Ann-Preston is a hyphenate. According to Oxford Languages, a hyphenate is defined as “someone who is active in more than one occupation or sphere.” In addition to coaching, Ann-Preston practices as a full time pediatric physical therapist. After earning a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Saint Louis University in 2011, Ann-Preston started her career as an early intervention provider supporting infants and children in their home environments. While the home is proven to be the best environment for promoting global development and natural opportunities for practice and motor learning, Ann-Preston most appreciates the unique and intimate relationships formed with her patients and their families.

Ann-Preston’s practice as a pediatric physical therapist guided her decision to become an emergence coach. After developing proficiency as a motor therapist, the lens through which she practices slowly expanded. She started looking up, quite literally as her patients are often positioned on the floor in front of her. She witnessed marriages fall apart, siblings develop challenging behaviors, and mothers and fathers miss moments of bonding with their children. Ann-Preston recognized trauma, but did not know how to responsibly and effectively engage trauma. In an effort to develop greater emotional awareness and facility, she enrolled as a student at Wright Graduate University.

Ann-Preston completed the Emergence Coach Training program at Wright Graduate University in 2021. She earned graduate certificates in Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Coaching. The rigorous curriculum at Wright Graduate University merges Adlerian psychology, existentialism, neuroscience, positive or humanistic psychology, developmental psychology, and educational theory to bring students the latest human emergence technologies. During her tenure at Wright Graduate University, Ann-Preston became a student of Self as she brought her shadows into light by challenging limiting beliefs, identifying triggers, and reclaiming projections and transferences.

The timing of her academic experience was even more challenging. Ann-Preston completed her graduate work in 2020-2021 while working full-time as a healthcare provider in the middle of the global pandemic. She committed to traveling deeply within herself to find safety and comfort during a time when it was quite literally unsafe to be on the outside. Her commitment to learning and skill development did not end at graduation. She has earned credentials as an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and a Graduate School Educated Coach through the Graduate School Alliance for Education in Coaching. She continuously strives to improve her skills as an emergence coach by participating in monthly supervision with a cohort of fellow emergence coaches.

Through her role as a pediatric physical therapist, Ann-Preston has learned so much about what it means to be human. She hopes to spread this knowledge to others as an emergence coach.