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The Ascend Journal

A Journal Designed for Ambitious Women Who are Boldly Building Their Empires with Confidence & Intention

Latest Blog Posts

interruptions to your schedule

The Interruption That Was Never About the Schedule

There was a season in my practice when my front office would come find me about the schedule maybe a dozen times a day. A patient needed to be seen sooner than we had room for. A mom could only make Thursdays at four, and Thursdays at four did not exist. Someone wanted to move […]

the standard you never wrote

The Standard You Never Wrote Down

For about six years, there was a folder on my desktop that I would have described, without blinking, as the most valuable thing in my practice. Well, it wasn’t a folder. It was me. Every question about how our marketing should look came to me. Every design, every photo, every headline. I could glance at […]

The Growth You Already Own

The Growth You Already Own

There was a stretch of years when I spent every January the same way. I’d sit down with a legal pad and a cold cup of coffee and I would plan how to get more new patients. That was the plan. That was always the plan. A community event in the spring. A push with […]

The Carriage in the Attic

Today, while traveling along the Rhine River, I took a daylong excursion into Germany’s Black Forest. I expected beautiful scenery. I did not expect a centuries-old farmhouse to give me a lesson in business strategy. A farmhouse built around reality The traditional farmhouses of the Black Forest are enormous. At first glance, you might assume […]

The Band-Aid That Never Came Off

One of my favorite moments from my conversation with Vanessa Alfaro on QueenMode came from something so simple that almost everyone has experienced. A band-aid. A band-aid is a wonderful invention. It stops the bleeding. It protects the wound. It buys you time. But no one puts on a band-aid expecting to wear it forever. […]

The CEO of Your Health: What I Learned from My Experience with Fountain Life

As entrepreneurs, we measure everything. We track our numbers, monitor key performance indicators, and analyze data so we can make informed decisions. We know that what gets measured, improves. But when it comes to our health — our most important asset — most of us measure once a year. An annual check-up. A quick set […]

Healing My Thumb, Trusting Myself: A Lesson in Self-Advocacy and Listening to Your Body

If there’s one thing I’ve learned as both a doctor and an entrepreneur, it’s this: You can’t heal — or grow — from a place of overdrive. We live in a world that celebrates pushing through. As entrepreneurs, we take pride in our work ethic, in solving problems, in showing up no matter what. But […]

When the Universe Has a Better Plan

As entrepreneurs, dream chasers, and high achievers, we’re wired to make things happen. We set goals, create timelines, build strategies, and push forward — often with admirable determination. But sometimes, that same determination can turn into attachment. We become so focused on a particular outcome that we miss the quiet nudge of something better trying […]