Origins

I was born and raised in a small town outside of Dallas, TX. One of five children. my loving father worked while my mother homeschooled her brood. A former high school english teacher, my mother woke us up at 7am to give us the structured life she never had as a child. Born to an alcoholic parent and no father, she was raised by a friend of her mothers outside Waco, TX. Thanks to the Methodist Church in town and members of the community and friends, they managed to guide and encourage her to reach greater heights. both of my parents were musicians and my mother in particular possessed a curious and brilliant mind which she used to nourish her children with a loving care that has shaped and defined us. 

Our famliy left texas for the Northern Virginia area in the early 90’s and I entered junior college at the age of 14. A musician my whole life, starting with piano lessons at a young age, I then began learning guitar from my youth pastors daughter in middle school. Not long after I found a local high school songwriter with a band who needed a bass player. over the next five years He taught me extensively  about composition and crafting harmony. college started at James Madison’s School of Music and then after two years i transitioned down to MTSU's School of Mass Communication in Murfreesboro, TN, where I graduated. 

Being raised in Texas and spirited up to Washington, DC as a teenager, I’d lost some of my southern identity, and moving to middle Tennessee in 1999 I quickly found it again. Over the next 15 years, many summer weeks of mine were dedicated to volunteering to teach music and art creation to young women. ranging in ages from 8-18, these young people taught me much about unstoppable creative freedom at the Southern Girls Rock and Roll Camp in Murfreesboro and other affiliated organizations located in Nashville, Memphis, DC, and New York City. 

During this time I formed deep connections to hundreds of open hearted people, who appreciated my frank, honest, and loving approach to communication and engagement. I have spent years guiding individuals after intense histories of child sexual assault, struggles to come out to their families as queer,  drug and alcohol abuse,  interpersonal & lifestyle challenges, mental wellness and depression/anxiety, breakups and divorce, family issues surrounding generational disfunction and poverty, as well as career and general life guidance.