From rural Midwest beginnings, I started my dance and theatre journey in a familiar way. At the age of four I was thrown into a community theatre production of South Pacific, and a couple of years later played the role of Tiny Tim in Okoboji Summer Theatre's A Christmas Carol. I studied dance, piano, and voice at hometown studios in Northwest Iowa and later in Hood River, Oregon. I finished high school in Portland with two years' dance training at Jefferson High School to my credit before venturing to Boston University to earn a BFA in Theatre Studies.​
 

Upon graduation from BU, I returned to Portland, Oregon, where I worked as a performer, choreographer, and teacher. I supported my freelance career by working some interesting private-sector jobs (everything from waiting tables to transporting explosives). These ten years of professional and life experience set the stage for a successful three years in Richmond, Virginia, where I was active in the theatre community as I earned my MFA in Theatre with a Musical Theatre and Movement Pedagogy Emphasis at VCU.

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I spent the next five years functioning as a one-faculty dance department at a small college in Wyoming. Working with a unique population of students from high schoolers to single moms taught me more about teaching than I ever could have anticipated. My time in the Rockies also led me to a new love for the outdoors, which has become an important pillar of my personal and family life.

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Today, I serve as full-time faculty at the University of Texas at El Paso, where I teach Theatre courses, choreograph and direct, and continue to practice the art of Tap Dance.