Born in California, but raised in Connecticut, I found my cultural balance and home in Chicago, enjoying all the blues and greens of the "best coast" landscape.

Before moving here, I completed my Bachelor of Arts in English, with a minor in Secondary Education, from Stonehill College in Massachusetts. I enjoyed a 10-year career in teaching and received my Master's degree in Reading and Literacy. During that time, I also coached high school slam poetry teams and discovered my talent as a performance poet, which ultimately led me to pursue writing. After leaving education, I received a Masters in Fine Arts in Writing from the School of the Art Institute, where I studied poetry and creative non-fiction.

I am a teacher at heart and fully believe in learning as a life-long endeavor.