My Story
My Story
Embedded Files
In my mid-20s as I was navigating my career and adulthood, my father survived a near fatal stroke and he was never the same. And despite many demanding and rigorous professional roles since that time, caring for him remains the hardest, most defining work of my life.
As a family caregiver, I moonlit as a medical translator, advocate, and care integrator as I witnessed silent atrocities in skilled nursing, hospital, and hospice facilities over the 11 years that I supported him through traumatic brain injury. These are imprints that will stay with me forever, and that have reshaped how I think about aging, healthcare, and our humanity.
We are living in an undeniably aging America where stepping into the role of family caregiver can and must be easier. Which is why I'm a loud champion of early, life-centered conversations about what's ahead and how you'll face it together as a family.
What I know for sure is that shifting from ‘what if’ to ‘when’ thinking means the difference between confidently advocating on your loved one's behalf when the time inevitably comes, and a waiting game that can significantly diminish their (and your) quality of life. This kind of facilitated, open dialogue protects what matters most: your time together.
I'm Victoria, and I launched Milieu in 2024 to advance our collective care—one conversation at a time. I support family caregivers in need of clear, compassionate guidance, a steady listening ear, and practical tools to navigate any stage of the caregiving lifecycle.
Ready to get started? Schedule your free 30-minute consultation here.
Milieu Recommitment Carousel.pdfWhat do you need to restore and feel whole?
What do you need to restore and feel whole?
Caregiving taught me how to be in two worlds at once: the one everyone could see, and the one that privately consumed me. I became fluent in masking—smiling through inordinate worry, showing up polished to meetings after sleepless nights, and performing “normal” both to escape the chaos of chronic disease care management, and mitigate others' discomfort with the reality of my day to day. It’s a subtle choreography many caregivers know well: carrying invisible weight while moving through a quiet nightmare that doesn't relent.
We show up, hold it together, and become masters of keeping conversations light—but the cost is high: over time, masking becomes muscle memory, and authentic expressions of need can start to feel unsafe or self-indulgent. At Milieu, I'm committed to creating spaces where that mask can finally come off—where your reality doesn’t have to be softened or translated. If you're ready to take this step with me, scroll through the reflective prompts to help you breathe in life and exhale doubt as you reclaim your peace, power, and time.
This work is an invitation for all of us to recommit to ourselves, integrate nourishment of each other as a path to liberation, and then show up where we're needed the most as caregivers - as well as in our own personhood as leaders, partners, aunties, abuelas, and sisters in blood and bond.
Restoring for
Our Lives
Women's Respite Retreats
Self- and soul-care is no longer indulgent or optional, it's requisite for all that we're called to do and be.
From the paid leave crisis, to unequal household roles, to the impossible tradeoffs in securing self-care, to the wage gap and appearance pressure that both persist well into older adulthood, all the way to the significant vulnerability and fragility of our constitutional rights, our collective well-being is under assault.
We are weekday and weekend warriors, and we need slow, deep, immersive experiences together in authentic sistership to help us reflect, regroup, and restore.
Have you ever thought to yourself...
'I sometimes resist doing things that are good for me.'
'It's more comfortable to put the care of others before myself.'
'I've compromised my health, and time with my loved ones because of work.'
'I feel stuck and want to rethink how I'm spending my time, but I'm not sure where to start.'
If any of this resonates, you're not alone. Time and time again, I hear incredible women prioritizing the urgent over the meaningful, and in doing so—are sacrificing more of themselves every day.
Restoring for Our Lives is a life-centered respite experience that provides you with the protected time to recommit to yourself, and reclaim the peace you deserve.
Retreats are offered in half-day, full-day, and weekend packages and can be personalized by theme, affinity, age, and/or industry. Previous participants have included clinical and family caregivers, BILPOC C-Suite Executives, and women's ERGs.
Click here to view a sample full-day schedule and shared community commitments, and you can email me to inquire about bookings.
About Me
About Me
Victoria Crispin is a seasoned family caregiver, a bereavement specialist, and an operations expert who has worked to ensure that those in need of care—and those tasked with providing care—are well-positioned to access the requisite resources for a dignified end-of-life transition.
She began her career in the Small Schools of Choice movement in New York City, and has spent over two decades both in schools and nonprofits growing school-based programs and partnership models. Victoria holds a B.A. from Tufts University, as well as certifications in Compassionate Bereavement Care from the MISS Foundation’s Center for Loss and Trauma, Contemplative Care from the NY Zen Center, Advance Care Planning from Respecting Choices, and Mighty Heart Leadership from the Business Plan for Peace.
Ask her about: family caregiving, high school reform, school- and district-based operations, grief and loss, and anything involving bespoke party planning and decorating!
Learn more about Victoria's experience as a family caregiver on Medium and YouTube.
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