Biography

From the beginning of my career, I have been devoted to creating spaces where women feel safe, seen, and supported. I’m passionate about creating restorative opportunities for women who desire healing through a reflective lens that improves their quality of life and overall family dynamic.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I founded bilingual immersion schools, created and directed childcare centres, taught birth and parenting courses, and worked as a doula and midwife assistant.

Since 2015, following my own recovery from a late stage cancer diagnosis, my work has shifted toward clinical psychology, integrative therapy, research, and the development of WAVE, alongside continued humanitarian support.

Alongside my own healing, I have supported women displaced by war and natural disaster, experiences they did not choose, much like illness itself. Through this work, I have come to understand both the weight of uncertainty and the strength that can grow through vulnerability, courage, and connection.

I believe healing happens in relationship, with ourselves, with others, and with the stories we carry. I am not here to fix you. I am here to walk beside you, to hold space for what is unfolding, and to help you find your own steady ground.

May you find here a sense of peace and perspective, and the reminder that healing is possible, even in the beautiful, messy truth of everyday life.

— ✦ —

Warmly,
Leigh

Timeline

1973
I was born in the United States, in a small farming town outside Anderson, South Carolina.

1992
While working a summer job at Robert Bosch in Anderson, South Carolina I met the love of my life - an intern from Germany. With deep trust and a bold leap of faith, I moved to Germany on October 19th. I still honor this date each year, as it marks a profound transition toward independence and personal wholeness.

1994
After my husband graduated from university, we married and relocated to the United States to pursue career and academic opportunities.

1996
I completed an Associate Degree in International Business through the University of Maryland European Campus, then earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of North Texas with a double major in Organizational Psychology and Finance. After graduation, I worked as a stockbroker and in financial recruitment in San Francisco until 1998.

1998
Before returning to Europe in the fall, where I would spend several years supporting my husband’s consulting career while beginning graduate studies in human development, I earned my first sailing certifications through the American Sailing Association in Sausalito, California.

1999
Alongside my studies, I taught English in exchange for language lessons in the countries where we lived, including France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. During this time, I became deeply focused on human devleopment, early childhood education, birth and parenting.

2000
I gave birth to my first child. Shortly before my son’s birth, we chose to settle in my husband’s hometown of Bamberg, Germany, a place I continue to call my Heimat.

2001
My daughter was born just eleven months after my son. We remained in Bamberg while my husband continued consulting throughout Europe. During this time, I was first and foremost a mom, a gift that I treasure to this very day.

2002
I volunteered with American families connected to the local United States military base after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, providing childcare and emotional support during deployments. I helped establish and operate a grassroots parent cooperative preschool, hosted playgroups, became certified in infant massage, and facilitated weekly parent support groups. This period marked my first work supporting women experiencing war related emotional trauma.

2003
Trying to regain my identity as an educated professional after the birth of my children, I opened a children’s hair and photo studio called Piccolo. Although the concept was thriving in the USA, our small German town was not ready for the concept. The business closed within eighteen months, resulting in a feeling of defeat. I continued working with military families throughout this period.

2004
I returned to graduate studies and completed a graduate degree in Academic Administration for Early Childhood Education. We prepared to relocate to the United States after I accepted a Director position with La Petite Academy.

2005
We moved to San Diego, California, where I led staff restructuring and program redevelopment at La Petite Academy. Later that year, I became Director of Bright Horizons at Del Mar, serving approximately 200 families annually and leading a teaching team of 20+ until 2008/2009

2006
As an advocate of continuing education, I became certified as a birth and postpartum doula through DONA and volunteered with Hearts and Hands at UCSD Hospital, supporting women with complex mental health and social challenges. I also expanded parent education programs and opportunities at Bright Horizons, receiving a national leadership award.

2007
I led the successful accreditation of Bright Horizons at Del Mar through NAEYC (National Association of Early Young Childhood). I also supported the development of two German and English immersion schools, became a certified childbirth educator through ICEA (International Childbirth Education Association), transferred my infant massage certification to IMUSA (Infant Massage USA), and taught classes throughout San Diego and much of southern California.

2008
I accepted a consulting role with a German/English immersion school, supporting licensing, staffing, curriculum development, and program growth, while continuing my work with families in childbirth education, birth and postpartum care, and early life care.

2010
My third child was born. Later that year, we relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, following a career opportunity for my husband.

2011
I continued teaching childbirth education, providing labor and postpartum support, and completed midwifery assistant training at The Farm in Tennessee with Ina May Gaskin and the Farm midwives. I began organizing women’s retreats through our local church community as a volunteer project.

2012
My fourth child was born. After a traumatic delivery that left me temporarily unable to walk, the following period was a season of postpartum depression and recovery. Through dedicated physical, emotional, spiritual, and rehabilitative care, I recovered and fulfilled my promise to hike Georgia’s tallest mountain.

2015
After a severe car accident, I was simultaneously diagnosed with advanced stage III colon cancer. I underwent major surgery, intensive care, blood transfusions, and months of recovery complicated by infection and post surgical trauma—- everything hitting me in just one year. We all have our seasons of struggle and grief. 2012-2015 was mine.

2016
I completed twelve rounds of chemotherapy. This period deeply impacted every member of our family emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially. My final chemo treatment occurred on my birthday and I did not give two shits about ringing the bell. (Ringing the bell is a celebratory moment in American cancer treatment centers when one has completed their chemotherapy.)

2017
We relocated back to Germany, where my husband and I both always felt a deep connection and sense of Heimat. After five consecutive years of what felt like one challenge after the next, we were seeking emotional healing, safety, and stability for our family. With our four children, we sold our dream home in America and moved to Berlin for a new beginning.

2019
I witnessed my two oldest children graduate from high school, something I was unsure I’d have the opportunity of experiencing just a few years earlier. I registered a small travel consultancy in Berlin, explored creative professional paths that would be more gentle on my body and mind, and began reconnecting with life at and by the sea.

2020
Global travel came to a halt due to the Covid pandemic. I closed my recently established travel consultancy with neither gain nor loss, and our family purchased a small house by the Baltic sea as we began to plant roots for our future.

2021
I completed German motorboat and coastal sailing certifications, purchased my 50 year old sailboat Simplicity, and began a full refit. I completed my first German boating certifications. Most of my days were spent reading, sailing, and procesing all that had happened in my life. At some point, I realized that I was forever changed, but fully healed.

2022
Following the full scale invasion of Ukraine, I returned to humanitarian work, volunteering and supporting displaced women and children. I supported the evacuation of more than 4,000 women and children, many of whom are still living throughout Europe, the USA, and Canada. Together with a team of child and adolescent psychologists, I created and published a book in 14 languages, providing children and youth throughout Europe a developmentally appropriate understanding of what was happening. I also continued sailing, logging more than 1500 nautical miles and completing a number of courses and certifications towards the end of 2022.

2024 and 2025
I completed Yachtmaster certification through ASA (American Sailing Association), logged thousands of nautical miles, crewed on an expedition vessel off the coast of Scotland, completed my first book (Ancestral Memories), and wrote a Master’s dissertation after completing studies in Psychology and Integrative Therapy in the United Kingdom. My dissertation focused on WAVE (Water-based Attunement for Vitality and Emotion), a healing modality for perinatal mood disorders, developed from my clinical and maritime experience.

2026
Awarded MSc Integrative Therapy with Distinction from London Metropolitan University. Alongside preparing for potential PhD study and continued research and writing, my main focus will be on piloting WAVE and exploring how it can be introduced into real world practice through further opening the discussion about perinatal mood disorders. Exploring ways in which artificial intelligence and the use of psychosocial robotics may be beneficial in intergenerational trauma, perinatal and neurodivergent perinatal care, and early childhood mental health.