Hello

Ever since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to do something creative with my life. When I wasn’t re-designing my bedroom for the millionth time, trying to find the most outlandish outfit from Goodwill to wear to school the next day, or creating movies and funky photoshoots with friends, I could be found in my bedroom with a paintbrush in hand, deeply concentrated on rendering my artistic vision onto canvas. When it was time to pick a major in college, I immediately knew I wanted to study Art Education, as my art teachers were some of the most influential people in my life. I ended up graduating with a double major in Art and Global Culture, a minor in French, and a self-described “concentration” in Education (as the college did not allow triple majors!).  Upon graduating, I was not enthralled by the idea of returning to high school to teach, rather, I wanted to explore the world. I moved to France for a year, and when my visa ran out, I moved to Australia. While there, I decided to follow my interest in renovating homes and sustainability, and ended up enrolling in graduate school and earning my master’s degree in Architectural Science - Sustainable Design. This path brought me wonderful opportunities that launched my career in the built environment, starting as a temp at the Green Building Council of Australia, then interning at a large property development company as a Sustainability Intern. After 2 years in Australia, I moved back to the States and found myself working at a start-up in Dallas, Texas, whose mission was to renovate homes sustainably. There, I did a mix of interior design, building performance, and business operations as we developed and navigated the company’s early years.  Unfortunately, the company went out of business and I landed as a Sustainable Building Consultant at a small firm operating out of West Palm Beach, Florida. It was during this job that I realized the opportunities I had for creativity at work had been slowly slipping away, until I found myself in that new role, which was essentially the direct opposite of a creative job – it was an analytical role that measured, tracked, and reported building projects against specific sustainability targets. After only 6 months in this role, I had a complete and total burnout. My life was no longer aligned with my passions and I felt completely, utterly, outside of myself. After a long and thoughtful deliberation, I knew that I only had one choice if I wanted to start feeling like myself again - I had to quit. But not just quit that job, I had to quit the 9-5 corporate career path I was on, and start over… from scratch.  At 29, I found myself with two degrees, no job, and no vision for a path forward. I was in a rut. But that little creative voice inside me that was hanging on for dear life did not allow me to just sit around and wait for something to happen. Instead, it motivated me to take the knowledge and experience that I had and try to create my own business with it. So, I recruited my husband and we started a small, short-lived company called Daintree Living. Our goal was to help people understand their daily impact on the planet, and advise on the best way to lessen that impact. We truly gave it our all. When we realized it was not working out as a profitable way to sustain our lifestyle, I began looking for a part-time job to supplement our income. As luck would have it, a local private art studio was hiring teachers, and feeling that intense craving to root back into creativity, I pounced on the opportunity.  Working as an Art Teacher started to reawaken and reinvigorate my artistic side that had been dormant for so long. It reminded me of how good it felt to be involved in a community that shared my passions, embraced self-expression, and allowed for mistakes. I felt like I could be myself in this community, and although the job was not “professional” in any way, it provided the scratch for the itch that desperately needed it. As life would have it, after a mere 4 months into this new job, Covid hit. Classes stopped running, and I found myself, once again, without a job. This time, I knew what to do – I would activate my entrepreneurial spirit once again, but this time, to develop my art business. I spent the remainder of 2020 creating with abandon. Painting anything from the tropical plants outside my window, to commissioned pet-portraits, to more expressive pieces. 2020 was unimaginably difficult in so many ways, and yet, it was the year I built my foundation for the business that I still have today (and that I intend to have for the rest of my life!)  As Covid trudged on, another obstacle came hurtling at us – my husband would be losing his job due to pandemic-caused downsizing. Being the optimistic person that he is, he took it as an opportunity to level up his skills in his area of passion, and make a career shift… that landed us in Omaha, Nebraska. As we packed up our life in Florida, I found myself wanting to take the next step in my teaching journey while still allowing for my own creative business to thrive. When we arrived in Omaha, I immediately started working at the local community college teaching classes in the Interior Design Department. Soon after, I also began teaching in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Nebraska - Omaha. During my time on campus, I developed new courses, refreshed existing ones, and transitioned in-person classes to a fully online format. Not to mention, I had the creative freedom to build my courses how I saw fit, so long as the content aligned with the predetermined course objectives. Alongside teaching, I took every opportunity to engage with the art community, from participating in local art exhibits, working on public art projects, running paint-and-sip classes for companies, and even vending at a festival. It was truly a great balance between teaching and art-making, which allowed my creativity to thrive.  After 3 years in Omaha, it is time for us to move back to a location that is more aligned with our souls (oceanfront … we’re looking at YOU!) I am proud to be able to bring all the courses I’ve been teaching with me, and continue to teach them online. Teaching college-level Interior Design and Fine Art for these 3 years has made me eager to get back into the practicing side of the building design industry. Needless to say, I am excited and invigorated for the next chapter of my creative career, as I look to begin working on the design side of these incredible projects. Let's keep the creativity flowing!