What GDP Won’t Tell You About Prisons, Profits, and the $45 Billion ICE Expansion
April 09, 2025
Opinion: $45 Billion for Detention Isn’t Immigration Reform. It’s a Gift to the Prison Industrial Complex.
Back in 2006, when I enrolled in Seattle University’s Leadership-Executive MBA program, I thought economics would be one of the most boring classes.
GDP? Resource allocation?
Snoozefest.
But thanks to a few excellent professors and eye-opening classroom discussions, I started sitting up in my chair.
What Is GDP, Anyway?
GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product, and it’s basically how the U.S. keeps score of its economy. Imagine adding up the value of everything we buy, sell, build, and spend money on in a year—cars, surgeries, weapons, rent, chicken nuggets, prison construction.
That big number? That’s GDP.
If the number goes up, politicians say the economy is “healthy.”
But here’s the problem: GDP doesn’t care what we’re building or why.
A cancer diagnosis? Boosts GDP.
A hurricane? Boosts GDP.
A new prison? Yep, that too.
It’s a system that counts activity—but not impact. It measures motion—not meaning.
Once I realized that GDP is the primary way we measure success in our economy, I started looking at the nuts and bolts of what we’re calling “success.”
And I realized … so many things that actually reveal how horribly we’re doing as a country are celebrated—simply because they boost our GDP.
That includes profits from prisons, arms deals, and medical treatment —hospital stays, pharmaceuticals, surgeries.
In this system, health and happiness aren’t profitable.
You might already be familiar with the data I’m about to share.
But like me back then, maybe you’ve never looked at it through the lens of GDP.
Once I saw how GDP rewarded harm, I couldn’t unsee it. I started looking at our biggest “success stories” differently—especially the industries profiting most from pain.
So let’s look at a few of the major GDP-boosting industries in the U.S.—and what they actually cost us when we look at it through the lens of ALL the ways we should be looking at and measuring the well-being of our country.
Arms Sales: War as Growth
The U.S. is the largest arms exporter in the world, accounting for 43% of global weapons exports from 2020–2024.
(Source: Geopolitical Economy Report, March 2025)
In fiscal year 2024 alone, U.S. arms transfers and defense trade totaled $117.9 billion, with $96.9 billion of that coming from foreign military sales to U.S. allies and partners.
(Source: U.S. State Department)
These transactions are counted as “economic activity” and contribute to GDP —but they also deepen global militarization, fuel conflicts, and entrench geopolitical instability.
The economy grows, but at the expense of peace.
Healthcare: Sickness as a Business Model
In 2023, the U.S. spent $4.9 trillion on healthcare, representing 17.6% of national GDP.
(Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
And yet, the U.S. continues to rank poorly in life expectancy, chronic disease rates, and maternal mortality compared to other wealthy nations.
Why? Because the system rewards treatment, not prevention. The more people get sick, the more the economy “grows.” Pharmaceutical sales, hospital stays, and surgeries all count toward GDP.
But healthy communities? Preventive care? Supportive environments? Those don’t move the economic needle.
The True Cost of the U.S. Prison Industrial Complex
Direct Government Spending on Corrections:
The U.S. spends $182 billion per year on the criminal legal system, including:
Prisons and jails: $80.7B
Police: $63.2B
Judicial/legal costs: $29B
Supervision (probation/parole): $8.1B
(Source: Prison Policy Initiative, 2017)
The Broader Economic Burden:
When you factor in lost wages, reduced economic mobility, family costs, and ripple effects, the total societal cost balloons to over $1 trillion per year—nearly 6% of U.S. GDP.
(Source: Institute for Justice Research and Development (IJRD), 2016)
This includes:
Lost earnings from incarceration and criminal records
Decreased lifetime earnings for children of incarcerated parents
Health impacts and increased public health costs
Reduced tax revenue
Increased reliance on public assistance
Who Profits?
Private prison corporations like GEO Group and CoreCivic make billions.
GEO Group made $2.3 billion in 2022. CoreCivic brought in $1.8 billion.
About 43% of GEO’s revenue in some years comes directly from ICE detention contracts.
(Source: GEO Group 10-K filings via SEC, Brennan Center)
Incarceration by the Numbers:
The U.S. has 2 million people locked up at any given time —the highest incarceration rate in the world.
Over 5 million more are under community supervision (probation/parole).
Black Americans are incarcerated at nearly 5 times the rate of white Americans.
(Source: The Sentencing Project)
The prison industrial complex isn’t just morally bankrupt—it’s economically absurd.
It drains public funds, harms families, depresses entire communities, and then gets celebrated as “growth” because it generates jobs and government contracts.
But this isn’t safety. It’s a cycle of punishment sold as policy.
How “Immigration Enforcement” Became Incarceration Infrastructure
So when I read that last week the Trump administration released a request for up to $45 billion in contracts to expand immigrant detention facilities, I was outraged.
On the surface, it’s framed as a crackdown on undocumented immigration.
But let’s be honest: this isn’t just about enforcement.
It’s about padding the pockets of private prison companies and deepening the roots of the prison industrial complex—with immigrant bodies as the fuel.
And let’s get another thing straight: detention is not deportation.
You don’t need $45 billion to remove people from the country.
You need functioning legal systems, international agreements, and due process. What this level of spending builds instead is a vast network of holding cells, transportation systems, security guards, surveillance tech, and medical contractors.
This is not immigration reform—it’s incarceration infrastructure.
RememberOrange Is the New Black?
Did you watch Orange Is the New Black?
That Netflix show wasn’t just entertainment—it was a dramatized window into the U.S. prison industrial complex. It showed us how people—especially women of color—get caught in cycles of punishment, bureaucracy, and exploitation, all while corporations turn incarceration into a business model.
Was anyone else outraged when the character Blanca Flores was taken by ICE at the end of Season 6? After serving her sentence at Litchfield, she expected to be released. Instead, she was snatched and sent to a privately run ICE detention facility.
The show didn’t exaggerate.
It reflected a real system, where immigrants who’ve served their time are funneled directly into private detention centers—because someone profits when they do.
In real life, GEO Group and CoreCivic are already profiting heavily from ICE contracts. These companies spend millions lobbying for policies that keep detention numbers high.
And while children are separated from families, asylum seekers are caged, and court backlogs grow, shareholders cash in.
But here’s the deeper sickness: we count this cruelty as economic growth.
The United States measures its success through Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—a number that doesn’t distinguish between life-affirming and life-destroying activity. When a private prison builds a new facility, hires guards, and contracts out meals and security, that gets counted as a boost to GDP.
In fact, a comprehensive study by the Institute for Justice Research and Development estimated the total societal cost of incarceration at over $1 trillion annually—nearly 6% of U.S. GDP. That’s a number that far exceeds what we actually spend on corrections.
This is the trap of “late capitalism,” a term used to describe the strange, often heartbreaking version of capitalism we’re living in now—where profit is prioritized over people, and systems are so distorted that things like illness, incarceration, and climate disasters are seen as “good for the economy.”
It’s not just about money. It’s about what we value, what we measure, and who we leave behind.
In late capitalism, forest fires boost GDP. So do oil spills, cancer diagnoses, and prison construction.
But caregiving? Mutual aid? Healing work?
Not counted. Not profitable.
This is the trap: we’ve built an economic system that confuses destruction with success.
And the more we cling to it, the more harm we normalize.
The ICE proposal isn’t just a policy decision.
It’s a long-term investment in systemic incarceration.
It normalizes the idea that warehousing people is a solution.
It entrenches a surveillance state.
It erodes civil liberties—not just for immigrants, but for all of us.
If we’re serious about immigration reform, we need to dismantle the systems that conflate human dignity with disposability.
We need to stop measuring “success” in profit margins drawn from pain.
And we need to reject any budget that treats caged people as economic activity.
This isn’t border security. It’s bondage rebranded.
Get involved:
🧮 1. Push Back on the GDP Narrative
GDP is entrenched, but it’s not sacred—and economists, activists, and everyday people are challenging it.
What you can do:
Talk about it publicly: Use your voice, platforms, and networks to challenge the myth that GDP = health. Share your blog post. Start conversations.
These movements are actively pushing governments to adopt more holistic economic indicators.
Pressure local/state officials to pilot alternative metrics (e.g., Maryland has used GPI).
Vote with your dollars: Support businesses and orgs rooted in community care, not extraction.
🧱 2. Oppose the $45 Billion ICE Detention Expansion
Even before funding is approved, there are real ways to resist.
What you can do:
Contact your reps: Call or write your senators and representatives. Tell them to oppose any budget that funds ICE detention expansion or private prison contracts. Personal, passionate messages matter.
Support immigrant rights orgs already fighting back, such as:
Spread awareness: Most people don’t know about this $45B proposal. Share this blog post or write your own to help educate and mobilize.
Disrupt the profit pipeline: Push for divestment from CoreCivic, GEO Group, and any financial institutions funding them.
Organize locally: City and county governments often contract with ICE and private prisons. Organizing at the local level can cancel or prevent those deals.
Conclusion: The story we tell about growth is killing us.
But together we can write a new one—rooted in care, dignity, and the radical idea that human lives are not expendable.
The Forest Remembers (and So Do We): What Trees Teach Us About Transformation
Inspired by “Never Underestimate the Intelligence of Trees” by Brandon Keim
While others build empires, the forest mothers.
It listens. It remembers. It waits.
In a culture that celebrates speed, performance, and constant growth, we rarely pause to wonder how life sustains itself in the absence of those things. We rarely ask how true resilience is built.
But deep in the forest—beneath the moss, beneath the fallen leaves, beneath even the soil itself—there are networks. Fungal webs connecting root to root, tree to tree, in a vast, pulsing intelligence that defies our Western frameworks. An ancient internet of care.
Ecologist Suzanne Simard has spent decades studying this subterranean world. Her research on mycorrhizal networks—those threadlike fungal connections between trees—reveals something that Indigenous peoples have always known: the forest is not a collection of individuals, but a living community.
A mother tree will send nutrients to her kin. She can sense which seedlings are struggling. She’ll adjust her behavior based on their needs, even as she’s dying. She remembers. She responds. She chooses.
This is not metaphor. This is biology.
And it echoes through everything I teach inside the Wildwoven Framework.
🍃 Transformation is not a solo journey.
It’s seasonal. Relational. Alive.
When I guide women through deep change, I don’t ask them to “push through.” 🌱 I ask them to root in. To listen to the signals beneath the surface. To stop blooming in the middle of Winter just because the world tells them to.
Like the trees:
we carry memories in our rings—in our bodies, in our breath, in the chemistry of our nervous systems.
we know what it is to care for our kin, to conserve energy when resources are scarce, to sense when it’s time to grow and when it’s time to rest.
we feel what is needed long before we can explain it.
But too often, we forget.
Or we’re told those ways of knowing don’t count.
We’re taught that:
🍃 intuition isn’t intelligence. 🍃 grief is weakness. 🍃 stillness is laziness.
This is the lie of linearity.
And the forest knows better.
What if we stopped measuring intelligence by its proximity to human performance?
🌿 What if memory lived in tree rings and soil? 🌿 What if communication didn’t require a voice? 🌿 What if grief and generosity were not opposites—but dance partners in the web of life?
This is what we return to in the Wildwoven Way.
It’s not self-help.
🍂 It’s Earth-wisdom. It’s the sacred intelligence of cycles and bodies and networks and kin. It’s permission to unhook from the empire long enough to remember your belonging.
The forest remembers.
And somewhere in you, so do you.
🌱 If you’re craving a rooted, seasonal map for your own transformation—one that honors where you are, not where the world says you should be—take the Wildwoven Assessment (link below).
You’ll uncover your current season and receive a guide with personalized insights into the lessons, medicine, and common traps of this phase of growth.
Discover the Rhythm of Your Becoming
The Wildwoven Seasonal Assessment isn’t just another personality quiz—it’s a guide to understanding where you are in your transformation. Whether you’re shedding an old identity, deep in the unknown, or stepping into something new, this framework helps you name your season, work with its energy, and move through change in a way that feels aligned, embodied, and true.
On root wisdom, sacred boundaries, and remembering how to grow
I didn’t set out to propagate plants.
But somewhere in my early spring season, I started channeling my latent creative passion into my family’s short term rental setups, and discovered I had a knack for creating cozy, welcoming places. This led to a fetish with plants as living decorations, and then an obsession with tying knots into macrame plant hangers. And in order to have enough plants to go into the plant hangers –without going broke– I decided to try my hand at propagating.
When a small army of baby philodendrons and spider plants began to overtake my window sills –and, thanks to the macrame plant hangers– my walls, and ceiling, I noticed something:
The plants weren’t just surviving. They were sensing. Adjusting. Remembering. And in their quiet way, they were asking a question I had long forgotten how to ask myself:
What do I need in order to grow?
In our culture, we’re taught that intelligence lives in the head. That logic is king. That healing is linear. That transformation is a 5-step checklist, and if you don’t transform “properly” you’re a failure.
But the Wildwoven Way—and, it turns out, a whole new wave of plant cognition research—whispers something different.
“Where there is life, there is already mind.”
That’s Paco Calvo, founder of the Minimal Intelligence Lab in Spain.
His research on plant behavior suggests that what we think of as “cognition” isn’t something that happens in the brain alone (or even at all), but something that happens in the relationship between an organism and its environment.
In the sensing. The adapting. The timing. The flow.
Which sounds a lot like the Wildwoven Framework to me.
So what if we let plants remind us not just of who we are, but how we change?
Below are three plant-inspired metaphors—paired with the Wildwoven seasons they reflect—and a few gentle invitations for each one. They’re not steps. They’re not to-dos. They’re threads to follow if it feels right to you.
❄️ WINTER | Root Apex ↔ Root Medicine
Stillness. Deep sensing. Restoring the roots.
The root apex is the sensitive, subterranean tip of a plant’s root system. It’s where sensing and adaptation begin—detecting moisture, nutrients, gravity, and even kinship. It’s how the plant knows where to grow, even in the dark.
But here’s the thing: the root apex lives underground. Unseen. Slow. Quiet.
Just like the Winter season of transformation.
This is the season our culture tells us to skip—when everything visible seems still, –and therefore, according to western culture, unimportant—but everything essential is happening beneath the surface.
It’s where gut-level clarity begins.
Where the soul whispers instead of shouts.
And we stop performing to start listening.
🌾 Winter Invitations:
Honor your need for quiet before clarity.
Notice what your roots are reaching for—and what they’re pulling away from.
Resist the urge to “make meaning” too soon. Just sense.
Trust that the dark is fertile, not empty.
What if your next chapter is already germinating… but just isn’t visible yet?
🌱 EARLY SPRING | Sensorimotor Intelligence ↔ Emergence
The first green shoots. Tender yeses. Gentle experiments.
In early spring, plants don’t explode into bloom—they explore. They sense. Shift. Respond. Pause.
What plant cognition reveals is that plants aren’t passive or predictable. They don’t simply react—they interpret. They remember past threats. They anticipate the sun. They adapt their growth based on current and changing conditions.
This is the sacred intelligence of early spring: Tiny movements with massive wisdom behind them.
When you’re in the early spring season of transformation, it’s easy to doubt yourself. You’re fragile but stirring. You may feel like you’re “not doing enough.” But emergence isn’t performance—it’s a series of conversations with the world.
🌾 Spring Invitations:
Let your growth be guided by sensation instead of pressure.
Try one small, brave thing—then pause and listen for feedback. Not external feedback, internal feedback. How did it feel? What would you adjust?
Trust your ability to adapt in real time.
Begin before you feel 100% ready.
What if readiness is revealed through the doing, not before it?
🌼 LATE SPRING / EARLY SUMMER | Photosynthesis ↔ Creative Expression
Unfurling. Play. Wild bloom. Voice.
Photosynthesis is how plants turn light into nourishment. Creative expression is how we do the same.
Your poems, your voice, your rewilded joy, your full-body laugh in the middle of a hard day—these are not “extras.” They’re how your soul eats. They’re how you metabolize aliveness.
And just like plants don’t photosynthesize in darkness, we can’t keep creating from a place of depletion, shame, or silence.
In the Late Spring and Summer seasons of transformation, expression isn’t just allowed—it’s essential.
🌾 Late Spring and Summer Invitations:
Let something bloom without apologizing for it.
Create from joy, not just urgency.
Let visibility be a form of nourishment—not a transaction.
Say what you actually want to say.
What if your creativity is how the light gets into the world?
🐦🔥 ROOTED SUMMER | Shade Avoidance ↔ Boundaries as Direction
Embodiment. Discernment. Deep aliveness.
Plants can sense when they’re entering crowded territory. They absorb red light but reflect far-red light—so if the far-red increases, they know they’re surrounded and can choose to grow in a different direction.
This is called shade avoidance.
They’re not avoiding out of fear. They’re discerning where they can thrive.
What a beautiful reframe for boundaries.
In the rooted Summer season of transformation, we don’t set boundaries to shut the world out—we set them to grow toward the light.
We’re not avoiding people—we’re attuning to where our energy is best invested.
🌾 Rooted Summer Invitations:
Let your boundaries be data, not drama.
Notice where you’re shrinking—and redirect.
Ask: “Where is the light now?”
Practice saying no with compassion and conviction.
What if your boundaries are the blueprint for your next evolution?
🌾 So… What season are you in?
If you’re reading this and nodding, maybe you’re already on the Wildwoven path. Or maybe it’s been calling to you for a while now.
This isn’t about plants, really.
It’s about remembering how to be a living thing in a world that treats us like machines.
Hi. I’m Transformation Coach, Kristin Halberg.
My work is rooted in story, nervous system wisdom, and nature’s blueprint for transformation.
I don’t offer 10-step programs—I offer companionship, reflection, and a map made of seasons.
When the people erasing history are the least qualified to lead, we have to ask: What are they so afraid of?
Something is happening.
Quietly.
Systematically.
And most people don’t even know it’s underway.
You won’t hear about it on the nightly news. There won’t be a siren. No front-page headlines.
Just a quiet, digital deletion— Of thousands of names. Thousands of stories. Entire legacies of service, risk, and sacrifice… gone.
As I watched Greta Gerwig’s Little Women with my mom and sister at Field Hall’s Women’s History Month celebration the other night, I was reminded that Jo March’s battle to have her voice heard is far from over—because even now, women’s stories are being erased.
The struggle to be seen, to be heard, to have one’s work recognized as valuable—it’s not just a personal battle.
It’s political.
It’s historical.
It almost happened to me in high school.
And it’s happening right now.
The Power of a Community That Says No
I grew up in a small town. A town where fairness was valued.
A town where when thegirls’ basketball team was the one dominating the playoffs, we were the ones who played in the prime 7 PM slot—because that’s when the community could show up for us.
We packed the stands.
We traded practice times with the boys’ team every other week.
Our coach even pulled some of the varsity boys into practice against us to push us to improve. (And we beat them sometimes.)
We were respected. Our skills and our success were recognized.
And then we got a new superintendent.
He came in with an agenda.
First? Move the girls’ team out of the gym entirely –to the cafetorium, which wasn’t even a full-sized basketball court. He also suggested we could practice before school –so the boys team would have full access to the gym in the afternoon and evening.
The second thing he tried? Taking away our prime-time games and moving us to the 4:15 PM game slot.
His reasoning?
Well, he might not have said it outright.
But it was clear: He didn’t believe girls’ basketball deserved the spotlight.
But here’s the thing: The community pushed back.
And we won.
The girls’ team stayed in the gym. We continued trading gym times with the boys. We kept our 7 PM games. The superintendent had to back down.
This was not a fight about politics.
This was a fight about fairness. About values. About doing what’s right.
People in my town—regardless of party, background, or beliefs—stood up for the truth.
They saw what was happening and said, “No. That’s not how we do things here.”
And that’s what we need now … in our country.
This Isn’t Just My Story—It’s a Pattern
The latest example of the attempted erasure of women?
Women who served in the military.
The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) were among the first women to fly military aircraft in WWII. Over 25,000 applied for this dangerous work. Only 1,074 were accepted. They ferried new planes, tested overhauled ones, and even flew as live target practice for training gunners.
Thirty-eight of them died serving a country that refused to drape a flag over their coffins.
Now, their photographs and records—along with tens of thousands of others documenting women and minorities in the military—are being deleted from government archives as part of Trump’s latest executive order under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The justification? A return to “merit.”
Which begs the question: Whose merit?
Hegseth himself, a Fox News loyalist with no experience managing anything close to the scale of the Defense Department, is hardly a beacon of qualification.
The very people who scream “merit” are the same ones whose own credentials wouldn’t survive scrutiny. And yet, they’re in power, wielding the delete key as if history itself is an inconvenience.
Women Shouldn’t Be Footnotes in History—Without Us There Wouldn’t BE History
We need to push back against the erasure of women’s history not because it’s a political issue, but because it’s the truth.
Because truth matters. Because fairness matters. Because recognizing real achievement matters.
When women’s history is deleted from military archives, it’s not just about the past.
It’s about the future.
It’s about what young girls see when they look back and look ahead.
Will they see a legacy of courage and contribution? Or will they see blank spaces where their stories should have been?
The most dangerous thing women can do is refuse to disappear.
So let’s do exactly that.
Let’s tell these stories. Let’s demand they be preserved.
Let’s remind those in power that women are not footnotes in history—we are the creators of it. The ones who birth every leader, every soldier, every man who’s ever tried to erase us.
When we talk about transformation, we rarely acknowledge how deeply it reshapes us.
Even during pregnancy, we focus on the physical changes—the expanding belly, the shifting weight.
But the transformation runs far deeper. Pregnancy rewires the brain, reshapes identity, and even leaves behind literal, cellular traces in the body forever.
What if we recognized that change isn’t just logistical—it’s biological, psychological, and deeply personal? That even the most chosen reinvention rattles the very foundation of who we thought we were?
Because here’s the thing: Change isn’t just about what’s next. It’s about what’s falling away.
The Five Pillars of Identity—And What Happens When They Collapse
Who we are is built on layers—some visible, some hidden.
Five core pillars shape our sense of self:
What we do (our roles and work).
Who we belong to (relationships and community).
What we understand (knowledge and confidence in how the world works).
How much control we have (our ability to shape our lives).
What gives life meaning (our belief systems—the thing that holds it all together).
When one of these shifts, we wobble. When they all collapse at once? We come undone.
When Everything Falls Apart at Once
In one calendar year, I lost every foundational piece of who I thought myself to be.
I was fired from the company I had grown up in—not because of performance, but because I stood up to a toxic boss.
All of my close friends were immersed in the early years of motherhood—while I was still single.
I was in grad school, drowning in the “conscious incompetence” phase of learning, no longer confident in what I knew.
And then—the earthquake I never saw coming—my large, tightly woven family fractured in a way that left deep cracks we still feel 18 years later.
If my job was my stability, my family was my gravity. We weren’t just close—we were woven together, each of us anchoring the others, for better or worse. Family wasn’t just a part of life; it was the bedrock of who I knew myself to be in the world. And then, suddenly, the foundation split.
So there I was, untethered. No job. No clear path. No steady relationships. No certainty about who I was becoming.
I’d faced big transitions before. I’d reinvented myself, changed careers, weathered breakups, and found my way back to solid ground.
But never all at once. Never like this.
This time, I had no job. No clear path. No steady relationships. No certainty about who I was becoming.
But I still had one thing left to trust.
When everything else in my life felt uncertain, I had nature.
It was my constant, my quiet refuge. I grew up listening to the rhythm of waves, tracing the seasons like a second heartbeat. If nothing else, I could trust this: Nature had a rhythm. It had a wisdom. It made sense.
So, in the middle of my unraveling, I did the only thing that had ever made me feel steady: I turned on a nature documentary.
“Ahhh. At least Nature still has my back. So soothing.”
I settled in, watching a mama horse nuzzle her baby. See? Beautiful. Predictable. Comforting.
And then—a stallion came racing over and kicked the baby horse to death.
I shot up, turned off the TV, and shook my fist at the sky.
“Even caterpillars get a stick!!”
The Myth of the Smooth Transition
The caterpillar goes into the chrysalis thinking it knows itself. It is a fuzzy little land creature, it munches leaves, it has a plan.
Then one day, everything inside of it turns to goo.
No legs. No body. Just a primordial soup of cells trying to remember what comes next. And here’s the kicker: even in its most melted-down, what-the-actual-hell-is-happening-to-me moment, the caterpillar still gets a stick. A tiny branch to hang from while it un-becomes itself.
Humans? We don’t get that.
Or at least, we don’t think we do—because modern culture treats transition like a self-improvement project instead of an existential reckoning.
Right now, we treat major life changes as isolated, intellectual events. We plan for them, but we don’t prepare for them. We expect people to just “figure it out.”
Leaders are given new roles but not the space to integrate their evolving identity.
Activists burn themselves out because our culture treats urgency as more valuable than sustainability.
We are given barely a moment to grieve before we’re expected to move on—before the loss even finishes echoing in our bones.
People walk away from entire versions of their lives—careers, relationships, belief systems, communities—and are told to “just be grateful” instead of being supported through the grief that naturally comes with it. (And to be clear: I don’t mean death or reincarnation—I mean the profound identity shifts that come with major life transitions, the kind that feel like leaving one version of yourself behind to become another.)
We don’t talk about how reinvention feels like losing your native language. We don’t acknowledge that you can want something deeply and still mourn what it’s replacing.
And so, instead of creating systems of care for transformation, we push through it alone—convincing ourselves that struggle is just part of the deal.
What If We Did It Differently?
What if we approached leadership growth, activism, and personal reinvention the way we approach matrescence?
What if we gave people sticks while they melted into something new?
What would change if we:
Treated career shifts like identity shifts, offering actual support instead of assuming competence will carry people through?
Built activism structures that sustained people beyond crisis moments?
Created rituals around transitions—so people felt witnessed, not just expected to adapt?
Because the truth is, transformation doesn’t work on a corporate timeline. It’s a Wildwoven process—seasonal, cyclical, deeply personal.
And here’s where I come in.
My work is about guiding people through these wild, uncharted shifts. Helping them navigate the messy middle and emerge on the other side, not just changed, but rooted in who they were meant to become.
If you’re in a season of reinvention—whether in leadership, activism, or your personal life—you don’t have to figure it out alone.
🌿 Navigating a Major Life Transition? Find Out Where You Are in the Cycle.
“Transformation doesn’t happen on a corporate timeline. It follows seasons, cycles, and deep internal shifts. If you’re in the middle of a big change—career shifts, leadership growth, activism, or reinvention—you don’t have to navigate it blindly.”
Think of it as a compass for your comeback. The assessment helps place you in the season of transformation you’re in—so you can stop fighting where you are and start workingwiththe natural rhythm of change.
🔹 What happens next?
You’ll receive a guide packed with a blend of science-backed, soul-centered strategies designed to fit the natural rhythm every transformation follows.
Who it’s for:Women navigatingidentity-shaking transitions. Whether you’re shedding an old version of yourself, deep in the unknown, stepping into something new…or figuring out how to speak your truth inside the chaos of these times.
Have you ever felt like life pulled the rug out from under you, leaving you unsure of who you are or where to go next? Perhaps you’ve experienced heartbreak, faced a health crisis, navigated a major life transition, or found yourself questioning your identity after years of following the “rules.” If this resonates, you’re not alone—and transformation coaching might be exactly what you need.
What Is Transformation Coaching?
Transformation coaching is a holistic approach to personal growth that supports you during times of deep change. It’s not just about setting goals or creating action plans (though we’ll do that too). It’s about helping you reconnect with your true self, heal emotional wounds, and create a life aligned with your values and desires.
Unlike therapy, which often focuses on past trauma, or traditional life coaching, which emphasizes external achievements, transformation coaching addresses the emotional and energetic shifts needed to navigate identity-shaking transitions. It’s about empowering you to step into the most authentic version of yourself.
Common Challenges Women Face
Life’s challenges have a way of leaving us feeling stuck, lost, or unsure of who we are. Women often come to transformation coaching because they’re experiencing:
Shame or self-doubt after a major life event like infidelity, divorce, or a health diagnosis.
Loss of identity after becoming a mother, ending a long-term relationship, or experiencing a career change.
Emotional overwhelm from juggling the demands of single motherhood, caregiving, or personal healing.
A longing for more meaning, purpose, and fulfillment but not knowing where to start.
How I Help You Rediscover Your Magick
As a Transformation Coach, I specialize in guiding women through these identity-shaking changes to help them ditch shame, reclaim their unique magick, and cultivate deep self-love. My approach blends decades of leadership experience with powerful tools like:
Neuroscience-backed techniques: Rewire limiting beliefs and create lasting, positive change.
Shamanic healing practices: Release emotional blocks, tap into your intuition, and find inner peace.
Expressive arts and journaling: Explore your emotions and rediscover your creativity as a path to healing.
Nature rituals: Reconnect with the natural world to ground yourself and find clarity.
This work isn’t about “fixing” you. It’s about helping you remember your inherent worth and guiding you back to a place of self-love and steadfast confidence.
Real Stories of Transformation
One client, a single mother navigating several big changes in her life, came to me because she was stressed and overwhelmed with all the choices facing her. Through our work together, she learned to set healthy boundaries, make positive choices for herself and her son, and build a life that felt meaningful and joyful. Today, she’s got her own business, and feels more empowered than ever before.
Another client, recovering from infidelity, worked with me to heal her heartbreak and rebuild her confidence. By the end of our time together, she had not only found peace but had also uncovered a deeper sense of self-worth and resilience.
Is Transformation Coaching Right for You?
If you’re:
Tired of feeling stuck or overwhelmed,
Ready to heal from shame and self-doubt,
Longing to rediscover your purpose and passions, or
Craving a life that feels deeply aligned with your true self…
Then transformation coaching could be the catalyst you need. You don’t have to navigate this journey alone.
Take the First Step
Are you ready to ditch the shame, reclaim your power, and love yourself clear down to your bones?
Let’s talk. I invite you to schedule a free discovery call to explore how transformation coaching can support you on your journey.
Reflections on a Challenging Year: Finding Meaning Beyond the Struggle
I scoffed at the student motivational speaker at my nephew’s graduation.
Her speech was uplifting—full of big dreams and bold declarations about how she and her classmates were going to change the world. Normally, speeches like this get me teary-eyed, filling me with HOPE that the next generation might actually save us.
The weight of grief clouded any sense of hope, and I couldn’t see past the pain to recognize the potential for growth.
“Yeah right,” I muttered internally. “Just wait thirty years. Half of you will be in active addiction, and the other half will be sucked right into the greedy capitalist dream.”
Navigating grief is a challenging journey. In the midst of our loss, my partner and I struggled, neither of us able to face clients, let alone ‘market’ our businesses.
These weren’t our best moments. Justin spent his days deep in online political debates, while I spent the first half of the year binge-watching Marvel shows. I wanted to BE Jessica Jones—her brand of sarcasm and self-deprecation hit me right in the feels.
The Turning Point
A few weeks later, still horrified at my jaded thoughts during that graduation, I decided my depression had gone on long enough. So I did what I always do when I feel stuck—I researched my way out.
I found an online course that promised inspiration, and one of the first activities was to reflect and harvest my year.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t need to do this. I already know—my year SUCKED.”
Still, I answered the first question: “Did you have a vision for the year?”
YES! I had big plans to grow my business, but then Josh WAS KILLED IN A F-ING CRAB ACCIDENT WHILE HELPING SOME ARROGANT CAPTAIN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE.
I moved to the next question: “What occurred, evolved, or happened since you set this intention? How would you describe your results?”
The anger bubbled up again. SAME ANSWER. “DITTO,” I scrawled, jabbing my pen hard enough to rip the page.
But then came another set of questions: “What were the highlights of your year? What are you most proud of? What had the most positive impact on you and/or others?”
At first, this stumped me. The bitterness and disappointment I’d been clinging to blocked access to any positive memories. But then I remembered something small yet meaningful—
In the spring, I got to drive my niece to her club volleyball practice two hours away every week. Since she’s a teen, those alone moments are rare. But every single time, she’d say, “This was fun, Auntie Kristin. We should hang out more often.”
That memory softened something inside me. I moved on to the rest of the questions, slowly re-evaluating my year—not through the capitalistic lens of productivity and success, but from a human perspective.
Redefining Growth & Success
Looking back, this shift—choosing to move through my jaded year and see what else was there—became a pivotal moment of growth for me.
One of the reasons I was so jaded was because I was filled with self-loathing. I couldn’t “fix” Josh’s wife’s grief, or Justin’s, or even my own. But leaning into my pain and feelings of failure ultimately made me a better practitioner.
It forced me to learn that it’s not my job to fix.
It’s my job to hold sacred space.
To BE there.
To allow what is.
“Some periods of our growth are so confusing that we don’t even recognize that growth is happening. We may feel hostile or angry or weepy and hysterical, or we may feel depressed. … However, we are, in fact, in the process of change…”
Those long periods—when something inside us seems to be clawing its way out of our skin… when we’re frozen with uncertainty about our next step… when we feel completely untethered… when we’re angry at the world because deep down, we’re grieving something big—
Personal growth is challenging enough without the added weight of grief and loss. And when we measure success the way the world expects us to—by external achievements, productivity, and met goals—it can leave us feeling like we’ve failed.
But what if there was another way?
I created a guide called Measure Your Year—a reflection tool designed to help you assess your growth through a lens of self-compassion and personal transformation, rather than capitalist productivity.
If you’re looking for a new way to measure your year—one that honors your inner journey as much as your external accomplishments—download Measure Your Year Guide + Bonus Meditation and start your reflection today.
Because even the hardest years have lessons worth harvesting. And you deserve to recognize just how far you’ve come.
Overcoming Grief and Finding Purpose: Turning Tragedy into Action
I bet we all remember where we were when the planes hit the Twin Towers. That moment when the world seemed to freeze. I also remember when the shooting at Columbine High School happened in 1999—a tragedy that shattered so many lives. But what about the others? The school shootings, the tragedies that have come after? Can you name them? Can you remember what you were doing when you first heard about them?
When the Sandy Hook shooting took place on December 14th, 2012, I was at the airport in Florida, about to fly back to Bolivia with my 12-year-old nephew and 9-year-old niece. They’d been visiting my family over Thanksgiving, and I was their “guardian” on the way home for Christmas. I watched the news at the airport, my stomach dropping as the horror of it all sunk in. My body froze—mouth open, throat tight, eyes welling up—but I quickly turned my attention to the kids, determined to protect them from the devastation unfolding on the screens around us.
It was all I could do in that moment—protect the children.
But since that day, there have been so many shootings at schools, malls, synagogues, churches, and beyond. Too many to count. Too many to remember what I was doing when I heard. Can you recall them? Is your memory as scattered as mine?
That’s a huge problem.
A Growing List of Losses
Here’s a List of JUST the Schools:
A list of school shootings
From Sandy Hook to the countless others, the list of school shootings alone is staggering. We should be outraged, right? But instead, many of us slip into hopelessness, and worse—apathy. It’s easy to feel like there’s nothing we can do, that the problem is too big.
But don’t let yourself stay stuck there.
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, in her profound wisdom, reminds us:
“In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. […] Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.”
Overcoming grief and finding purpose isn’t about solving every problem in the world all at once. It’s about reaching for the part we can heal, the action we can take. And in the face of heartbreak and tragedy, action is what wakes us up.
What can you do?
Suggested Actions:
If you feel heartbroken, overwhelmed, or stuck in grief, remember that action is the antidote. Here are a few ways to start mending the world within your reach:
Call Your Representatives Demand that they act on gun reform laws. It’s easy to feel helpless, but calling your local senators and representatives is a small yet powerful action. Here’s how you can contact them:
Support Organizations that Are Making a Difference Glennon Doyle’s Together Rising is one of the many organizations that turn heartbreak into action. They are raising funds to provide immediate support for families and to push for long-term solutions. Check out what they’re doing and consider donating or getting involved.
Take Care of Yourself In times of grief, we often forget the importance of self-care. Taking care of yourself is not selfish—it’s necessary. It’s how we stay grounded and able to act.
Healing Through Action
Feeling triggered or stuck? That’s normal. After trauma, many of us carry wounds that may not always be visible but are deeply felt. Did you know that 70% of the world’s population experiences psychological trauma at some point? And over 60% of adults in the U.S. have experienced an adverse childhood experience (ACE)? It’s no wonder that overcoming grief and finding purpose feels impossible at times.
But here’s the truth: you don’t have to navigate this alone.
It’s Time to Act
The key to overcoming grief and finding purpose is action. Even small steps make a difference, and the world needs your light. Don’t let the weight of despair freeze you.
Prayers for the Brokenhearted
And finally, if you are heart broken, here are two prayers from Mirabai Starr’s wonderful book of prayers: Mother of God Similar to Fire.
I find this prayer to be comforting:
from MiraBai Starr’s book of prayers: Mother of God Similar to Fire
Are You a News Watcher? You Might Be Damaging Your Health
If you regularly watch the news, it’s time to reconsider the impact it’s having on your emotional and mental health. We’re all tempted to tune in when major events are unfolding, but the truth is, consuming constant news can harm our well-being. Numerous studies, like this one, have shown how it can negatively affect our mental state.
Now, I’m not suggesting you bury your head in the sand like an ostrich, ignoring everything around you. (Although this isn’t a bad choice as long as its a temporary measure!)
Do you like to put your head in the sand when life gets to feel like too much?
What can you do instead?
You can stay informed and make a difference without compromising your emotional health. Let’s talk about how you can create a mindful, emotional diet for mental health that doesn’t leave you feeling drained or overwhelmed. Here are four tips to help you navigate the chaos:
1) Limit Your News Consumption:
Skim through headlines once a day—preferably in a newspaper or online. If you’re a news junkie, try limiting it to twice a day. Avoid checking the news obsessively, especially when it’s overwhelming.
2) Choose One Story and Take Action:
Pick a story that resonates deeply with you. Spend a few moments researching simple actions you can take to help. Feeling like you can make a difference will boost your sense of agency and calm your emotions.
3) Use the Inner Sanctuary Tool:
Before and after engaging with the news, practice the Inner Sanctuary Tool. This will help you calm your nervous system and center your heart. Ask your Wise Self (or pray if that’s your thing) for guidance on one concrete action you can take to either have impact or find peace in the midst of chaos.
4) Build a Playlist of Joy:
Create a playlist of songs that lift your spirits. It’s okay if they’re sad songs that bring you comfort—sometimes music can be the healing balm our souls need.
Think of Your Emotions as Your “Emotional Diet”
I want you to start thinking about your emotions as your “emotional diet.”
“What is an emotional diet?” you might ask. Good question. Just as we consider the impact of what we eat on our physical health, we need to consider how our emotional intake affects our overall well-being. What you choose to “consume” emotionally has as much (if not more) influence on your health as what you eat. Here’s just one study that confirms it.
Though the term “emotional diet” isn’t quite mainstream, we’re moving in the right direction. The conversation around mental health is gaining momentum, with leaders like Simone Biles and Brené Brown opening the door to healthier emotional practices. Global conversations on well-being and the focus on mental health are growing stronger, with more people recognizing the importance of emotional balance in daily life.
What’s YOUR Emotional Diet?
In today’s world, it’s more important than ever to be mindful of what we’re feeding ourselves emotionally. The constant barrage of news, political shifts, and social media pressure can leave us feeling angry, sad, anxious, or burned out. These emotional states leave us in an incoherent state, meaning our bodies and minds aren’t functioning at their best.
Common signs of incoherence include difficulty concentrating, racing thoughts, heart palpitations, or fidgeting. Sound familiar?
The good news is that you can choose your emotional response. When you start thinking of your emotions as part of your emotional diet for mental health, you can make choices that support a healthier mindset and help you feel more balanced.
A Simple Action: Choose What You Consume
If you know watching the news triggers your nervous system, you have permission to simply walk away. Whether it’s leaving the room when your partner is tuned into the latest crisis or muting a news alert, you get to decide what you consume emotionally.
[My own partner is a news junkie, so I’ve become quite skilled at stepping away when the stories start to wear on my peace.]
Ready to Create Your Own Soul Care Routine?
If you’re ready to take charge of your emotional diet and start cultivating a healthier, more balanced state of being, I’ve got something for you.
Download my Soul Care Checklist to get started on building a routine that nourishes your mind, body, and soul. It’s packed with practical tips and tools that will help you thrive—no matter what the world throws your way.
Take action today and start prioritizing your well-being. You deserve it!
I used to be certain I wasn’t a perfectionist. But a deep dive into my own shadows over the past couple of years revealed some surprising truths.
Here’s why I didn’t think I had perfectionist tendencies:
I can be a chronic procrastinator.
I often hit “post” or deliver assignments before triple-checking every word.
I shy away from competing with other women, especially outside of sports.
I love trying new activities without worrying about failing.
I’m definitely not a Type-A, hyper-achiever.
So, with all these “non-perfectionist” behaviors, how could I be one?
But when I really dug into the reasons behind these behaviors, I found they were driven by perfectionism in ways I hadn’t even realized.
Why Perfectionism Drove My Procrastination and Avoidance
Procrastination? It wasn’t about being lazy; I was just trying to avoid putting something out there that wasn’t “good enough.” By waiting until the last minute, I gave myself an excuse for any imperfections.
Avoiding Competition? It wasn’t about being scared of other women; I was afraid of losing—and the story I would tell myself about it if I did.
Taking on Challenges? The bigger, the better! I set unrealistic goals so I could “fail” without anyone expecting success—and that gave me the perfect out.
But that’s not freedom. That’s perfectionism dressed as procrastination, avoidance, and self-sabotage.
The Myth of Perfection
Perfectionism often wears many faces.
It sounds like:
“I must perform flawlessly in all areas of my life while making it look easy.”
Or, “I must make sure I have a really good excuse for not performing at a high level.”
It looks like:
A tendency to demand perfection from ourselves (and others) instead of embracing mistakes and imperfection.
Or, the self-sabotage of avoiding competition or massive goals so there’s no pressure for perfection.
Its main strategy for approval?
To be the best at everything. Or to avoid trying, just to protect yourself from failure.
But either way, perfectionism robs you of your creative confidence, vulnerability, and authenticity—and leaves your nervous system in a state of imbalance.
Does any of this resonate with you? When you evaluate your own behaviors, look at the WHY behind them. Are you protecting yourself from failure? Or are you trying to prove something?
Is There a Healthy Level of Perfectionism?
You might be thinking, “Kristin, surely there’s a healthy level of perfectionism. How else do you explain all those Type-A people who are so successful?”
Well, here’s the truth: there is no such thing as “perfect” when it comes to human beings. Perfectionism will only leave you stuck in feelings of failure, no matter how much you achieve.
And those so-called “successful” perfectionists? Underneath all the achievements, they tend to stress more, feel more anxiety, and struggle to bounce back from setbacks. Success without perfectionism is far more liberating.
How to Balance Your Perfectionist Tendencies
It’s healthy to strive for your best, but it’s important to shift your mindset away from perfection.
Instead of striving for flawlessness, set high—but achievable—standards. This will give you a sense of satisfaction and increase your self-esteem without pushing you to the brink of burnout.
Awareness is the first step to breaking the habit of perfectionism. Then, look at your thought distortions—those habitual patterns of thinking that tend to be inaccurate or overly critical. Common distortions for perfectionists include:
Discounting the positive (e.g., focusing on a mistake and ignoring the positive feedback you received).
Black-and-white thinking (e.g., thinking eating one cookie ruins your entire diet).
“Must-erbation” (living by unrealistic, impossible demands).
Combatting Perfectionism: A Simple Action
Choose one of these distortions that applies to you, and keep a log for a week. When you catch the thought, thank it for its wisdom, but then choose to shift the narrative. For example, if someone compliments your speech, acknowledge the flaw, but also accept the compliment. Your speech may not have been flawless, but you received positive feedback for a reason.
Embrace Progress, Not Perfection
If you’re ready to embrace change and ditch the perfectionism that’s holding you back, I’ve got something for you: my Soul Care Checklist. This free resource is packed with actionable steps that will help you get unstuck, reconnect with yourself, and practice simple rituals that nourish your soul.
You deserve to be fully YOU—without all the perfectionism weighing you down.
