About Me

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I was born and raised in Gilbert and walked two blocks to school until 1986 when the Gilbert and Eveleth school districts combined. I graduated with honors from Eveleth-Gilbert High School in 1989. In high-school, I was active in the newspaper and yearbook staffs, played trombone in band, was a class officer and Student Council President. I spent a lot of time in drama/theater and speech throughout junior and senior high, and even competed in the MN State speech tournament as a senior. 

I attended the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University for 4.5 years where I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a Communications minor. I was a leader in my college fraternity, worked as an editor of the St. Ben's student newspaper and was a founding member of the university's Cultural Affairs Board who's goal was to increase awareness and acceptance for students from different cultural communities. 

 Upon graduating college, I pursued my first career in marketing and public relations for more than two decades where I worked for household names like National Car Rental, Hallmark, Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines. My time in corporate America brought a wealth of experience in mergers/acquisitions and change management as a manager in the National/Alamo merger, Gift Certificate Center/Hallmark merger and finally as a communications leader in the Northwest/Delta merger which created the world's largest airline. 

In 2015, I left the corporate world and went back to school to learn about massage, fitness, health, wellness and lifestyle coaching. I worked as the Director of Massage Therapy with a staff of 14 at Hand and Stone Massage & Facial Spa in Saint Louis Park for a few years before accepting a position with Minnesota AIDS Project as a community health advocate and later as the Public Relations manager for JustUs Health. 

 I am a licensed massage therapist (LMT) and have been practicing massage since 2016. I was on the academic Dean's List at Saint Paul College throughout my education. I received my massage and holistic nutrition coaching certificates in May 2016 and then got my personal training certificate in December 2017. I've worked with clients from the Minnesota Twins organization, Minnesota Lynx and Minnesota Wild as well as many long-distance runners and tri-athletes to relieve pain and improve athletic performance. 

I currently own and operate Fit Well Fresh massage therapy studio in Minneapolis from November through April and West Forty RV Park and Campground as well as Mesabi Massage in Gilbert from May through October. As a business owner, I'm an active member of the Laurentian Chamber of Commerce, the Minnesota 4-Wheel Drive Association and ATV Minnesota, which all have direct impacts on the City of Gilbert.

I currently serve as the Executive Director of Range Iron Pride, a 501c3 non-profit organization whose mission is to build community for those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer people living in the Iron Range cities of Aurora, Biwabik, Britt, Buhl, Chisholm, Cook, Embarrass, Eveleth, Gilbert, Hoyt Lakes, Mt. Iron, Tower, Soudan, Virginia and surrounding townships.