Meet Adriane!

I'm a Southern California girl, who created a thriving life with my family in the no-nonsense neighborhoods of NYC. I currently live in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn with my husband, 2 teen/tween boys, and our 2 ridiculous cats.

Having kids is wonderful, but also really flippin’ hard! Needless to say, I’m always trying to find ways to make it the most FUN that it can be.

I’m a Scorpio who acts like an Aquarius (and omg, married to a Pisces) and I absolutely can’t resist a competitive game or sport. I come from an ancestral line of left-brained thinkers, so game-playing, puzzling, and chasing balls across all the courts and fields I can find helps me ground my energy and make sense of my world.

During the summer weekends you’ll find me sunning myself like an iguana on my apartment stoop, volunteering on my block and in my community garden, finding salty bodies of water in which to submerge myself, or playing softball with my team of 20+ years.

I almost always prefer riding my bike over walking or driving, I revel in being as efficient as possible, and can parallel park like a boss. I like to stay busy, bring my most can-do self when faced with a challenge, and I relax my brain by reading, organizing complicated spreadsheets, and doing the NY Times Crossword everyday.

Before having kids of my own….

I wanted to feel capable, powerful and at ease in my own body. From childhood, I played a bazillion sports to stay strong and keep my edge, and have made it my life mission to embrace my natural state of being, with all its imperfections (still and forever working to find love for my body hair and monthly cycles.) Modeling imperfection for others is intrinsic to my character, and also a healthy form of personal protest :)

I’ve always considered myself pretty crunchy. That is to say, I try to put natural and organic stuff on or in my body wherever possible, have a healthy distrust in the global food and pharmaceutical conglomerates. I believe in minimal (unnecessary) medical intervention where possible, and maximum self-reliance. Whether this is a product of being raised by my no-nonsense Father, or I’m simply a child of our independence-obsessed Western culture , I do notice this trait in many new parents I work with too. :)

In 1999, I took a life-changing sociology class about birth in our modern American Culture. It lit a blazing fire in me, and I became determined to find ways to advocate for birthing people, and help them find agency, and reclaim their power in our outdated and highly-medicalized institutions of perinatal care. In 2007, I somewhat accidentally enrolled myself in a weekend-long Birth Doula Workshop, and knew instantly from that moment that birthwork would one day be my calling.

My mission has always been to help people feel comfortable and loved in their own skin, be heard, and get their basic needs met with dignity. This path took me through several jobs and many years in the social service and non-profit sector, including a position with a Food Rescue organization, earning a Master degree in Urban Policy and Management, and working as an Analyst within the Social Service unit of the NYC Office of Management and Budget.

Deciding to have kids was my husband’s and my way of throwing ourselves into one of life’s most unpredictable adventures! And we’re so glad we did. We experienced infertility at a young age, and this has been a central part of our own family’s journey. Our kids were born with help from a close friend and donor, and this lived experience is woven into the fabric of our home and part of our unique family tapestry.

For us, parenthood is a gift. It is as brutal as it is magical! Every day, it forces us to grow, stretch, expand and love in new and often uncomfortable ways. Being a mom to my radiant kiddos makes me bring my best self to this world: optimistic, curious, compassionate, gracious and forgiving.

Thanks so much for being with me here in this space!