After high school, I backpacked across seven countries in Africa. My parents died shortly after I returned to the US, leaving me feeling orphaned and untethered.

I worked as an actress in Los Angeles until a severe autoimmune disease took me away from the stage. I ended up homeless in LA until I found my resolve to return to the Midwest to attend college and then graduate school.

Because the medications from the disease caused significant weight gain, I worked very hard to lose over 100 pounds in my early 40’s.

Then I lost my husband to a swift, severe battle with lung cancer, leaving me to parent our two children alone.