More About Lumina
My initial success path led me to Ivy League science and world-class medical education, culminating in an academic career in eye surgery. By age 31, I had accomplished the goals I’d held for 15 years: I was a professor in a prestigious field, a wife, and a mother living in a beautiful suburban home.
Over the next several years, I slowly realized how unhappy, unfulfilled, and disillusioned I was in my perfect life. I had “arrived,” and the destination was largely empty. I loved my children while I felt disconnected from my husband, my work, my new friends and my adopted home. I wondered what was wrong with me to be so unappreciative of all that I had. I believed I was the problem, and I was ashamed.
I ultimately left my marriage and my career as an eye surgeon—two of the most wrenching and terrifying decisions I have ever made. In the nearly two decades since I stepped off the treadmill of my successful life, I’ve deliberately followed a twisting career path. Once I saw that I not only survived, but thrived after leaving medical practice, I never hesitated again to change career directions. And once I learned that I could bear the loss of important relationships as I changed, I never again tried to hold back my own growth for fear of losing someone. I’ve learned to look for meaning in adversity rather than feel victimized. I’ve learned to have faith that all that I need will show up, even if it’s not how I thought it would look. I’ve learned to use my deep sense of Purpose as a compass in all aspects of my life. I’ve developed my connection to intuition as the way to read that compass. And I’ve come to understand that loving, powerful forces far greater than me—God, The Universe, Guides—are always walking beside me. I’m never alone.
For those who want more details, here are the highlights of my journey so far:
I was raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I went to college at Cornell University, medical school at University of Chicago, medical residency in ophthalmology at UC San Francisco, and got my MBA (later on) at The George Washington University. I was an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Northwestern University and practiced/taught eye surgery in the northern Chicago suburbs, where I lived and raised my two sons. I quit practicing medicine in 2005 and remained a professor until 2010. I took a few years off from work to spend time with my children and get my MBA.
In 2008, I joined a counseling practice that specialized in gifted and talented children and adults. I was initially an apprentice and then became a consultant in the practice, working primarily with highly talented professional adults who were looking to make changes in their lives. I also ran groups for parents of gifted children and helped to train new counselors in the practice. I continue my training relationship with that practice to the present.
My consulting work eventually evolved into an Executive Coaching business of my own, which I ran from 2011 to the present. I have a blended coaching model using Identity Formation and the neuroscience of information processing, including how our brains manage language information. In other words, the neuroscience of communication and connection. I work with individuals and groups and continue to see a select number of clients for this work.
In 2017, I trained in Functional Medicine and went back to medical practice in that field. Though I value that approach to wellness and enjoyed helping people in that way, my intuitive compass told me it wasn’t the right fit, and I wrapped up that practice in 2019.
In 2019 I trained as a Shaman in the Q’ero lineage of Peru, finally exploring my long-time interest in energy healing. I’m a full mesa carrier, and I offer shamanic healing sessions.
From 2019-2023, I held an executive position in a natural health company. Through that work was able to teach and mentor hundreds of health coaches.
In 2020 I began deep study in The Divine Feminine. I am a priestess initiate of the Avalonian lineage and also a certified scent priestess of the Myrraphores lineage. “Lumina Serena” is my priestess temple name, bestowed by two of my beloved teachers.
In 2021 I relocated to Tucson, Arizona, after raising my sons in the Chicago suburbs for 20+ years. I’m so happy to be back in the land of open skies!