I have always been proud to say I was born and raised in New Jersey, the veritable melting pot of the country. I am from a historic town, Basking Ridge, which was as lovely as the name implies, and only one and a half hours from Manhattan.
I left for college in Vermont, and after a year in New Your City working at the World Trade Center for a brokerage company, I moved to Ithaca, NY to be with my fiance/high school sweetheart who was a student at Cornell University. I worked at the School of Vet Medicine in the Diagnostic Lab, and loved spending time on campus, and playing in the beautiful Finger Lakes region and Adirondack Mountains.
I was married and moved back to New Jersey where my husband attended Medical School and I worked in an Analytical Lab attached to a hospital. I was fortunate to work alongside devoted research fellows and began my life-long fascination with the brain.
Later in life, we lived in Maine, spent a year in Belize doing volunteer work, then, after three years living and working in Massachusetts, moved to the rural North Coast of California. My three children, Gabriel, Renee and Victor were educated at home and at a "Home Schooler's school" Mistwood Center for Education, where I taught Cooking and Nutrition, and occasionally, French. I also began a health food business with my good friend Ellen, and we brought our products to market in 1995. We concentrated on health food markets, and had success and learned a lot about running a business and the intricate balancing act of parenting and working. When our three children were teenagers, it was time to focus on helping them acheive their goals so we sold our business.
Our daughter Renee attended Reed College. I'd come up to visit her, then while driving home, I would think "well, someday I will find a way to live in Portland." I began working in outside sales again for a NJ-based company, and my career took off at a breakneck speed, but with an enormous amount of out-of-state travel every month.
My career in outside sales was challenging and I loved it, but knew it was time to take a new direction including one where I came home at night. I found myself fascinated with hearing when I helped my Uncle get a hearing test and hearing aids. I found Avada, and they supervised my training until I took the licensing exam and passed. I worked for other companies after I received my license, but returned in February 2018, when I was alerted of an opening. I love helping people hear better and am passionate about my profession and our role in improving lives through better hearing.