and it shapes my capacity to hold an informed, caring space for my clients. This is not an endorsement of each of these programs, but does reflect experiences that impact my practice and approach today.
Numethod Facilitator - Level 3 (2024)
I completed a year-long trauma sensitive training with Carmen Spagnola, refining my ability to weave principles of attachment, somatics, justice and collapse into my group and 1:1 facilitation.
Master’s in Educational Leadership, Credential in Administrative Services, Mills College (2019)
I studied trauma-informed leadership under Tovi Scruggs-Hussein and Shawn Nealy-Oparah, and honed my adaptive leadership approach to navigate complex, nuanced challenges in a values-centered way.
Certified Mastery Method Coach from the Institute for Coaching Mastery (2021)
I completed a 300-hour Mastery Level Coaching Certification program, accredited by the Association for Coaching and the International Coaching Federation.
Certificate in Somatic Embodiment & Regulation Strategies with Linda Thai, LMSW (2023)
I practiced embodying nervous system strategies for tending to anxiety, overthinking, emotional flooding, and being overwhelmed. We explored the impact and role of trauma at an individual and family level as well as at a systemic and societal level.
National Equity Project, Facilitator Training (2018)
In collaboration with other instructional leaders, we explored tools and practices to design and facilitate meetings with a lens for more equitable discourse and engagement.
My Lineage and Teachers
Out of transparency, as well as gratitude and respect for the work of my teachers, I am listing some of the people who have had the greatest influence of my body of work.
Carmen Spagnola if I had an older sister, I would hope she’d be like Carmen. Intuitive, confident, and unafraid to call bullshit on systems of oppression, she’s honed her lens at the intersection of political analysis, spiritual animism, somatics, and attachment. In a world of collapsing systems, she anchors me with her hope, feistiness, and wisdom.
Sally Hardie is a nervous system fairy whose reverence for the magical coherence of our bodies and irreverence for the cultural “should’s” shapes much of my practical understanding of the nervous system and the unconscious mind.
Kelly Diels is a feminist culture-maker and intellectual powerhouse whose work on intentionally crafting our businesses with liberatory, justice-centered practices has transformed how I work.
Linda Thai, LMSC is a somatic and trauma therapist whose vast personal and professional understanding of psychosomatic therapy humbled me. Her approach broadens the Euro-centric fixation on the child-parent relationship to include the intergenerational and political impact of societal systems of oppression.
Marlo Lewis, LCSW was my first therapist. I doubt she was the first person to tell me I was worthy of love just by a function of being a person on the planet, but she was the first person who told me in a way where I really heard it. She inspired me to transition into coaching.
Simone Seol is a joyful marketing coach whose emphasis on honing our authentic voice and bespoke self-expression has encouraged me to let down my guard and more freely express my ideas in the world.
A Little About Me Personally
I am a white, cis woman who is able-bodied and neuro-typical. I was raised in and remain on the unceded territory of the Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone people, more recently known as Oakland, CA. Growing up as the only child in my household, I spent a LOT of time outside in Bay Area regional parks, which shaped my curiosity, reverence for, and commitment to caring for and learning from the land.
I went into Geography because I wanted to study how systems of power that shape people’s access to resources can either reinforce or disrupt colonial and capitalist dynamics. I have grappled with how effective coaching is as a means to create a more just and equitable world, and (presently) believe that supporting people to be in right relationship with themselves is one piece of the puzzle towards stewarding a greater sanctity for Life—between one another and with the land. I am committed to using my business and my platform to interrupt the underlying myth of Not Enough-ness which drives dynamics of consumption, exploitation, and discrimination.
Given the challenges of the context we are living in, I am intentional to cultivate joy, wonder, and awe in my life. I am a brilliantly untrained dancer (unless we are counting MTV’s TRL), and 9 out of 10 times will be the first person on the dance floor at any given wedding.
I am blessed to live with my creatively brilliant and hilarious partner of 10 years and co-parent two perfect, mischievous, and occasionally warring cats.
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