Before finding my calling in private practice, my career spanned a wide array of roles that taught me the raw truth of the human experience. I have been a produce factory worker, a daycare owner, and a personal chef. I have navigated the high-pressure environment of crisis work with the Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (MCOT) and performed hard physical labor in contract construction. I have even served as a Lyft driver, listening to the brief confessions of strangers in the dark. These diverse chapters were not detours; they were the training ground that allowed me to understand people from all walks of life.