What Monarch Is

Monarch is about building your most interesting decade yet.

More style. More health. More technology. More travel. More freedom. More fun.

I don't believe our best years are behind us. I think they're still ahead of us, and I'm building Monarch around that belief. This is a place for healthy aging without the fear around it, timeless style that doesn't chase trends, practical AI that actually makes life easier, travel that creates real memories, and the freedom to keep growing no matter what decade you're in.

If that's the kind of life you want to keep building too, I'd love for you to build it alongside me.

How Monarch Became This

For almost thirty years, my life wasn't really about me. I built a career as a speech language pathologist, raised two sons, cared for my aging parents, and spent years helping keep my son Henry alive through his complex medical challenges. I loved that version of my life. But it also meant that whoever needed me most came first, always.

Then things changed all at once. I lost Henry. My divorce became final about two years later. And my younger son Sam grew into the independent young man I'd always hoped he'd become. For the first time in my adult life, I had to ask myself a question I'd never really had the chance to ask before. What do I want my life to look like now?

I still loved speech therapy after more than three decades in the field. But I also wanted more freedom, more time, more room to create something new. So I started experimenting, and if you've followed me at all, you probably noticed the range. One stretch I was writing about grief. Then it was style, then AI, then travel, then wellness. It looked like I couldn't make up my mind.

I understand why it looked that way. But I wasn't chasing a string of unrelated ideas. I was figuring out what a full life could look like on the other side of loss.

Grateful Grieving - my book and then podcast - came first, because I wanted people to feel less alone after losing someone they love. Then I gave myself permission to explore something I'd quietly loved for years, style, and opened a small studio helping women find their colors and build capsule wardrobes. When a physical storefront wasn't giving me the freedom I wanted, I rebuilt it into something women could use from anywhere. I developed software tools for the style services I was providing.

Around that same time, AI moved into everyday life, and it felt like coming home. I've spent years working in technology alongside speech therapy, so this wasn't a detour, it was the next step. My son Sam and I started AI Skill Studio because I believe people over 40, 50, and 60 deserve to feel capable with new technology instead of left behind by it.

I got serious about healthy aging too, not out of fear of getting older, but because I want the strength to actually enjoy the years ahead. And somewhere along the way, I discovered how much I love to travel, which eventually led me to work as a travel advisor as well.

The name Monarch means more to me than I ever expected. Henry visits me as a monarch butterfly, and every time I see one, I think of him. A friend once reminded me that the monarch doesn't start out as a butterfly. It spends time in the chrysalis first. These last few years have been mine.

Monarch is where all of it lives now. I'm building this life one piece at a time, and I'd love for you to build yours alongside me.