Hi, I’m Nicole 💖
And I’m glad you are here.
Not long ago, I was searching for the same things you might be — a place to land, and proof that deep grief could heal..
In a few short years, I lost my partner Christian to brain cancer, my dog Assi, and my mother — all while holding a demanding senior leadership role. I know what it feels like to carry grief while the world keeps moving, and to long for someone who could simply witness what you were going through without rushing you toward "better."
That's why I became a grief educator and coach.
I work with people navigating partner, spouse and close-relationship loss; pet loss; job and identity-related grief; and the disorientation that results when life no longer looks the way it once did. I also support people grieving someone who is still living — a loved one with dementia or chronic illness — because that kind of loss is just as real, and it deserves to be honored too.
Before becoming a grief coach, I spent years as a senior People & Culture leader, guiding teams through layoffs, reorganizations, and large-scale change. That experience gave me a deep understanding of identity disruption and what it means to keep showing up while carrying something heavy beneath the surface.
My approach is warm, grounded, and paced entirely to you. I create a steady, compassionate space — offering gentle structure and trauma-informed practices to help you reconnect with yourself, your needs, and your evolving sense of who you are. I believe grief is a reflection of love, and it deserves to be witnessed.
I'm certified through the Institute of Professional Grief Coaching (IOPGC), a certified sound healer through Solshine Wellness, and hold a certification in trauma-informed leadership from the University of North Florida.
Based in Salem, Massachusetts, I offer virtual and in-person one-on-one coaching and facilitate group grief sessions.
I also run The Remembrance Studio, a concierge service helping individuals and families design meaningful tributes for the people and pets they've lost — from commissioned artwork and memorial jewelry to gatherings and garden installations.
And I'm available for speaking engagements for organizations that want to show up better for the people navigating loss within their teams.
Why work with me
I'm a certified Grief-to-Gratitude Coach, trained in supporting people through sudden loss, ambiguous loss, disenfranchised grief, identity collapse, and the nervous system dysregulation that comes with all of it.
I’m currently training with David Kessler in his grief educator program with certification anticipated in May 2026.
Before becoming a grief educator, I spent years as a senior leader guiding teams through layoffs, organizational upheaval, and human messiness. I know how institutions handle grief and where they fall short.
How I work
I'm not here to fix you. You're not broken.
What I am here to do is meet you exactly where you are — because grief doesn't follow a script, and neither do I. Whether you're in the raw early months or a year out quietly wondering why you're still not "over it," the support you need looks completely different. I pay attention to that. I adjust to you, not the other way around.
I don't believe in the stages. I honor your story.
Some people come to me in acute grief, when everything feels like standing in the middle of a highway. Others arrive later, when the world has moved on but they haven't, carrying a low-grade confusion about whether they're grieving wrong. (They're not. There is no wrong way.) Both are welcome here.
My approach draws on Dora Carpenter's grief-to-gratitude work and David Kessler's grief educator program. I'm also a seasoned meditator and certified sound healer — mindfulness, journaling, art, and sound are all available to us, but only when it feels right to you. None of it is prescribed.
I bring humor, softness, and honesty — because sometimes what keeps us breathing is a well-timed snort-laugh, your grief deserves someone who won't rush it, and you can't heal what you're pretending you don't feel.
This space is what you make it. You get to show up as the version of yourself you're hiding from everyone else.
Why I love this work
Here's what I believe: unprocessed grief takes up space. When we're carrying losses we were never given the tools to process — especially the ones nobody named or witnessed — we're too depleted to think freely, create, or connect.
And when we heal? We get that energy back.
I also believe grief work isn't separate from collective healing. It's the foundation of it. The people who do this work don't just survive their losses — they show up. They have the capacity to support their communities, to act from love instead of fear.
That's why your grief, even the kind that feels "too small" to mention, matters so much. You can't build anything — a life, a relationship, a better world — while drowning in unprocessed loss.
That's why I do this work
If you're ready to feel seen—let's talk.
Contact me
Interested in working together? Let’s get started.