The FOUNDER STORY

The Journey Behind the Framework

I did not build this work from a classroom. I built it because I needed it before I had it.

For a long stretch of years, my life did not look like the future my grandmother had spoken over me. I spent two decades drifting inside the gap between who I was told I was and who my behavior was training me to become. Those were years of drifting, drinking, and breaking promises to myself—living far below the version of myself I was actually built to be.

That is what makes this work different from people who read you a book about ideas they have not personally tested. I built this methodology from what I lived. It survived a real life before it was ever offered to anyone else.

"Self-confidence is not built by words. Self-confidence is built by repeatedly keeping promises to

yourself."

Built from a Life, Not a Theory

The Power of 'The Knowing' and MeMaw's Belief

Growing up, there was always a quiet, persistent voice inside me that I came to call the knowing—the deep awareness that I was made for more than my daily behavior was reflecting.

That voice was placed in me young by my grandmother, Mary Sue Collins. We called her MeMaw. Long before I had the clinical language for what was happening, her absolute belief in me became a permanent part of my internal architecture. The gap between the person she saw and the person my repeated choices were creating is the exact gap I built MINE to help other people close.

Architecting the Curriculum: The DESIGNER Framework & The Toolbox Protocol

As I climbed out of that gap, I realized that inspiration wasn't enough; I needed a structural system to sustain my change. I had to move from generic self-help to rigorous, intentional design.

To turn my lived escape route into a replicable path for others, I stepped into the role of an architect to build the foundation of the MINE curriculum. I engineered two core systems:

The DESIGNER Framework: This serves as the master blueprint for our curriculum. It establishes the core philosophy of Applied Behavior Design (ABD)—shifting individuals from a life that is "designed by default" by external forces to one that is consciously engineered by their own choices.

The Toolbox Protocol: The behavioral engine of our curriculum. It equips participants with the exact, stress-resistant sequencing skills required to regulate their nervous systems, dissect old habits, and successfully choose a better response in real-time.

Together, the DESIGNER framework and The Toolbox protocol form the clinical and practical architecture of everything we teach across three generations through our nonprofit arm, Community MINE. They bridge the gap between abstract wellness concepts and the rigorous, evidence-based behavioral science required to create permanent transformation.

The Next Step: Read the Doorway

Potential is not the same as transformation. Behavior is not something to be managed; it is something to be designed. I prototyped this system on myself, refined it in open community, and I know it works because it is the exact ladder I used to climb out.

If you are ready to stop managing your behaviors and start designing them, the blueprint is waiting for you.

My book, Designed by Default: How Invisible Forces Shape Your Life, is the official doorway into this entire architecture. It introduces the core framework, the origin of the Five-Minute Rule, and the foundational Curate Your Life practice.

Read it once for the story. Read it twice with a pen.

[ Get Your Copy of Designed by Default ]

Where to Step Next:

Support the Rooms: Community MINE is a nonprofit. Your partnership is what keeps this methodology in the rooms where it belongs—serving seniors (Mining for the Jewels Within), youth (DESIGNER), and adults who need it most.