About

I was raised in Placerville.  I was the kid riding my bike on the horse trails and coming home at dusk.  Exploring the outdoors solidified my love for California's nature, there is no other place as beautiful.  I graduated from high school early to take more academically rigorous classes at the local community college, Sierra College.  I transferred to the best public school in the state: the University of California, Berkeley, where I earned a BA in English.  I was so excited to go to the same university my grandfather went to on the GI Bill after WWII.

After college, I moved to Orange County to live with my grandmother.  I was honored to help her in the sunset of her life, and her kindness to all, fierce independence, and lightning-quick wit are qualities I hope to emulate.  I jumped into work in the restaurant industry.  I met my husband and shortly after we married we moved across the country to Pittsburgh, PA to experience real winters.  There, I turned my work in restaurants into a full career in the service industry, starting as a server and ending as the General Manager and sommelier of two restaurants.  I learned from those with more knowledge than me, worked long and hard, and helped train new employees in the art of hospitality (and how to mop).  Restaurants taught me how to work as a team-player and a leader in high-stress environments, make the right decision quickly, and how to train and empower those around me.

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Living 2500 miles from home, we really missed our family in California.  And when a miraculous opportunity to work at a local winery in Placerville came along, we packed our bags and cat, and drove across the country again.

 

Shortly after our daughter was born.  The pandemic allowed us to spend some precious family time together, and then the Caldor fire came and nearly burned the winery I was working at down.  When the chance came to move to rain-filled Humboldt, we took it.  There I continued my service-background by working for Eureka City Schools as the Principal Secretary of Eureka High School.  I made sure to connect with every worker there; the janitors, lunch ladies, painters, aides, teachers, administration, and my fellow secretaries.  Working at the High School is like a microcosm of the city.  And there I learned that everyone who worked there was very much involved because they care about the future of the kids.  I learned much about public funding and dove into two special grants that make auto-shop and other technical career training at high school possible: CTEIG (the Career Technical Education Incentive Grant) and Perkins V.  This opened up my eyes to how vital these grant programs are to having robust and interesting learning in schools, and how they can help in other areas.

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We moved to Redding in 2024. I've prioritized raising our daughter and devoting my time to volunteering in the community.  I'm the treasurer at her school's PTA and volunteer with her Girl Scouts troop.  I love getting to pour myself into the community, and I see being a City Council member as another way to give back.

If you ask those who have worked with me, they would say I am hard working, open, honest, and want the best for everyone.  

 

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