I didn’t set out to become an education consultant.

I was just a kid, making worksheets for my stuffed animals lined up in the living room—already obsessed with teaching before I even had a whiteboard.

At my core, I’m still that kid: a little nerdy, wildly curious, and always asking, “Why?”

Years later, after building my practice as a teacher and school administrator, I found myself leading systems-level work at the district office—designing professional development, rewriting our teacher effectiveness framework, and facilitating Instructional Rounds. One day my manager handed me a decorated mini corkboard. It had a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, Post-its, and a pocket protector filled with office supplies. A label read: “Original Teaching Nerd.” It was funny—but also true. And that moment unlocked something.

I realized I wasn’t just passionate about education. I was relentlessly obsessed with the craft of teaching—how we define it, develop it, and support it. That obsession has fueled my work ever since.

I’ve built systems, created PD from scratch, launched demonstration classrooms, and nerded out on every framework, protocol, and rubric you can think of. And still, some of my most important work has been what I’ve unlearned: recognizing how I once upheld systems that weren’t built for all kids to thrive—and learning that true transformation starts with context.