Hello!
I'm so honored to share my story with you! I hope it is beneficial and sheds some light on your own journey.
I recently relocated from rural Montana to the mountains of Colorado, where I feel at home. I live with my husband and two dogs, and I work as a digital marketing director. When I'm not out hiking the local terrain, I like to spend my time visiting my kids, doing yoga, running, or gardening. I've written a little about myself below to give you an idea of who I am and what I do, both personally and professionally. Follow me on my socials for information on my upcoming events and to see pictures of my dogs.
My Personal Background
I am the youngest of nine children and grew up in the hilly riverside town of East Liverpool, Ohio. Following in the footsteps of my sisters and dad, I attended Kent State University, where I earned my degree in Public Relations. Just months before graduation, I met Michael – who became my husband in 1995. Even though Michael and I both attended Kent at the same time, we managed to miss meeting each other until a perceptive mutual friend set us up on a blind date. Eighteen months later, we eloped and were married on a mountainside in Telluride, Colorado. On that trip, we discovered that we were in love with more than each other – the mountains were calling. A short 10 years, two kids, and several jobs later, we packed up our Ohio home and headed to Colorado to create a new life in the foothills of the Rockies. Every minute of our free time was spent teaching our kids about the beautiful landscape we had become a part of. From hiking and camping, to gardening and snowshoveling, we did our best to instill our love of nature in our kids. Now that our kids are "grown and flown," I still enjoy spending time with them in the great outdoors as often as possible. I stay healthy through running, hiking, camping, canoeing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and gardening. I love the adventure of travel, constantly adding to my never-ending wish list of destinations. A few places I'd really love to experience include Portugal, Ecuador, Finland, Kenya, and the Indochina Peninsula. When my mind isn’t wandering to far off places, I stay grounded by practicing yoga, mindfulness, and gratitude, cooking, listening to music, and dabbling in arts and crafts. I love my rescue dogs, Breck and Henry. Given space and time (and money!) I plan to fill acres with as many rescues as I can fit! I believe that giving back and living a life of purpose are the best ways to express gratitude, so I enjoy supporting animal rescues, area food banks, Holocaust organizations, Together Rising, and other non-profit organizations that resonate with my beliefs.
My Professional Background
I have worked in the field of PR/Marketing for more than 30 years. I dig the flexibility this career provides. I've held positions in the marketing of live theater, the health and wellness industry, sporting event management, analytical instrumentation, and in the not-for-profit sector. While I raised my kids, I freelanced and worked at home. I relish any opportunity I get to write. In my array of roles, I have crafted magazine features, news articles, profile pieces, media kits, website content, white papers, international campaign materials, and now, my first book! I believe in the empowerment of women and girls. For four years, I volunteered as a running coach with Girls on the Run and Heart & Sole. These research-based running programs motivate girls to learn more about themselves, value relationships and teamwork, become independent and critical thinkers, develop skills to write their own stories, and find inner strength through physical activity. It's some of the most rewarding work that I've been lucky enough to be a part of. When I was a wellness coach, I assisted clients in achieving their goals. I applied a relationship-based, whole-person approach to coaching through five dimensions of wellness -- physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, and social. As a believer that it’s never too late to try new things, I decided to further my education at the age of 46. I attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to pursue my interest in learning German. I was fortunate to travel to Germany four times and even got to live in Hamburg and Freiburg, Germany, for a summer to study the language and culture. These days, I am the director of digital marketing for the Fetal Health Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, and I manage the social media platforms for HAL Sports, both based in Denver, CO. I love collaborating with my talented and passionate team to create and deliver messages that are tailored to the organizations’ audiences, partner with top-tier US fetal centers, and continually seek creative ways to achieve our vision.