I pursued my lifelong interest in healing by learning Reiki and becoming a Reiki Master in 1998. Afterwards, I traveled to San Diego in 2000 to train in Feng Shui under the direction of James Moser and Feng Shui Warehouse. The next step was attending Sarasota School of Massage in 2001 and becoming a licensed massage therapist. The first certification I earned as a massage therapist was for Thai Massage in 2002.
     While attending the Sarasota campus of Everglades University, I sat on the advanced Massage Therapy Advisory Board of Sanford Brown Institute from 2004-05 and was a substitute massage teacher under Nancy Yonker at Keiser College. With the completion of my capstone thesis, "Complementary Medical Modalities as an Adjunct to Pharmacological and Psychiatric Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder," I became the first person to earn a bachelors degree in Alternative Medicine at the Sarasota campus.
     During this time, I have also worked for Sun Coast Media Group, owner of the Sun newspapers in the tri-county area. I worked my way up from a part time editorial assistant to my current position as editor of the North Port Herald, a weekly insert highlighting community activities. I coordinate the photography, write and edit copy as well as design the pages of the section each week. I earned a first place award for photo feature essay from the Florida Press Club in 2006, and several other staff members have earned awards for their work in the Herald.
     Currently I am attending East West College of Natural Medicine, studying for a concurrent Bachelor's in Public Health and a Master's in Traditional Chinese Medicine.