I’m a PE professor, researcher, and golf coach—and I’ve spent my career asking one question.
Why do some people keep going in hard environments while others leave? Why do some educators sustain a 20-year career while their colleagues burn out in five? Why do some golfers hold their nerve on the back nine while others unravel?
After ten years in the middle school PE classroom, a PhD in Pedagogical Kinesiology, and years of research into teacher sustainability, trauma-informed practice, and the psychology of performance, I built Root and Rise Education to share what I’ve learned.
This is that research, translated into practice, for the people who need it most.
Grounded in Research. Rising in Purpose.
I help educators, youth sport coaches, and athletes build the internal foundation to keep doing the work that matters…sustainably, purposefully, and without burning out.
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You got into teaching because you believed teaching could change lives. But somewhere between the budget cuts, the behavior challenges, and the endless demands, that belief got harder to hold onto.
I research why great educators stay — and how to build the resilience, sense of purpose, and psychological flexibility that make a 20-year career not just possible, but meaningful.
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Sport can be one of the most powerful developmental experiences in a young person’s life — or one of the most damaging. The difference often comes down to whether the environment around the athlete is building a whole person or just chasing performance.
Grounded in the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model and a holistic approach to athlete sustainability, I help athletes develop responsibility, resilience, and self-direction—and help parents understand how to support that growth without undermining it.
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The kids you coach are more than athletes. They carry experiences into your gym, your field, and your locker room that affect everything—their performance, their behavior, and their relationship with sport.
Grounded in the Teaching Personal and Social (TPSR) model and trauma-informed practice, I help coaches build environments where every athlete has a chance to grow—as a player and as a person.