My Story

I was born and raised in the Portland, Oregon area, but spent 2002–2004 living abroad in Northern France and Southern Belgium before returning to the Pacific Northwest for college (ask me why and you’ll be in for a long story, preferably with a drink in hand). I studied graphic design at Portland State University, and though I fell in love with the designed world, I discovered that practicing graphic design wasn’t for me and I left halfway through the program to sort out my next adventure.

As a result, I started a hobby business, Focal Length Designs (2008–2011), making cuff bracelets and other jewelry from old broken camera lens parts and selling them through Etsy as well as local and national craft fairs. From 2009–2012, I was instrumental in founding and leading the I Heart Art: Portland project, which, with the generous support of Etsy, provided professional development and unique networking opportunities to Portland's craft community. It was this project in particular that sparked my passion for helping creative entrepreneurs thrive as independent businesses.

Meanwhile, my day job as a glorified copy monkey shifted as I started working in marketing and communications at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) and its partner, Museum of Contemporary Craft (now defunct). A year later I was promoted to Web & Print Project Manager, overseeing two in-house graphic designers and a handful of student photographers and videographers documenting the college's programs.

When the I Heart Art: Portland program dissolved in 2012, I set out to offer a similar program but with an expanded scope and mission. After much research and planning, I founded Maker's Nation as a nonprofit organization that provided business education, resources, and community support for creative small business owners.

I quit my day job at PNCA one year later to pursue Maker's Nation with more gusto, and in 2017 joined forces with Academy of Handmade to double-down on my work in the handmade community as a side hustle to producing conferences and events. That led to hosting 58 episodes of my own podcast, 50+ weekly video broadcasts, and much, much more.

Academy of Handmade’s business fizzled out at the end of 2018 and I shifted my professional focus entirely on Kickass Conferences, the company I started which helps community leaders strategically and sustainably host conferences and unconventional gatherings for their people.

My creative outlets include writing, cooking, working in the yard, home improvement projects, building a tiny cabin on a mountaintop, playing with LEGO, and building a long-term investment portfolio of renovated rental properties in one of the hottest markets in the country. I currently live in Vancouver, Washington (a suburb of Portland, Oregon) with my husband Justin and our adorable blue-eyed supermutt, Zeus. (Seriously, his mix is rottweiler, pit bull, husky, shetland sheep dog, doberman, border collie, and more! One unique fella with eyes that slay.)

I'm interested in social engagement, collaboration, and mutual success, and I believe strongly that the best way to balance our commodity-driven culture is to contribute to the community through the open exchange of knowledge, ideas, and information.

I try to bring an entrepreneurial spirit to every hat that I wear and never stop asking why. I'm passionate about lasting community, a local living economy, paying attention, giving a shit, and doing my part to make the world a better place.