I've never been great at staying in my lane — and it turns out, that's been my greatest professional asset.

Founder & Program Director of OTs Gone Rogue
Host of the OTs Gone Rogue Podcast
CEO of Three Peak Performance Group Inc.

What began as a passion project over ten years ago has evolved into a full learning ecosystem for OTs moving beyond direct service and into leadership, program development, and entrepreneurship.

If you enjoy the fuller narrative — how one chapter led to the next — keep reading. My journey weaves through pediatrics, women's health, curriculum design, coaching, and entrepreneurship.

I've never been great at staying in my lane — and it turns out, that's been my greatest professional asset.

What began as a passion project over ten years ago has evolved into a full learning ecosystem for OTs moving beyond direct service and into leadership, program development, and entrepreneurship.

If you enjoy the fuller narrative — how one chapter led to the next — keep reading. My journey weaves through pediatrics, women's health, curriculum design, coaching, and entrepreneurship.

From Pediatric Therapist to Educator

Family-Centered, Rural-Practicing, Pediatric-Focused

I never planned to build a business, let alone lead an international community of therapists exploring entrepreneurship, leadership, and program development.

My career began in pediatrics — supporting children, families, and schools in rural settings, and learning what it meant to make an impact, one child at a time.

I loved the depth of early intervention work, but I eventually began to feel the weight of what the system couldn't fix.

That realization led me toward education as a broader pathway to impact — designing learning experiences not just to deliver information, but to empower others to create meaningful change at scale.

What began as creating handouts, parent workshops, and tools for educators eventually expanded into learning experiences that supported not only women, children, and families, but also the therapists working alongside them.

From Pediatric Therapist
to Adult Educator

My career began in pediatrics—supporting children, families, and schools in rural communities and learning what it meant to make an impact one child at a time.

I loved the depth of early intervention work, but over time I began to see the limitations of systemic gaps, long waitlists, and fragmented public service delivery.

That realization led me toward education as a broader pathway for impact. What began as simple handouts, parent workshops, and tools for educators gradually expanded into learning experiences that supported not only women, children, and families—but also the therapists working alongside them.

Looking back, that was the beginning of designing learning experiences—not just to share information, but to empower others to deliver meaningful work at scale.

When Everything Changed

Training for Delivery and Postpartum Recovery

Although I had a strong foundation in brain development and women's health, nothing fully prepared me for how proactive I needed to be during pregnancy and postpartum recovery. I didn't want to simply survive childbirth — I wanted to train for it, recover well, and feel strong in the process.

I quickly realized how difficult it was to find evidence-based prenatal and postnatal support focused on core health and well-being. That kind of programming simply wasn't available in rural communities, even when I was willing to invest privately.

So I drew on my clinical training to build my own pathway — and in doing so, sketched the early versions of what would later become Strong Beginnings.

When Max was still an infant, I resigned from my early intervention role and stepped into what I call my personal women's health sabbatical — deepening my training and bringing those early sketches to life.

I didn't have entrepreneurial experience, but I had conviction, curiosity, and a belief that if I needed this level of support, other women did too.

How Strong Beginnings Was Born

Turning Lived Experience Into Meaningful Learning for Others

Strong Beginnings began as my first business venture — a boutique women's health practice that blended therapy, consulting, and cash-based wellness services.

What I initially pieced together for my own prenatal preparation and postpartum recovery soon evolved into a structured pathway for other women — focused on preparing for delivery, supporting core and pelvic health during recovery, and applying brain-based regulation principles to support both maternal well-being and early infant development.

How Strong Beginnings Was Born

Although I had a strong foundation in brain development and women’s health, nothing fully prepared me for how proactive pregnancy and postpartum recovery required me to be. I didn’t want to simply survive childbirth—I wanted to train for it and recover well.

When I struggled to find evidence-based prenatal and postnatal support focused on core health and long-term recovery—especially in rural communities—I drew on my clinical training to build my own pathway. That work eventually evolved into Strong Beginnings, my first women’s health practice and program supporting prenatal preparation, postpartum recovery, and early infant development.

Mompreneurship in Real Time

Growing a scalable business, one season at a time

Launching Strong Beginnings while raising a toddler was one of the hardest things I've ever taken on. I began offering cash-based wellness services — mom-and-baby groups, prenatal support, recovery sessions for c-section births, and couples-based "Train for Delivery" consultations. Everything was manual, hands-on, and community-based, but it was also deeply meaningful work.

As I expanded in women's health, I pursued advanced training in restorative exercise and functional movement. I changed my own daily patterns — ditching shoes whenever possible, spending more time on the floor, and hanging from playground structures — integrating what I was learning into real motherhood. Over time, I gained confidence not only as a new mother, but as a therapist who was living the work — not just teaching it.

Mom-preneurship in Real Time

Launching Strong Beginnings while raising a toddler was one of the hardest things I’ve ever taken on. The work was deeply hands-on—supporting women through pregnancy, delivery preparation, and postpartum recovery in small, community-based settings.

As I expanded my work in women’s health, I pursued advanced training in restorative exercise and functional movement. Over time, this work shaped both my professional practice and daily life as a mother, strengthening my confidence as a women’s health therapist focused on functional strength and recovery.

Going Digital Before It Was Cool

Finding New Ways to Teach, Learn, and Stay Connected

Working from home with Max beside me — and living in a small town without much support — forced me to rethink how I could stay connected professionally. I wanted to continue facilitating workshops and retreats, and I was eager for advanced continuing education, but travel simply wasn't realistic during those early years of motherhood.

So I turned to digital learning. In 2015, I launched my first online course for occupational therapists focused on an integrative approach to perinatal health. It was vulnerable, exciting, and completely new territory — but it showed me what was possible. And that experience quietly shifted the direction of my work.

Going Digital
Before It Was Cool

Working from home with Max beside me—and living in a small town with limited professional community—forced me to rethink how I stayed connected to my work. I wanted to continue facilitating workshops and deepen my continuing education, but travel simply wasn’t realistic during those early years of motherhood.

So I turned to digital learning. In 2015, I launched my first online course for occupational therapists focused on an integrative approach to perinatal health—an experience that quietly shifted the direction of my work.

What Started as a Podcast

An Experiment in Storytelling and Mentorship

As my work expanded, I began connecting with therapists who were questioning traditional service delivery — developing online programs, running cash-based workshops, or exploring coaching, but with few places to learn from one another.

Those conversations led to the creation of the OTs Gone Rogue podcast.

It began as an experiment — part storytelling, part mentorship, part honest reflection on what it meant to be entrepreneurial in a role-emerging area of practice. What started as a broadcast quickly became a gathering place.

As the episodes unfolded, the questions evolved. It was no longer only How do I start? but — How do I align this with my values? How do I build systems that support wellbeing? How do I design offers that are ethical, relational, and sustainable? I realized I wasn't simply sharing ideas — I was providing clarity, direction, and structure.

And that's how OTs Gone Rogue evolved — from a podcast into a movement. A place where therapists could finally ask the bigger questions out loud — and find others asking the same ones.

What Started
as a Podcast

As my work expanded, I began connecting with therapists who were questioning traditional service delivery—developing online programs, running cash-based workshops, and exploring new models of care, often without many places to learn from one another.

Those conversations led to the creation of the OTs Gone Rogue podcast. What began as an experiment in storytelling and mentorship quickly became a gathering place for therapists exploring new possibilities in their work.

Over time, the conversation evolved—from How do I start? to deeper questions about values, sustainability, and designing ethical, relational programs. OTs Gone Rogue grew beyond a podcast into a space where therapists could expand their identity, explore entrepreneurship, and build meaningful work with confidence.

The Heart of My Work Today

Turning Conversations Into Learning Experiences

As the podcast community grew, the conversations shifted from inspiration into implementation. Therapists didn't just want ideas — they wanted structure, guidance, and clarity around how to build offers, programs, and pathways that actually worked.

That shift transformed OTs Gone Rogue from a podcast into a learning platform — one where clinicians could move from ideas into real offers, from knowledge into execution, and from clinician identity into educator or leader roles.

Today my work is about helping therapists build something that actually fits — their values, their life, and the kind of impact they want to have. That looks different for everyone, but it always starts with clarity, structure, and the belief that sustainable work is possible.

The Heart of
My Work Today

As the podcast community grew, the conversations shifted from inspiration into implementation. Therapists didn’t just want ideas—they wanted structure, guidance, and clarity around how to build programs and pathways that actually worked.

That shift transformed OTs Gone Rogue from a podcast into a learning platform. Today, my work sits at the intersection of adult education, entrepreneurship, and leadership—supporting therapists as they design programs, implement their ideas, and build sustainable work that reflects both their values and their capacity.

If you're in the early stages and just getting started, explore our self-paced offers and trainings and get a feel for what we're about.
BROWSE LEARNING LIBRARY
If you're ready to design and deliver a signature program beyond one-to-one care, explore Rogue Scholars and see if it's the right fit.
SEE ENROLLMENT OPTIONS
If you're an established entrepreneur ready to scale, learn more about Visionaries on Fire — my high-level advisory program.
BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL
If you're in the early stages and just getting started, explore our self-paced trainings and get a feel for what we're about.
BROWSE LEARNING LIBRARY
If you're ready to design and deliver a signature program beyond one-to-one care, explore Rogue Scholars and see if it's the right fit.
SEE ENROLLMENT OPTIONS
If you're an established entrepreneur ready to scale, learn more about Visionaries on Fire — a high-level advisory program working directly
with Melissa.
BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL