Origins
Beginnings
I was born and raised in a small town outside of Dallas, TX. One of five children, my loving father worked while my mother homeschooled her brood. A former high school English teacher, my mother woke us up at 7am to give us the structured life she never had as the child of an alcoholic parent. Both of my parents were creative people who wrote stories and played music.
Our family left Texas for the Northern Virginia area in the early 90’s and I entered junior college at the age of 14. A musician my whole life, starting with piano lessons at a young age, I then began learning guitar from my youth pastors daughter in middle school. College started at James Madison’s School of Music, then after two years I transitioned down to MTSU's in Murfreesboro, TN, where I graduated with a degree in Music Business and Mass Communication. I have performed and written on seven recorded full length albums and use this experience to coach clients with their own creative endeavors and desires.
Identity
Raised in Texas and spirited up to Washington, DC as a teenager, I re-found some of my southern identity in middle Tennessee. In 2003 I came out to my family as a gay man and a creative leader. Over the next 15 years, many summer weeks of mine were dedicated to volunteering to teach music and art creation to young women ranging in ages from 8-18 at the Southern Girls Rock and Roll Camp in Murfreesboro and other affiliated organizations located in Nashville, Memphis, DC, and New York City.
During this time I formed deep connections to hundreds of open hearted people, who appreciated my frank, honest, and healing approach to communication and engagement. I have spent 20 years guiding individuals after intense histories of child sexual assault, struggles to come out to their families as queer, drug and alcohol abuse, interpersonal & lifestyle challenges, mental health and depression/anxiety, breakups/divorce, family issues surrounding generational dysfunction and poverty, as well as providing career and general life guidance.