From Science to Sacred Support
Who stands beside you in your moments of transformation?
I was raised by a family that believed in the kind of success that could be measured in degrees and stable salaries. They wanted the best for me. Doctor. Lawyer. Something with prestige, something with certainty. Science made sense to me , so I chose chemistry. The way questions could be answered, how problems had solutions if you looked long enough. I spent years in the lab in research. Working at the University of Minnesota, studying the antimicrobial properties of chili peppers. A plant that could heal, protect, and nourish. I researched sustainable plastics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, then moved to 3M to work on medical adhesive materials that held people together and kept wounds from infection for people in long-term and hospice care.
But all the while, I was holding other things too. My younger sister’s hand. My siblings’ children. The quiet, steady work of care, the kind that isn’t listed on a résumé but shapes the way a person moves through the world. I worked with Options Residential, supporting those rebuilding their lives after brain injuries, addiction, and trauma. I cared for children in the foster system, helped create stability in places where life had been unstable for too long. And the more I showed up for others, the more I understood: this is where my hands were meant to be.
Leaving my lab job at 3M was a leap into the unknown, the kind of decision that made my family shake their heads in disbelief. I moved to Berlin to become an au pair, making barely enough to cover my groceries. My first family had just had a baby, and I watched how love stretched to fill the gaps, how impossible things became manageable when there were enough hands, enough hearts. It takes a village. I saw that firsthand.
And then I met Keatyn Wohlgemuth, a doula from Minnesota who told me I could do this work too. I had nothing to spare, no way to pay for training, but my community, strangers even, rallied! In less than a day, my GoFundMe was full, and I was on my way to becoming a doula.
I trained under Keatyn and Camalo Gaskin, immersing myself in birth, postpartum, and myofascial release. I am a trauma-informed, community-centered birth professional, rooted in evidence-based care and hands-on research. My work is informed by Indigenous Liberian traditions and grounded in a deep commitment to informed consent and equity. Since becoming a doula, I have expanded my practice as a Mutterpflegerin and Haushaltshilfe, offering in-home postpartum care covered by German insurance.
For the past seven years, I have been a birth and postpartum doula in Berlin and Minnesota, offering overnight support, sibling care, early pregnancy loss support, and hands-on organizing for families overwhelmed by change. I work with families of all shapes, LGBTQIA, single and solo parents, homes bustling with many children, and quiet first-time households. I have a special love for twin parents, for home births, for anyone who needs a steady presence in the midst of transformation.
Outside of birthwork, I volunteer with migrant families, helping them establish a sense of home in Berlin. I stitch quiet stories into fabric with embroidery and cross-stitch, belt out songs at karaoke, and wander the city playing Pokémon Go.
I believe in the kind of care that lasts beyond a single moment. The kind that lingers, that holds, that empowers. “If you have power, it’s your job to empower others. The entire function of freedom is to free someone else.” That’s the work. That’s the calling.
If you feel like you need someone to walk with you through this season, I am here.
