What is Denali?

People often ask me what Denali means. Its literal translation from the indigenous people of Alaska means “the Great One”. The description is the original and true name of Mt. McKinley, North America’s highest peak standing at 20,320 feet, truly the greatest thing on the landscape in the state of my origin. When you stand at the base of that mountain or even 600 miles away you are humbled by its majesty. I saw this beautiful peak nearly every day of my childhood. It is representative of the way I feel about growing up Alaskan; independent, fierce, strong, passionate and caring. So, at the risk of sounding self-important, I decided to name my company after that great mountain. Not to say that I am the greatest one, but as a symbol to myself and my clients that we are all on our way to being the greatest we can be. I look at myself as a catalyst for helping people get to their greatness. Whether that is by assisting people to overcome physical obstacles, mental obstacles or both, my training style is more intuitive in approach and the results are evident.

My first training/teaching job was at the Hip Hop club in Anchorage, Alaska the home of the infamous “Buns of Steel” (yes those!) at the age of 15. Since then, I have trained at facilities in Alaska, Seattle, Hawaii, England, Japan and Southern California. Although I have a degree in Theatre, I spent the first 3 years of my college career as a pre-med/nursing student. No matter what profession I have been involved with throughout my life, exercise instruction has always been the constant. I feel very passionate about staying healthy and as I have gotten older realize how many people could use some of that passion about themselves. My job as a coach/mentor/trainer is to help people live their lives to the fullest by staying physically and mentally healthy and using the great machine that they were blessed with, their body!

As for life coaching, the simplest way to explain what I do is this: it's like personal training for your life. Sometimes we get stuck, things aren’t going the way we planned or you just need someone in your corner to get you to your next level. Whether that’s finding balance, joy, abundance or other areas where you need a little assistance, an outside perspective, I assist you in getting there. It’s a collaborative approach to getting your life on track the way you want it to be. I like to say "it's what you do AFTER therapy". Life Coaching is not therapy, although sometimes things come up that need to be addressed from the past, we deal with the present and dreams for the future.