I believe in story. And I believe that storytelling can always improve—MUST always improve—perpetually, sometimes imperceptibly, always seductively, ever evolving and reinventing itself. As writer and coach, entrepreneur and nonprofit board leader (and veteran vagabond with nevertheless deep cultural roots in the Southwest and the Adirondacks), I've discovered that storytelling is first and foremost about community building. This has been my life's work. I create and nurture relationships, and I empower others to do the same. I'm passionate about people, about discovering and creating connections, about mining the familiar within the exotic and vice versa. Shared experiences and co-created narratives bridge the widest divides while fostering respect and wonder for what might exist (or what might be possible) beyond the shores of our own experience. Full disclosure, and if not already abundantly evident, I'm an unabashed serial optimist.