My Journey Into Being 

For most of my life, I measured myself by how much I could do.
How fast I could deliver.
How perfectly I could perform.

 

And for a while—it worked.
I checked the boxes. Climbed the ladders. Hit the targets.

 

But somewhere along the way, I stopped feeling connected to any of it.
My life had become a checklist—and I was disappearing behind it.

 

Then I stumbled upon A Shift in Being by Leon VanderPol.
I hadn’t expected a book to crack me open.
But it did.

 

It asked one simple question:
What if transformation doesn’t come from doing more… but from being more?

 

I didn’t fully understand what that meant—but I felt something stir.

 

At the same time, my closest friend was climbing her last hill with metastatic breast cancer.
I couldn’t fully explain it, but I felt both called to support her final chapter and compelled to answer the voice within whispering, “Go.”

 

So, I listened.

 

I packed my bags, left an executive role in California and returned to Colorado to care for my friend in her final season—and for the first time, to truly care for myself.

 

Slowly, I began to unwind.
I started listening—not just to others, but to myself.

 

I created more space in my work, in my relationships.
I began letting go of control and trusting something deeper to guide me.

 

It was terrifying.
And it was liberating.

 

I realized that presence is power.
That silence can heal.
That showing up as “I AM” is more impactful than showing up as who I think I should be.

 

This wasn’t about becoming someone new.
It was about returning to who I had always been—beneath the striving, beneath the story.

 

It was a calling.
A call to become the hero of my own story.

 

And like all hero’s journeys, the path wasn’t linear.

At the end of my dear friend’s life, I was diagnosed with breast cancer—the very same week we said goodbye for the last time.

 

There’s something primal that rises at moments like that.

Fight or Flight. When your survival instinct kicks in.

A deep knowing that everything is about to change.

 

In hindsight, I thought I had abandoned my journey when I jumped back into survival mode by taking another high-demand, six-figure job to secure income, insurance and a sense of safety.

 

But the path hadn’t ended.
It had just gone silent.
In the sterile quiet of procedure rooms, the hum of waiting areas and the silence of long, solitary drives, faith and trust began to find me again.

Not all at once, but gently over time—reminding me that the journey wasn't over. It was just deepening.

 

In those quiet moments of navigating a fragmented healthcare system and survivorship, I reconnected with the highest version of myself.

 

Not the polished one.
But the real one.

 

Perfectly imperfect. Standing at the crossroads of the soul.

 

Eventually, I stepped out of the shadows of industry and into the light of my calling—helping others on their path of transformation.

 

I’m still on the journey.
But I no longer chase transformation.
I’m learning to live it.

 

Today, I support clients navigating life’s most personal transitions—with clarity, confidence and compassion.

Whether you're facing a diagnosis, seeking better balance or craving deeper alignment—my coaching through Transformation Road is designed to help you reconnect with your authentic self and create a life rooted in well-BE-ing.

 

And if you’ve ever felt the tension between who you are and what you do—I see you.

 

If you've ever questioned how to care for your health while honoring your ambitions, how to feel whole while managing what’s broken, how to find well-being in the midst of uncertainty—know that you're not alone.

 

I invite you to explore the space between.

 

Because sometimes, the most powerful shift we can make— isn't outward.
It's inward.

 

Toni Powell