My name is Danielle Marie, and I’m really glad you’re here.
I am originally from California, and when I was 13 years old, I lost my mom to breast cancer. From that point on, life looked different. I was raised by my dad alongside my brother, learning early how to move through the world while carrying a loss that shaped everything about who I became.
For 15 years, I was a competitive gymnast, competing with the Junior Olympic (JO) program. Gymnastics was one of the places I felt closest to my mom, and it also taught me dedication, resilience, and how to keep going when things feel hard.
I went on to attend the University of Kentucky, where I earned a degree in Family Psychology with a minor in Community Leadership and Development. After graduating, I worked closely with several families as a professional caregiver, experiences that deepened my understanding of how grief shows up in everyday life.
I’m now 32, and I’ve spent most of my life learning how to navigate adulthood without my mom. The hardest part hasn’t been the loss itself, but learning how that early loss continues to affect my everyday life and how I move through the world. After graduating, I earned a grief coaching certificate and am now in nursing school, where I continue to study grief and loss through both lived experience and clinical education.
I created Still With Me for girls and young women who experienced loss early in life because I know how isolating that experience can feel. This space exists so we can come together, feel understood, and learn how to navigate life after loss.
