ABOUT ME

I am an artist, communications strategist, coach, and teacher of creative processes. I work with creative leaders and business owners to expand their visions, move past their fears, and re-define their fields.

My work has taken me from an existential social psychology lab, to underground pyrotechnic circuses, to the largest human-powered procession in North America, to trauma research, to helping design events for the worlds most (in)famous mouse. I am also the founder and artistic director of Shadow Tender - a bi-coastal project that teaches people how to dance with their demons.  You can read more about my formal education and experience here.

Through all of this, I’ve honed my ability to carefully guide creative visions from conception to reality and figure out - quickly - what works and what doesn’t. My unique background as an immigrant who lived through the transition from communism to capitalism in the USSR gives me a nuanced and embodied understanding of large-scale systemic change and transformation. 

I believe in the power of dreams, backed by detailed action plans and logistical acumen. 

I believe in meticulously preparing for the worst and open-heartedly celebrating the best. 

I believe in the wisdom of paradoxes. 

Above all, I believe in the power of creativity and heart-centered organizations to transform the world.

HONOR YOUR TEACHERS
RESPECT YOUR ANCESTORS

My work and coaching approach was developed across a variety of spaces - intellectually, temporally, and geographically - which is itself an enormous privilege.

No teacher, no ancestor is perfect or without flaw, yet a constellation of teachers can begin to weave clearer and clearer paths for inquiry shaped by integrity, curiosity, and greater self-awareness. I openly credit and honor those whose work has become a foundation for my own approaches and teaching methodology:

• The teaching methodology, academic guidance, and insights of La Donna Forsgren, Les Gray, Theresa May, and Alexandra Bonds

• The research of Spee Kosloff, Jeff Greenberg, and other scholars of Terror Management Theory

• The writings and scholarly research of Judika Illes 

• The breathing methodologies of Konstantin Buteyko

• The teachings and writings of Milton Erickson

• The teachings of butoh artists Diego Piñon, Hiroko & Koichi Tamano, Yumiko Yoshioka, and others

• The communication strategies taught by Kasia Urbaniak and Ruben Flores at the Academy

• Shadow Tender collaborators and co-teachers: Maria Thomas, Magdalena Kaczmarska, and Adam Cooper-Terán

• Eastern European and Central Asian folklore and fairytales as passed through oral and written traditions

• The teachings & writings of Marshall Rosenberg and his theory of Nonviolent Communication

• The psychodramatic approaches of Alejandro Jodorowsky 

• The research of Peter Levine and Somatic Experiencing

• The original writings and theories of Carl G. Jung