About

MY STORY

Many years ago in Los Angeles, I worked as an elementary school teacher, which as many of you probably know, gives a person lots of on the job mediation skills. After several years of teaching, I moved over into casting TV commercials and television shows where I interviewed and directed thousands of actors and actresses through their auditions. At the same time, I was working as a songwriter, musician and vocalist for movies and television, which brought me to Nashville.

As I began to notice that conflict was evident in all jobs and places, I decided to return to school and get a master's degree in conflict management from Lipscomb University and have now turned some past life skills and new training into ways of facilitating people through their impasses.

Through volunteering with Sumner Mediation Services Victim Offender Reconciliation Program and the Nashville Conflict Resolution Center, I mediate many people and couples who have gotten so far off track that they either get physical with each other or end up yelling to the point that the police are called. The judge will often send these couples to mediation to work out a plan that will keep them out of the courts. The mediation is the first time in years most of these couples had a chance to hear each other and work together to come up with a way to get their relationship back on track.

Having lived in many different places, which include living in very small towns in Arkansas to the big cities like Los Angeles and now Nashville, I have a unique understanding of people from all walks of life. I am completely comfortable with people from all over.

When I do mediations in person, my style can range from easy going to directive. I like to be an active participant in the process, only in the sense that I don't just carry messages back and forth. I will help you with feedback from my perspective and give ideas, but you will always control the outcome and the plan that is reached.

I am not an attorney. Many attorneys do mediation, but often they have come from an advocacy background. My training is to remain neutral and work toward the best outcome between the parties. I specialize in navigating the human factors of conflict more than the technical or legal areas.

Please take a look at my training and background and then contact me and we can discuss your situation and see if it is right for mediation and if I can help you.