Getting Lost to Find Yourself

What if getting lost is not the end of your journey, but the beginning of discovering who you were always meant to become?

Life has a remarkable way of redirecting us. Sometimes through opportunity, sometimes through adversity, and sometimes through circumstances that leave us questioning everything we thought we knew about ourselves.

I have learned that the most powerful transformations rarely happen when life is comfortable. They happen when we are challenged to look beyond what we have lost and recognize what remains: our wisdom, our experience, our purpose, and our ability to begin again.

My journey has taken me from law enforcement to private investigations, higher education, healthcare administration, entrepreneurship, and holistic wellness. Each chapter required something different of me. Each transition revealed abilities I had not fully explored.

No experience is wasted unless we fail to recognize its value.

Kick Fear to the Curb

Ladies, we need to have a conversation about fear.

How many opportunities have we allowed to pass because we questioned whether we were qualified, prepared, attractive enough, young enough, or deserving enough? How often have we talked ourselves out of something before giving ourselves the opportunity to succeed?

Fear has a way of disguising itself as practicality. It convinces us to remain comfortable, even when comfort no longer serves our growth. I say, kick fear to the curb!

That does not mean we will never experience uncertainty. It means we stop allowing uncertainty to make our decisions.

My own journey has included professional transitions and personal health challenges that changed my voice, my appearance, and the direction of my career. I could have allowed those experiences to define my limitations. Instead, I chose to recognize my abilities.

When you truly own your skills, knowledge, and experience, your authenticity becomes far more powerful than outward appearances.

You do not need permission to evolve. You need the courage to recognize that you already possess something of value.

Your Voice Is One of Your Greatest Assets

One of the most important lessons I have learned throughout my career is that effective communication begins long before we speak. It begins with listening, understanding, and recognizing the humanity of the person standing before us.

Whether I was serving as a police officer, mentoring students, facilitating learning, working with healthcare professionals, or guiding women through wellness experiences, communication has always been central to creating meaningful change.

Words have power. But so do intention, empathy, and the willingness to understand perspectives different from our own.

As women, we must become comfortable expressing our needs, establishing boundaries, asking questions, and advocating for ourselves without feeling obligated to apologize for having a voice. We must also learn when to listen.

Effective communication is not about dominating a conversation. It is about creating understanding, building trust, and making room for solutions.

And sometimes the most important conversation we will ever have is the one we have with ourselves. What are we telling ourselves about our abilities, our worth, and our future?

Speak to yourself with the same compassion and encouragement you would offer another woman trying to find her way.

Leadership With Purpose: Caring for the Whole Person

Today, I serve as Chief Operations Officer of the Association for Improving Medical Accessibility (AIMA), working alongside my husband, a family nurse practitioner specializing in advanced wound care.

Our mission is rooted in a simple belief: Access to quality healthcare should not be determined by a person's mobility, circumstances, or ability to navigate an increasingly complicated healthcare system.

Through AIMA, we work to improve access to primary care, advanced wound care, chronic disease management, and other essential healthcare services, particularly for individuals who face barriers to traditional care.

I also serve on the board of the Association for Improving Medical Services (AIMS), our nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening communities through healthcare access, education, outreach, and supportive programs.

Our work recognizes that a person's well-being extends beyond a medical diagnosis. Food insecurity, domestic violence, emotional distress, financial hardship, and social isolation can affect a person's ability to heal and thrive.

We cannot meaningfully address these challenges without recognizing the whole person.

For me, leadership is not simply about managing operations, developing programs, or achieving organizational goals. Leadership is about creating opportunities for others to experience dignity, support, and the possibility of a better tomorrow.

Inner Beauty: Reconnecting the Mind, Body, and Spirit

My passion for holistic wellness led me to develop Inner Beauty Wellness, a space dedicated to helping individuals, particularly women, reconnect with themselves through mindfulness, yoga, meditation, and intentional self-discovery.

My philosophy is simple: "Yoga is a journey in mindfulness expressed through the body in motion and the breath."

Yoga is not about achieving the perfect pose, having the perfect body, or performing for the approval of others. It is about awareness.

It is about learning to be present in your own body, recognizing the relationship between thought and emotion, and allowing the breath to create space for clarity.

Through Inner Beauty Wellness, I encourage women to release the expectation that they must constantly be everything to everyone. Sometimes the most productive thing we can do is become still enough to hear ourselves think.

Our intimate wellness retreats create opportunities for women to reconnect with nature, share experiences, practice mindfulness, and rediscover the importance of community. Through our partnership with AIMS, these experiences also support fundraising and awareness for women's wellness initiatives.

When women are given the space to reconnect with themselves, they are better positioned to recognize their needs, communicate their boundaries, and pursue meaningful change.

Self-care is not a reward for surviving exhaustion. It is part of the foundation for living well.

From Experience to Legacy

Another important part of my journey is the development of the 7 S.I.S.T.A.H.S. initiative, which brings together principles of stewardship, health, sustainability, and personal growth.

I believe we have a responsibility not only to improve our own lives but also to share the knowledge, resources, and opportunities that can strengthen the lives of others.

That belief extends to my writing.

My forthcoming book, Getting Lost to Find Yourself, explores the journey of self-discovery, personal transformation, and the unexpected opportunities that emerge when life takes us in a different direction.

The title reflects something I have come to understand through experience: We sometimes become so attached to who we were that we overlook who we are becoming.

Writing gives me another opportunity to share the lessons I have gathered along the way, particularly with women who may be navigating transitions of their own.

I want women to understand that their stories matter. Not simply the accomplishments, awards, degrees, or professional titles, but also the difficult chapters, the lessons learned, and the courage required to continue moving forward.

Our experiences become more meaningful when we use them to illuminate a path for someone else.

To the Woman Standing at a Crossroads

If there is one message I want to leave with every woman reading this article, it is this: Stop waiting for the perfect moment to become the woman you envision.

Give yourself grace for the decisions you made with the knowledge you had at the time. Forgive yourself for the opportunities you missed, the relationships that changed, and the paths that did not lead where you expected.

Then ask yourself a different question: Not, "What have I lost?" but, "What have I learned, and what can I create with what I know today?"

Invest in your education. Develop your skills. Communicate with confidence. Build relationships that encourage growth. Take care of your physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

And when fear comes knocking, remember that you are not obligated to invite it in. You can acknowledge uncertainty and still move forward.

You can change careers, build a business, write a book, return to school, discover a new passion, or simply decide that the next chapter of your life will look different from the last. There is no expiration date on purpose.

As women, we possess an extraordinary capacity to nurture, create, lead, adapt, and transform. But we must remember to extend that same care and consideration to ourselves.

My journey continues to unfold, and I welcome the opportunities and lessons still ahead. I do not believe we are meant to remain the same throughout our lives. Growth requires movement, reflection, and sometimes the courage to release what no longer serves us.

You are not defined by where your journey began, the obstacles you encountered, or the expectations others placed upon you. You are continually becoming.

And sometimes, getting lost is exactly how we find ourselves.

Ase'.