Family unit: Dante (my son in high school), myself, Dylan (my son in college), Dann (my support system extraordinaire) and Meiko the Glorious Golden

My Story:

The happiest moments of my life are spent outdoors  –  whether it’s running, canoeing, yoga on the deck, skiing, biking, walking a creekside trail or making great food in our outdoor kitchen at Flathead Lake -  being in touch with nature is fodder for my soul.  I love to travel and have been to 38 countries around the world.  Each adventure deepens my reverence for the amazing diversity of our planet:  observing traditional Andean life in a Quechan village while climbing Machu Picchu, swimming with manatees in the cayes of Belize,  exploring blues history on a journey up the Mississippi Delta,  learning to play didgeridoo at an Aboriginal bushcamp .   As Michener says – the world is my home.  
 
Music is an integral part of my life, bringing soulfulness and levity into our home and hearts.  We both  garner much of our spiritiual and community connection by working for local organizations that we believe in.  My wonderful husband (Dann) and two boys (Dylan and Dante) and faithful running buddy (Meiko the golden retriever) are the loves of my life, as are my Texas family and dear friends. 
 
Writing a book is arguably one of the last things that I thought I would ever do!  All of my passions in life, however, seemed to merge unintentionally and  seamlessly into this book. 

The wonderful women in my life:  Sandy (my sweet sis), Mom (just turned 90 years old), me and Shelly (my fun-loving niece)

As a business professor, I  have spent 21 years in the college classroom.  At California State University, Chico  (where I received a Master of Science),  I led freshman courses in accounting and business communications.  From 1994-2001, I taught first- and second-year accounting students at the University of Montana College of Technology.  In 2001, through a series of serendipitous events, we went on a 6-month teaching exchange to the School of Financial Studies at  Charles Sturt University in New South Wales, Australia.  There I was exposed to a society that embraces green, both culturally and pragmatically: sustainable business , mandatory recycling, green living and a vibrant eco-political party.  Upon return from this sojourn, I started to search for a way to integrate global ‘big-picture ideas’ involving the  environment and social justice  within my business classes.  As part of that search I stumbled across a web site for Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Puget Sound; they offered one of the first green MBA programs in the country.  A provost’s grant funded the first quarter of sustainable business classwork and from then I was hooked, returning  one weekend per month over the next year to study with and learn from some of the biggest names in the eco-business movement    - Joan Bavaria, David Korton, Van Jones and Gifford Pinchot III, to name just a few.  I was humbled by the clarity of their vision.

The trek of a lifetime:  Machu Picchu, Peru, May 2007.

Never had something made so much sense to me –business as a leading change agent working to shift the old, unsustainable way of conducting commerce to one that embraces the ideas of natural capitalism and inclusiveness for all.  Everyone I talked to about these ideas were intrigued, but unsure about how to convert abstract ideas to concrete  business practices.  As I reflected on this gap, the idea for a simple how-to book was born.