Hi, I'm Kimberly!

I've always been someone who loves making people smile.

I'll strike up a conversation with a stranger in the grocery store, say hello to someone passing by, or find a reason to share a little laughter. I genuinely enjoy people, and there's something wonderful about making someone's day just a little brighter.

But here's something you might find surprising.

For a good portion of my life, I was so concerned with making everyone else happy that I sometimes forgot I was supposed to be enjoying my own life, too!

Somewhere along the way, I forgot about me.

There was a time in my life when I would do just about anything to make everyone else happy.

Need me to work on Saturday? Of course!

Unhappy in our relationship? Let's figure out what I can do to make things better.

And if I finally found the courage to walk away, it sometimes took just one thoughtful gesture to bring me running back.

I was so busy trying to make everything work for everyone else that I wasn't stopping to ask a rather important question.

What about me?

It took years of relationships, disappointments, and plenty of life experience before I began to look at things differently.

I realized that I could love people deeply without making their happiness my responsibility. I could be compassionate without agreeing to everything. And I could make choices based on what genuinely made me happy, even when someone else might have chosen differently.

I still care about the people in my life just as much as I ever did.

But I've learned something that changed the way I want to live my life.

I get to be part of this too.

My feelings matter. My happiness matters. And this is my life to live.

It didn't happen overnight.

I've raised six children, experienced marriage and divorce, built a career, and navigated plenty of life's unexpected twists and turns.

And somewhere in all those experiences, my perspective began to change.

When I was younger, I often made decisions without thinking very far ahead. Later, I became much more concerned about consequences. Sometimes so concerned that I stayed for years in a marriage that wasn't making me happy because I worried about what would happen if I left.

Eventually, I began to understand something.

I could consider other people's feelings without allowing them to make my decisions for me.

And I began to see people differently, too.

We're all figuring things out as we go. We make choices, experience disappointments, discover what we prefer, and occasionally learn lessons we'd rather not have needed in the first place!

Those experiences can make us wiser, more understanding, and more compassionate.

I have a much stronger sense of who I am today than I did at 35 or 40. I also recognize that we're all at different places in our lives, regardless of our age.

And no, I haven't perfected any of this!

I still have moments when I have to remind myself of the very things I believe in. That's part of being human.

Then I discovered something that fascinated me.

More than twenty years ago, I was introduced to the teachings of Abraham Hicks, and one idea especially resonated with me.

What if you didn't have to wait for an entire situation to change before you could begin feeling a little better?

What if finding a slightly more comforting thought, looking at something from a different perspective, or simply allowing yourself to feel what you're feeling could give you a little relief?

I found that idea wonderfully freeing.

It didn't mean pretending everything was perfect. It meant recognizing that I could begin changing my own experience, even when I couldn't change the people or circumstances around me.

And I loved the thought of helping someone else discover that possibility.

And I discovered something else about women.

For a long time, I thought some of my frustrations were uniquely mine.

Making close friendships as an adult, for example. Why can something that seemed so natural when we were younger feel so difficult now?

But when I started opening up and talking honestly with other women, I discovered something surprising.

They felt that way, too!

Sometimes all it took was being brave enough to admit something I was struggling with, and suddenly we were having an entirely different conversation.

A real conversation.

Not pretending we've figured everything out. Not offering each other a list of things we should do differently.

Just two women recognizing that they understood each other.

And I thought about how rarely we get to experience that kind of connection.

As women, we are often talked AT rather than talked TO. People have advice, expectations, opinions, and ideas about what we should be doing and how we should behave.

But how often does someone simply ask how we're feeling and genuinely want to hear the answer?

That's why I created Seasoned + Strong.

I wanted to create an opportunity for women to have those conversations.

To talk about what's happening in their lives, how they're feeling, what they wish were different, and what might make life more enjoyable.

And to be genuinely heard.

When we work together, I'm not going to tell you how you should feel or hand you a list of instructions for how to live your life.

I want to hear what you think.

I'll ask questions, share perspectives you might enjoy considering, and help you explore possibilities that make you light up.

Sometimes that begins with allowing yourself to feel something you've been trying very hard not to feel. Sometimes it's recognizing that a responsibility you've been carrying was never really yours. And sometimes it's discovering that you've become so busy doing what everyone expects that you've forgotten what sounds like fun!

Ultimately, I want you to feel better, freer, and more excited about the life you're creating.

And I want those feelings to last.

A little more about me

I love time with my family, especially when we're gathered around a table playing cards. I love painting, creating things, experimenting with new ideas, and having the freedom to do something entirely my own way.

Sometimes my idea of a wonderful day is doing something fun with people I love. Other times, it's having an afternoon entirely to myself, with nobody offering suggestions about how I should spend it!

Both make me happy.

And that's really the point, isn't it?

Creating a life you genuinely enjoy, rather than one you feel obligated to live.

I'm still learning. I'm still growing. And I'm still discovering wonderful things about myself and the world around me.

My hope is that when we finish a coaching conversation, you'll be able to say something very simple:

I feel so much better now than I did when we started.

Because sometimes, feeling a little better is the beginning of something wonderful.

I'd love to hear what that something wonderful might look like for you.