Meet Shine

My path into this work didn't begin with any skill... It began with a question.

There has to be another way.

As a teenager, I experienced firsthand how easily people can become lost within a healthcare system that sometimes forgets to see the whole person. After being met with misdiagnoses and care that left me dismantled, I found myself drawn toward a different perspective—one that viewed the body, mind, and spirit as deeply connected rather than separate.

At fifteen, while living in an all-girls home, I was introduced to meditation and yoga. Those practices became an anchor, teaching me that healing often begins by becoming present with ourselves. That curiosity eventually led me to Pranic Healing at the Healing Arts Center in St. Louis, where I first discovered the possibility of supporting people through holistic care. With that I was immersed in the massage therapy program, and everything, including my physical and mental health began to fall into place.

Over time, my curiosity evolved. I became captivated by anatomy, movement, and the incredible intelligence of the human body. I realized that understanding muscles, fascia, breath, and biomechanics didn't diminish the mystery of healing—it deepened it. Science gave language to what intuition had already begun to teach me.

Breath has remained the constant thread through it all. It has been one of my greatest teachers, reminding me again and again to begin again.

For more than a decade, I've poured my heart into building Align Massage & Yoga in St. Louis—a community wellness studio centered around movement, education, and intentional care. I continue to manage the studio while traveling nationally and internationally to teach continuing education for massage therapists, blending Eastern traditions with Western clinical practice to help practitioners build sustainable, meaningful careers.

Today, that journey has led me to Salt Lake City and to a new chapter devoted to tattooing and art.

To me, tattooing is not separate from bodywork—it is its natural continuation.

Massage, meditation, movement, and breathwork invite us inward. They ask us to listen, soften, and reconnect. Tattooing carries that journey outward, giving visible form to something deeply felt. A tattoo can become a memory, a milestone, a symbol of resilience, or simply a celebration of beauty. It moves, breathes, and lives with you, becoming part of the story your body already tells.

When I'm not in the studio, you'll usually find me outside. Kayaking cold rivers, wandering forest trails, working up a good sweat, or cooking. I love traveling, collecting inspiration from the places I visit, and transforming those experiences into artwork. I'm equally drawn to restoring forgotten things—whether it's a vintage jacket, an old piece of furniture, reclaimed materials, or found objects. There is something deeply meaningful about revealing the beauty that has always been there.

That philosophy lives at the heart of everything I create.

Whether through tattooing, bodywork, education, or art, my hope is simple: to help people reconnect with themselves, express who they are, and leave the world a little more beautiful than I found it.