About Anna

For as long as I can remember, I have been curious about what helps people flourish.

That curiosity has taken me on a remarkable journey—as a counselor, teacher, health and wellness coach, writer, lifelong learner, and, perhaps most importantly, as a fellow traveler through life’s seasons of joy, loss, uncertainty, healing, and wonder.

Over the past fifty years, I have had the privilege of walking beside women as they navigate change, discover their own resilience, and awaken to the wisdom already living within them.

Along the way, I have come to believe something beautifully simple.

We are not here to become someone else.

We are here to remember who we truly are.

That belief has shaped every chapter of my life and every conversation I have the privilege to share.

Today, Joy In Living has become a gentle gathering place where women can pause, breathe, reflect, laugh, ask honest questions, and reconnect with what matters most. Whether through personal mentoring, Reflections from the Garden, our Women of Wisdom gatherings, or the stories I am writing, my hope is always the same:

That you leave feeling a little lighter…

a little more hopeful…

and a little more at home within yourself.

Professionally, I have spent more than fifty years in private counseling, consulting, and teaching, and continue to serve as a Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach. My studies have included HeartMath, Mindfulness, Neuroscience, Choice Theory, Emotional Freedom Techniques, Integrative Health, and many other approaches that honor the wisdom of the whole person—mind, body, heart, and spirit.

I earned both my bachelor’s degree in Social Science and my master’s degree in Counseling from Purdue University. Yet some of my greatest teachers have been life itself—the people I have loved, the challenges I have faced, the gardens I have tended, and the countless moments of grace that have quietly changed me.

These days, you’ll often find me enjoying time in our garden, riding my bicycle with my beloved Don, writing the next chapter of A Journey of Love, or gathering with remarkable women from across North America who continue to remind me that wisdom grows more beautiful when it is shared.

I’m so glad our paths have crossed.

Welcome.

If you’d like to connect, please call or text 949-436-2662 or email anna@joyinliving.com