"BE THE REASON SOMEONE SMILES TODAY"

I live and work in what I fondly refer to as "Not Chicago" Illinois and am a Nana, a Mom, a Wife, a Daughter, and a Sister... not always in that order.  Like most people, I haven't always been the best at prioritizing any of those things ahead of my day job. While I do look back at times with guilt, I do my best not to dwell there and focus instead on trying to make up for the lost time. 

We can't be everything all at once after all. 

I was born and raised in the midwest, graduated from Flippin High School in Flippin, AR, and earned my Bachelor's Degree from  Westminster College in Fulton, MO. Go Bluejays!

Shortly after, I took a job at Herff Jones and spent the next 16 years there in various positions within Customer Service, Marketing, and Information Technology. I met a lot of amazing people there many of whom I still consider great friends even though I don't see any of them often enough. 

After departing Herff Jones, my family and I tried our hands at running a small business that wasn't as successful as we had hoped but without regret.  After all, if it had been successful,  I might not have crossed paths with all the amazing people and friends gained at and through  ExactTarget, Salesforce, Acumen Solutions, Cheetah Digital, Coastal Cloud, Caterpillar, and more. So, in the end, I'm grateful that there weren't a ton of people stopping in at 

Pan's Pizza and Sweets and learned a lot about marketing along the way. 

What's next? Well hopefully there are only about 5+ more years of work (queue the countdown clock) and then ideally more time to focus on family, vacations, and sleep. I'll keep you posted and you can keep me honest.