Picture me, a preteen hostess, welcoming guests and living for curt nods of approval.
Later: me, at 23, extending millions worth of diamonds to customers with trembling hands.
Then, me, for years, working in agencies and various corporate roles, feeling completely spent.

Every single version of me — from my first hospitality job to luxury retail on Fifth Avenue to multi-million dollar startups — grappled with countless shoulds. Namely: shouldn’t I be able to figure this out (on my own)? Shouldn’t I be able to carry all of this and withstand the pressure? Shouldn’t I be doing more?

I know what it is to navigate uncharted territory personally and professionally because I was my first operations project. I never knew how or why; I only knew I should, so I learned to read rooms and navigate systems that weren't designed with me in mind. A cultural anthropology degree in college gave me validation for what I'd been doing intuitively: developing frameworks for understanding how humans deal with complexity at work and within themselves.

Then, a cancer diagnosis in my 30s brought undeniable clarity: I discovered who I wanted to do this work with — women leaders, startups, and growing, purpose-driven businesses… mainly because they were also muscling their way through ‘shoulds,’ but needed support with the ‘how.’ 

It’s been decades since I encountered my first ‘should,’ and I’ve spent that time partnering with solopreneurs and executive teams at companies like Ellevest and The Lactation Network to turn strategy and execution into culture and systems that make the horizon clearer. 

What I know now is that effort alone is rarely what's missing in our work and lives. What's missing is the clarity, the operational infrastructure, and the human support to hold it all together. When that's in place, growth stops being something you chase and starts becoming something you choose. That's what Allume is built on. Shall we build together?