I’ve been a freelance cultural journalist following the pulse of sexuality, trauma, motherhood and feminism for over two decades, as well as a leading expert on the topic of shame and vulnerability. My debut book, SHAME ON YOU: How to Be a Woman in the Age of Mortification, was an Amazon Editors’ Pick for Best Nonfiction Book of the Month.   

As a former sex worker and survivor of sexual exploitation and mass media humiliation, I know personally the devastation that weaponized sexist shame can have on a woman’s life. I have also experienced and seen firsthand that when girls and women develop a greater awareness of how shame functions in our society and manifests their lives, we free up the mental space, emotional energy, and time we need to truly fulfill our purpose. 

Since 2010, I’ve helped hundreds of girls and women push through fear, write, share and even publish their most vulnerable stories in national publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, Salon, Washington Post and elsewhere, and have helped still more individuals re-envision their lives by making meaning of their past and transcending traumatic experiences.