I was born in Winchester, Ky., and consider myself a native of Middlesboro and LaRue County.

I have a degree in journalism from Murray State University.

I worked as a reporter/photographer for The Central Kentucky News-Journal in Campbellsville and The News-Enterprise in Elizabethtown. I also worked off and on at my hometown paper, The LaRue County Herald News, doing a little bit of just about everything.

During a 5+-year stint in Athens, Ga., I was a member of the night staff at the Athens Area Homeless Shelter and became interested in non-profit public relations. I was also a freelance writer for the Georgia Baptist Convention, based in Atlanta.

Upon returning to the commonwealth, I went to work for Kentucky Baptists, first serving at Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children (now Sunrise Children’s Services), then Western Recorder, the weekly newspaper of Kentucky Baptists, and eventually as a member of the Kentucky Baptist Convention Mission Board Staff.

In addition to my college degree, I have completed courses in layout/design, PhotoShop, grant writing and crisis communications.

My work has been seen in newspapers across Kentucky, The Christian Index in Atlanta, KET, Country magazine and Kentucky Living.

In 2016, I added dog walker/pet sitter to my resume, hanging my shingle out on Rover.com. I’m no dog whisperer, but my rapport with canines is stronger than I ever imagined.

In 2018, I acted on a long-held little fantasy and purchased a home in walking distance of the beach. I relocated to Gulfport, Miss., and became an enthusiastic student of Gulf Coast culture.

I’m a former band geek (horn, French horn) and love most things rural, Kentucky, associated with Abraham Lincoln, and enjoy the works of Larry McMurtry and Christopher Buckley. I admire the excellent reportage and inspiring writing of Jon Krakauer, and often wish I was as fearless as he.