Hi, I’m Haley.

After spending 10+ years in the heart of Denver, Colorado, inspiring solutions for some of the world’s most iconic brands, I hung up my corporate shoes, slipped on my cowgirl boots, and got back to my roots in more ways than one.

In returning home to Montana, I was also in the process of returning home to myself. You see, I spent a large part of my life living life on other people’s terms, resisting my inner wisdom, and abandoning my truth in order to feel accepted and loved. I refused to look at the places where I learned what parts of myself were worthy of love and what parts weren’t. I walked through life holding up a standard of myself that was impossible to keep.

A few years ago, following the most heart-wrenching and devastating loss of my life, I lost my job, my home, and myself. I remember thinking to myself it was going to take a miracle for me to crawl out of this one.

Until this point in my life, my identity had been tied up in other’s beliefs, in others’ expectations, in my career, my image, and what other people thought of me. I had become a hardened shell of what others wanted me to be, walking through life with only the parts of me that I thought were accepted. But when I found myself with so much loss in the palm of my hands, I had no idea who I was anymore.

In the weeks following the loss of my job, the Touched by a Horse Equine Gestalt Coaching certification program found me. And in a situation when it would have been so easy to say no, I said yes. I said yes to myself, and through the process I embraced a mentor and an amazing community of women who stayed by my side, even when I wanted to run. And in the last two years I’ve learned that even though I felt lost, I didn’t have to embark on a long journey to find myself, because finding ourselves isn’t really how it works. My truth wasn’t something I had to go searching for. Rather, it’s something I could return home to. The answers to who I was didn’t lie out in the world. The answers are and have always been within me.

This is Gestalt — completing the unfinished business in our life and reclaiming our wholeness.

As I stand here today, my truth is that it takes compassion, courage, and curiosity to rise with our grief in the aftermath of loss. Because when we rise with our grief instead of trying to fix it, something rises in us. In my own grief, I resurrected the very parts of myself I was trained to mistrust, hide, and abandon in order to keep others comfortable. These parts are now my life force, my vessel, and my keys to freedom. I’ve left my throne of comfort to find enlightenment. I no longer bury myself in contentment, but instead live out loud. I live fiercely, moving with what moves me. And there’s something refreshingly magically about being in this place. It breathes new life into the relationships I have and am cultivating. I feel calm, I feel at peace. I feel more thoughtful in my approach to life and in every interaction. Life isn’t rushed, instead it’s savored and remembered. I am more connected to my life and everything and everyone with me. But most importantly, I am more connected to myself.

I’m not living to be perfect, or to play a role — I am living to be present in my unwavering authenticity, living out my purpose and bringing people together to help them do the same.

In my grief I embraced myself whole, and I’m here to help you do the same.