3 years ago, this day changed my life.

I was stuck in job complacency, a relationship ended, my friend network suddenly shifted, and then property management sold my apartment building (forcing us to move out). It was the ultimate universal sign to make a change.

I moved from San Diego to San Mateo (back in with my parents temporarily) at the end of summer 2015. I was unemployed for 6 months. I had applied to 83 jobs in that time (mostly support engineer positions, then getting desperate for work applying to data entry roles). I had many near hires but received feedback “we don’t think you really want this job” or “you’re far too experienced for this job”. I considered going to business school, attending MBA workshops at Cal, but once again received feedback: “you need to get work experience first”.

Not having an income or even a clear direction was frustrating. I spent most of my time in the gym working on myself. I was deconditioned and truly knew nothing at the time. My mom got me a membership to Crunch and with my savings I bought 5 personal training sessions. I started to really enjoy the meditative state of mind I developed when at the gym, which calmed my unemployed, anxious monkey brain. And it was very rewarding to see my body responding to the work I was putting in.

This inspired me to physically move more. My anxiety and depression and feelings of instability all started to diminish with movement. I shifted states of mind from one of victimization (“no one wants me” [in job-searching]) to exploration (“how can I best use this luxury of time”).

I then researched anything relevantly close to my newfound interest meticulously: MBA in Sports Journalism, athletic training positions, PhD in exercise physiology, PhD in consciousness, yoga teacher trainings.. Ah! Yes!

There was a 200 Hour yoga teacher training starting in 9 days at College of San Mateo. I signed up immediately and used my unemployment to my advantage receiving college grants to pay for the entire program. The amazing instructor Denaya Brooke Dailey happened to also run the dance department and asked me Day 1 to dance with her the other days of the week. (Having been a dance minor in college and dancing 19 hrs/wk in high school, it was another universal miracle to bring this passion back to me & showing me I was in the right place).

Over the next 3 months, everything snowballed. I picked up a job at a gym earning $12/hr cleaning & organizing equipment. I started studying for my personal training certification. Within 6 months, I was interning as a student athletic trainer (where I was introduced to physical therapy!) and teaching yoga. Within 9 months, I moved to San Francisco and was training clients of my own. I spent 2 years training, teaching and volunteering in physical therapy. Which led me to today at NYU earning my doctorate in physical therapy - a field that I am undeniably passionate about.
​
It’s funny to think that my story matches the cliche of ‘finding myself in unemployment’ and ‘giving it all up to accept a minimum wage position in a new field and start all over’ - but I’m SO grateful that I did. ❤️💪🏼