Why ‘communication practice’?

I’ve been working with communication for a long time. How we use language fascinates me, and every interaction is an opportunity to observe and improve our communication skills. So, just like a doctor has a medical practice where they see patients and work on steps to improve their health and well-being, and a lawyer has a legal practice to work through a legal case with a client, a communication practice does something similar. I help clients by providing the tools to train and educate, and thereby improving the quality or the health of their communication. I like to put what I do in context. In communication work, we can improve on the base - for example, I often give my clients some simple tools to transform the ways in which they are generally communicating, and then we can target different scenarios or conflicts as they arrive. So similarly to holistic medicine, I consider my communication practice dynamic; we try to keep a healthy base and then add or remove techniques in order to address issues as they arise.

Can you speak to your experience?

My father is an immigrant from Serbia and instilled in me what I would consider a rather savage work ethic combined with a constant desire to continue learning. I studied writing and translation in college, and since then have worked in many different fields before deciding to go back to school to study what I have always been passionate about - language. Growing up with other languages in my family made me acutely aware of language and how we use language to communicate. The years studying linguistics coupled with my life experience in various cultures and industries, allowed me to pinpoint some of the core reasons for miscommunication. I began to see that most conflicts, both in and out of the workplace, were mostly about inter-personal use of language.

My last five or six years were spent in marketing and communications. I also have extensive experience in areas of mental health and crisis management, areas where both delicate communication and strategic communication play a key role in de-escalation and managing conflict. Ultimately, everyone wants to be heard and everyone thinks that they are communicating well; a lot of what I do is illuminate the points of miscommunication around these two central areas and give people the tools to understand how to either communicate in a different way or listen differently.

What is the significance behind the name?

Well, the word mermaid has a lot of meaning behind it for me. Historically mermaids were associated with many things, but in mermaid lore, they are known for human transformation and finding one’s voice. These themes felt meaningful as I developed my practice - both on a personal level and symbolically for my clients as well.

In other ways, the ocean has always been very important to me - it’s how I orient myself. I always find clarity when I am near the ocean and often find that my compass is a little off without it. I have also practiced martial arts since I was a child, first karate; and when I moved to Hawaii, I started training in capoeira and our studio stood on the road that traversed the shoreline, so oftentimes we would leave the studio and just practice on the beach at night. My capoeira teacher for almost two decades is from Bahia, Brazil where the ocean is an important part of people’s identities and he gave me the apelido (or nickname) Sereia which means mermaid in Portuguese. I’m also a pisces, so I’ve always come back to the word mermaid for all these reasons. My daughter says that there have always been little Mermaid things all over the house.

What might a new client expect?

When someone reaches out, the first thing we do is spend time talking. I want to hear what their struggles are and what they see as their primary objective. When someone takes the initiative to reach out, it’s an important moment so I want to be sure I take the time necessary to really hear the whole story. Oftentimes a handful of weekly coaching or mentorship sessions helps us clarify their initial objective and determine the tools they might utilize to work towards that objective. Other times, work may involve shadowing staff meetings or developing materials to streamline communication. On the other side of the spectrum, we might be looking at providing marketing rebranding services or reputation management services - it’s very unique to each situation, but from initial contact, we lay out a plan that will work for the client.