What Informs My Work

I have never found one framework that explains everything.

I’ve spent much of my life exploring different ways of understanding what it means to be human—from business and psychology to contemplative traditions, group work, embodiment, and altered states of consciousness.

Some I have studied formally. Others I have learned through practice, facilitation, and direct experience. Together, they shape how I work.

Before Everything, the Business World

After studying at Brown University, I spent 15 years in finance, from investment banking in NYC to Silicon Valley.

That world trained me in precision, directness, rigor, and attention to detail. It also gave me firsthand experience of the environments many of my clients inhabit—the ambition, complexity, difficult decisions, and pressure that come with leadership.

I understand that our inner and professional lives are not separate. Questions of identity, worth, belonging, power, purpose, and relationship inevitably shape how we work and lead.

Psychology, Coaching & Group Work

My interest in psychology began with my own questions and eventually became formal study. I trained as an Integral Coach through New Ventures West and later became a teacher at the Hoffman Process. Since then, I’ve led more than 30 retreats and worked with individuals and groups in many settings, including YPO Forums.

I am currently pursuing a master’s degree in Drama Therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), deepening my exploration of experiential, embodied, and relational approaches within a therapeutic setting.

Over time, I’ve learned to trust the intelligence of what happens between us. In a group, we become mirrors for one another—reflecting patterns, possibilities, and parts of ourselves that can be difficult to see alone. What emerges between us becomes part of the work.

Transpersonal & Psychedelic Studies

An experience at Burning Man in 2015 sparked a lasting curiosity about altered states of consciousness and the nature of mystical experience. Over the decade since, that curiosity has led me through personal exploration, transpersonal study, and increasingly formal academic inquiry.

I am completing a three-year training through AWE, a nonprofit focused on the study and exploration of mystical experience, alongside graduate study in Integrative Psychedelic Therapy at Ubiquity University. My research interests include the intersection of psychedelic studies and drama therapy, particularly the relational and experiential dimensions of MDMA-assisted therapy and psychodrama.

I have also volunteered in harm reduction and peer support at gatherings including Burning Man, supporting people navigating challenging experiences in non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Contemplative & Embodied Practice

My exploration of expanded states eventually led me toward contemplative practice. I became fascinated by the possibility of encountering through ordinary consciousness what I had glimpsed in extraordinary states—through practices such as Vipassana, self-inquiry, and nonduality.

Meditation became an important part of my life. I completed the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach and have spent more than 60 days in silent retreat.

Yoga has been another form of meditation for me. One that moves through the body. I’ve practiced for more than 20 years and am a 200-hour Yoga Alliance–certified teacher.

Over time, these practices have taught me that we don’t always need to go somewhere extraordinary to encounter something profound. Sometimes we need to become quiet enough to notice what is already here.

Learning Through Direct Experience

I believe learning how to facilitate also requires being willing to be a participant.

I have intentionally put myself on the other side of the room—through extended silent meditation, the Hoffman Process, Landmark, Authentic Relating, Stanford T-group work, Tantra, psychedelic and transpersonal retreats, and time spent learning from different wisdom traditions and communities. Some have opened me. Some have challenged me. Some have taught me what not to do. All have given me something to learn from.

Shaped by many paths, becoming my own.

I don’t see any one of these traditions or approaches as having the answer. Each offers a different way of seeing, and each has something to teach me.

I’m also aware of the life I actually inhabit. It is not in a monastery or a jungle. I live in a city, connected to my phone, juggling Zoom calls, traffic, relationships, work, distraction, and all the contradictions of modern life. If these teachings are going to mean anything to me, they have to live here too.

So my work is not about simply borrowing from these traditions or bringing different practices together. I let myself be moved and changed by what I encounter. Over time, what I experience chisels and shapes who I am. And from that, something of my own begins to emerge from deep within.

And that’s how The Retreat has emerged.

I know it will continue to evolve, just as I will.

All I can do is listen deeply for what Life wants to create through me. And surrender to that whisper.