About Me

Traveling has been a part of my DNA ever since I applied for my first passport at 16. The morning after I graduated from the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk!), I flew to Italy to study photography … and my journey began.

After returning home, I spent my first year in California as an edit/art apprentice at SouthCoast STYLE magazine in San Diego before moving up the coast to freelance as a photo assistant in Los Angeles.

The best part about my tiny studio in Venice Beach: You could see the ocean from my window (if you stood on a chair). And it was that everyday access to the ocean, and my love for the water, that inspired me to become an expat, earn my PADI Divemaster certification and move to the Caribbean. But not before I went back home to Kansas City where I had the opportunity to work as the studio manager for the award-winning photographer, Ron Berg.

Not even four years after graduating college and I had already become a professional mover.

That fall, I accepted a job as an underwater videographer in Grand Cayman where I lived on PB&J and rode a bike to work. It was pure heaven. A year later, Hurricane Ivan had other plans for me as I watched my house, clothes and job disappear. I sent my clips, one of the only things that survived the hurricane, to Sport Diver magazine and before I knew it I was on my way back to the U.S. and the world of journalism. It was there, that I coupled my love for photography with my passion for writing.

With a life path that seemed to be set on a yearly alarm clock, Florida has now been my home for the past 12 years. Having gone back to school to earn a Digital Marketing degree at Full Sail University and worked my way around the corporate world at Bonnier, I moved where they needed me whether it be saving a dying magazine or playing the part of writer/editor/producer/stylist/beauty editor/digital adventurer at brands that included Sport Diver, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons and Spa magazines.

Today, I’ve ditched the 9-5 life to gracefully stumble my way through the world of freelancing. But whether I’m writing a profile piece on one of Florida’s colorful towns for Orlando Signature magazine, testing out camera gear for Scuba Diver Life, or reviewing the latest beauty products, traveling is always on the agenda, ready to fill the well-worn pages of my passport.