As We Bloom: Wisdom from Extraordinary Everyday Women and Gender Nonconforming People is the story of the author’s solo, cross-country road trip in search of people living in inspirational and courageous ways in a time when her own life was falling out from under her.

In her minivan (not the cool Sprinter kind, the 2008 family kind), Mia drives from the beaches of Southern California and the icy ocean waters of the Pacific Northwest to the magnificent mountains of Colorado and the blustery, bustling streets of New York City. Along the way, she speaks with people of all walks of life: a car mechanic running an LGBTQIA+ auto repair shop in Seattle, a smokejumper in Missoula, a craft beer brewer in Denver, and a group of women who ride motorbikes and leave a trail of pink smoke throughout New Orleans. She says goodbye to an old life and hello to newness, moves tenderly through a broken heart, falls in love, and rediscovers her own power.

After nearly ten thousand miles, twenty interviews, and four months, Mia chronicles women and gender nonconforming folks living out magnificent stories and charting brave paths that we see not on billboards, in movies, or in magazines, but in our own communities and backyards.

As We Bloom is a journey of learning to trust ourselves when we don’t have any answers and learning to prioritize building a life that brings us joy – without a trendy shortcut, pro tip or life hack. It’s a rich collection of diverse experiences and raw vulnerability against a backdrop of social justice that urges us to indulge in possibility and reconnect with ourselves.