THE ORIGIN STORY
Everyone else had a guidebook.
I somehow missed it.
For most of my life, I thought social situations just worked differently for my brain. And honestly? I didn't even realize how differently until one night, scrolling through a dating app, I came across a profile that stopped me cold.
Not because of the guy — though trust me, one of them was absolutely worth stopping for. 😄
But because of a profile that said something I never expected to read:
“AT LEAST KNOW HOW TO HOLD A CONVERSATION”
That one line hit like a punch to the gut. Because my brain went — wait. How DO you hold a conversation?
I had an inner critic who'd been telling me for years I didn't have what it took socially. And in that moment, I hated to admit it — but she wasn't entirely wrong.
So I started learning. Social skills first. Then communication. Then emotional intelligence and leadership through Toastmasters. I was on a high — thinking I had it all figured out.
What I didn't realize was that I was collecting tools without connecting them. And that's when things started unraveling — a falling out with a board, a very public meltdown at work, and being called out in front of leadership for something my brain genuinely couldn't pick up, no matter how many times I was told.
That's when the ADHD diagnosis came. Then the autism. And suddenly — a lot of things made sense.
WHAT THAT MEANS FOR YOU
I don't teach this from a distance.
I teach it from the inside out. I know what it's like to overthink a conversation. To misread a room. To feel like everyone else got the social memo and you didn't.
I've also spent over six years in accounting and business settings — watching what happens when communication breaks down, when people go silent in meetings, when someone becomes a bottleneck not because they're difficult but because nobody gave them a way to make sense of what was happening.
I've been intimidated by people with titles. I've sat in rooms wondering how to even talk to someone three levels above me. And I also know what happens when that intimidation wears off — because I've been on both sides of that fence.
I've followed leaders I didn't have to follow, because they were genuinely good humans. And somewhere along the way, without the accolades or the awards, I became one of them.
"(Like the time I showed up to an all-day board retreat with a hole in my pants. Front and center. Thigh adjacent. 😑 Classic me, as my inner critic would say.)"
→ 6+ years in accounting & business operations
→ Keynote Speaker — Inaugural Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Summit
→ NSA Northwest — Board Member, Director of Communications
→ Toastmasters — Board-level involvement & keynote speaker
→ Creator of the Make It Make Sense™ Framework
→ Neurodivergent — ADHD & Autism
Northwest Event Show — Monica in action
WHAT I WANT FOR YOU
That feeling of "oh. So THIS is what being an adult feels like."
Not having to sacrifice who you are. Not having to mask. Not having to choose between being understood and being yourself.
I want every person in every room I walk into to walk out with one thing: the understanding and structure to make sense of the unknown — so they can act on it, clearly and deliberately.
Just — finally — I got this.