Hi, I’m Anna…
Feelings and emotions have always been my superpower. From the time I was little I came to understand myself as a super-feeler, someone who could intuit and sense many complex emotions that were not always evident to others. Navigating my life as an empath meant I was drawn to creative expression, poetry, and writing as outlets to process my feelings, and the way I understood others, and the world. I almost did not know what I felt until I first wrote about it, or at least externalized the feeling in some way.
Many years later, when I was working on a masters in English education at NYU, and after I became a writing teacher during my doctoral work, I was struck, inspired, and motivated by the diverse ways students turned to art, poetry, painting, essays, video making, and screen writing as tools for meaning-making in their lives. I witnessed students processing their pain, grief, loss, exclusion, racism, and discrimination in writing. They also expressed joy, growth, humor and change, often turning to writing and composition/art more broadly conceived, to share their stories. Telling our story is so endemic to the human condition, grief and joy need outlets in equal measure.
Over the last ten years I have taught writing to undergraduate students, taught liberal studies courses, mentored in writing centers, taught literacy and writing in public libraries, worked with adult learners, taught graduate students how to teach, and directed writing programs as a faculty member. I have co-led a program of over 5,000+ students and over 100+ writing instructors. I was and am an educator who wears many hats. But at the core has always been an awareness of how emotion and vulnerability moves in our lives. My process is to consider the affordances and limitations of its impact. The skill I bring to relationships is considering the unsaid forces, energies, capacities, and identities that shape us as thinkers, writers, creatives, and people.
Having spent a lot of time in formal institutions of learning, I was drawn to take my skills of teaching writing and relationship-building beyond the classroom, to smaller-relational client work. I came to consider who we might be leaving out when we keep teaching, writing, and knowledge- formation contained within only academic spaces. So often we need to be taught to write in our jobs, to lead the people in our business to greater equity, to engage in our creative growth, to communicate our thoughts to ourselves, and to those we love. We need someone who can be a receptive, patient, and thoughtful journey partner on that path. We need conversation and outside perspective to organize our thinking and unblock our voice. This is what inspired me to start my own LLC where I work with clients from a range of backgrounds. I currently am based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I am also a mother of two, wife, friend, nature lover, and writer in the process of completing my first book of poetry.
I believe we ultimately change in relationship to others, and part of my role is to help create the space to reflect more deeply and help you evolve and change in writing and in your relationships. I take much of my inspiration as a teacher and consultant from feminist and intersectional pedagogies, writing studies, positive psychology, theoretical work on grief and healing, narrative therapy, and humanistic psychology. I am often tasked with helping people hold, articulate, and navigate their deepest stories and most challenging moments. I am humbled by the stories I encounter, and by the challenges I am brought in to observe, reflect upon, and collaboratively solve. Often the answer and direction of our story lies unseen but fully felt, right below the surface; we simply need someone to help us navigate the messiness as we move toward greater clarity. To enable deeper connection with our audience, we need to see the unseen that resides in our communication.
If you have a burning problem, question, or challenge that you believe I can help with, or if you truly want to just write more, engage with yourself creatively, communicate more effectively, and lead or teach in a more connected and grounded way, please reach out.
About the work i offer.
Some people call me a coach, others call me a consultant, I call myself a teacher, poet, and creative partner. Through reading, listening, research, and careful constructive guidance, I help you connect to yourself, your audience, and your goals. In creating deep relationships and “unconditional positive regard” for everyone I work with, I work to foster your inner connection with yourself, so that you can connect with others and grow in relation to your needs and goals.
In addition to traditional classroom spaces, I have most recently worked with non-profit employees, academic writers, higher education deans, teachers, memoir writers, essayists, poets, screen writers, and individual writers looking to deepen their writing skills and creative practice. In this process I help people plan manuscripts, set writing goals, and I formulate an individualized plan for their writing and goals. I have helped clients write speeches, and co-led writing groups for women and creative writers. I have taught creative writing as a tool for processing trauma to therapists in training. I have also led workshops for writers, teachers, and communicators of all kinds in addition to taking on individual clients.
Using my skills in business and technical communication I have led employees in companies who need support in their writing and communication skills. I have helped university administrators write and communicate internal reviews. I am currently providing guidance with graduate admissions essays through my work with Galin Education.
I have a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing (Poetry), as well as an MA in English and English Education from NYU, and a PhD in Composition and Rhetoric (Teaching & Learning doctoral minor) from the University of Wisconsin Madison.
what is the benefit?
We all need generous and critical feedback, and I collaborate with anyone who has writing, learning, and communication goals that they want to more intrinsically integrate into their workplace, relationships, business goals, teaching, intellectual work, or creative life. Writing can serve as a vessel for change and for knowing ourselves more deeply, but it is always hard and is most successful through continuous conversation and support. If you need more help with internal business communications I have also supported work in this area as well.
Ultimately I am an expert at helping people write, edit, communicate, and consider their audience. I take time to hold the complexity of all stories and writing, regardless of their subject matter. I am also skilled at listening, recording my observations, and offering generous feedback on how to make changes in many different environments. I have worked in writing centers, and observed hundreds of writing courses and considered the best strategies for connecting a range of teachers to a diverse group of students. I know how to tap into and name the motivations and energies I observe, and gently but crucially provide actionable feedback.
My skill is building relationships, seeing the unseen feelings and emotions that guide or impact our communication and writing, and helping you identify and tap into these as a resource for truthful connection.
