I wrote Eating Adverbs because I spent years working out how to build a life I actually enjoyed on my own. The biggest thing I learned: solo dining, solo travel, deciding what to do with a Saturday by yourself . . . these are skills. They’re more learnable than most people think, and they get richer the more attention you bring to them.
These coaching sessions grew out of that work. Maybe you live alone. Maybe you live in a full household and can’t remember the last time you had two hours that belonged just to you. Maybe a relationship ended and you’re relearning how to make decisions without checking in with someone first. Wherever you are, this is a space to work out what your version of independence looks like in practice. Not the idea of it. The Tuesday night version.
One Thing I Should Tell You Upfront
In the book, I describe eight Portraits of how people find their way into solo life. One of them is the Bewildered Beginner: someone whose world was always shared and who suddenly has to learn how to navigate it alone. I wrote that Portrait thinking about my mother, who lost my father after decades of marriage. I assumed I was describing other people’s patterns.
Then this spring, after 25 years in performing arts administration, I retired. The decision came fast. The dust hasn’t settled. I’m waking up on Mondays with no script, no structure, and the burning question of who I am now that I’m not the job title I’ve worn for a quarter century.
So I’m coaching this work from inside the experience right now, not from a comfortable distance. Most of what I wrote about in the book, I’m currently living a fresh version of. Honestly, I think that makes the conversations better.
What I Bring to This
My background is unusual for a coach, and that’s intentional. Decades in theater (directing, producing, performing) taught me how much courage it takes to show up as yourself when you’re not sure the audience will be kind. A WSET Diploma in wine education taught me to slow down and pay attention to what’s in front of me, which turns out to apply to a lot more than wine. Years as a Feng Shui consultant taught me that the spaces we inhabit shape the lives we lead. And I’ve been dining alone, traveling alone, and building a solo life with intention for decades.
In our sessions, we’ll work with the framework from the book, adapted to your actual life. That might mean designing rituals that fit your real schedule. It might mean rethinking how your physical space supports or undermines your independence. Sometimes it’s finding your way back to preferences you’ve forgotten you had. Sometimes it’s working out how to eat dinner at a restaurant by yourself without your heart racing. We start wherever you are.
Coaching Packages
- The Soon Session: $100
- A single 60-minute session.
- The Adverbial Reset: $275
- Three 60-minute sessions over three weeks.
- Living Adverbially: $500
- Six 60-minute sessions over three months.
- A La Carte Support: $50 per 30-minute session.
Who This Is For
In Eating Adverbs, I describe eight Portraits: ways people find their way into independence. If you recognize yourself in any of these, this coaching was built with you in mind.
The Hesitant Explorer — You’re curious about solo experiences but something keeps you circling rather than stepping in. You’ve watched someone dine alone with grace and felt a stir, but want doesn’t always mean ready. Not yet.
The Sudden Soloist — Plans fell through, someone canceled, and suddenly you’re alone with a stretch of time you didn’t ask for. The question is what you do with the moment in front of you.
The Reluctant Rebuilder — A shared rhythm ended, by choice or by circumstance, and you’re remembering how to lead your own life again. You’re not starting from zero. You’re relearning what you once knew.
The Bewildered Beginner — Your world was always shared. Now, through a shift you didn’t ask for, you find yourself making decisions alone for the first time. Solitude doesn’t just feel new; it feels like entering a place where nothing is quite familiar yet. (Yes, this is the one I’m currently living. So we’ll have plenty to talk about.)
The Curious Craver — You love your people, but beneath the constant hum of connection lives a persistent longing: just ten minutes that belong to you. You’re not rebelling against companionship. You’re seeking restoration.
The Returning Parent — Somewhere in the swirl of pickups, practices, and permission slips, you misplaced yourself. Independence didn’t vanish all at once; it dissolved in small acts of care. Now you’re finding your way back.
The Balanced Connector — You schedule alone time the way others schedule meetings. You don’t stumble into solitude, you defend it. Now you want to deepen that practice and make it richer.
The Catalytic Visionary — You don’t repeat for comfort. You move for impact. Your independence isn’t measured in repetition; it’s measured in reach. You’re ready to say yes to something that scares you.
You don’t need to have your independence figured out before you start. That’s what the conversation is for.
Ready to Begin?
If any of this sounds like where you are, let’s talk. I offer a free 20-minute discovery call so we can see whether working together makes sense for what you’re navigating.