06/06/2025
Vietnam, 2017: The Bagel That Broke My Foot (and Changed Everything)
Ever had your life completely derailed⌠by a bagel?
If youâve known me over the years, maybe you know me as a mindset + business coach.
Or from my teaching days in Vietnam.
Or maybe from those three wild years in India⌠acting in Bollywood.
Orâ
You have no idea who I am and somehow ended up on my page because the algorithm dragged you here. (Heyđ)
Let me take you back to where it all shifted.
I was living in Hanoi.
Life was good.
Iâd just hosted a TEDx event, was doing corporate trainings, and had a travel show on local TV.
One morning, I hop on my scooter to grab a bagel.
(Because Iâm from Jersey â and bagels are sacred.)
I turn a corner.
Hit some sand.
Skid out.
Crash.
I break my foot.
Not doing something epic.
Not hiking a volcano.
Just⌠a bagel run.
And that crash?
Wasnât my first plot twist.
đ In NYC, doing great at Yelp â then out of nowhere, diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
đ In Vietnam, building momentum â then boom: broken foot.
đ In India, coaching and acting â then the pandemic hits. I get evacuated.
Every time I thought I was leveling up, life pulled the rug.
At first, I saw those moments as setbacks.
Now I see them as checkpoints.
Invitations to slow down and ask:
Whatâs actually in my control?
And what am I going to do about it?
That shift changed everything â for me and in my work coaching clients.
Because hereâs what Iâve learned:
Itâs not always rock bottom that creates change.
Sometimes itâs a quiet nudge â a feeling youâve outgrown the current version of your life.
It doesnât always show up as a crisis.
Sometimes itâs boredom.
Restlessness.
That low-key voice asking, âIs this it?â
That voice matters.
That voice deserves your attention.
You donât need a breakdown to have a breakthrough.
Sometimes growth looks like choosing to pivot before youâre forced to.
And sometimesâŚ
It takes a bagel to remind you of that.