From Wall Street to Wellness
From a small town in rural North Carolina to the largest metropolitan cities in the dirty south, northeast and west coast, I have gained a wealth of knowledge through life experiences that have shaped my perspective and support my professional expertise. I have worked in several functions within the primary care and behavioral health space: from investing in community healthcare to now providing direct clinical care as a therapist.
Career Journey
I started my career as an ambitious 21-year-old with a plan and a mission. Fresh out of college, I worked on Wall Street in NYC as a healthcare investment banker. For several years I worked 10-12-hour days, ate at least 2 meals in the office, and centered my life around work. In retrospect, I’m not sure how I did it but I survived and garnered enough credibility to pivot into a more balanced, fitting career in the community development/impact investing space. With an economic and business background, I used my financial analysis and advisory skills to help community providers expand and improve access to quality health care in historically neglected and underinvested communities nationwide. Despite our focus on health equity, our investments were barely moving the needle on public health outcomes and it became clear that focusing on capital was not the sole solution. I became increasingly interested in the clinical side of the business, specifically the shift from fee-based models to values-based, whole-person care and the rising integration of behavioral health into the primary care model.
Personal Journey
Parallel to my professional journey, I became increasingly invested in my personal wellness journey. I was raised by faith-filled, resilient Black women who, like their mothers and grandmothers, did it all and oftentimes made sacrifices at the expense of their well-being. Although this “super-woman” trait was once worn as a badge of honor, I recognized that, for me, it manifested as people pleasing, perfectionism, and hyperactivity. This mentality, combined with disproportionate societal expectations, led to burn out, anxiety, and chronic fatigue. At the peak of my distress, I found myself feeling stuck, depressed, and resentful.
The Turning Point
Instead of succumbing to this feeling of helplessness, I sought help. However, I grew frustrated when working with my therapist resulted in exploring the same questions that I had already asked myself. Had I known then what I know now, I would have changed therapists, but instead, I took matters into my own hands. By using a combination of trial & error, research and reflection, I ultimately developed a lifestyle of wellness that I was proud of and actually enjoyed living. And I reignited a love for psychology that had lay dormant since freshmen year of college when I had boxed myself in as “the finance girl”. Once I stripped away the expectations of others and the pressure I had placed on myself, I no longer felt like I was living for others or chasing accolades & achievements to prove my worth. I was able to interrogate deeply engrained beliefs that were unhealthy and self-sabotaging.
The more that I leaned into self-care, however, the more friction I felt between my personal values and my job. I was too burnt out to fight the system then, but with a healthy distance and additional data points from clients, I now see that the rub was due to pervasive systemic issues that would require radical honesty before significant change would be possible.
As I have gained valuable strategies and tools, it is my desire to share them with others to support them along their journey. Since taking the leap and earning a Master’s in clinical psychology, I feel blessed to apply theories learned in school and life to practice. I feel honored to support my clients along their healing journey and I continue to learn from my clients every day. The last few years have unlocked something inside of me that is difficult to articulate. In my best words, this path has uncovered natural intellectual curiosity, divine alignment, and unlimited possibilities.