Sixteen years ago, I sat behind a receptionist desk, fielding phone calls and wondering how this was a good use of my college degree. Armed with a BFA in Graphic Design and minor in Marketing, I had graduated with lofty dreams of colorful days spent creating, designing, and writing.

After moving to Denver, I was eager to start my career. But job interview after job interview found me receiving the same phone call, the one that ended with, “Sorry, but you just don’t have any experience,” and me feeling defeated, the rejection stinging my newly dry skin (low humidity is not all it’s cracked up to be…).

Because my rent didn’t magically pay itself (fyi: if anyone knows how to make this happen, please let me know), I resorted to mind-numbing temp jobs. They were certainly not dream positions, but they at least they paid the bills.

But when a 3-month temp job turned into a job offer with steady pay and benefits and the promise that a marketing department might soon be created within that company, I took it, determined to prove there might just be a space in it for me. After a year, my hard work finally paid off. Someone believed in me and offered me the empty seat: the last position they needed to fill to make the marketing department complete.

Since those first days of answering phones, I’ve worked hard to find my way back to my dreams. In 2012, my employer tasked me with the responsibility of single-handedly rebranding that company (a successful multi-million dollar nonprofit). Had we used an external vendor, it would have cost tens of thousands of dollars, but I was given the opportunity, and not only did I do it, I rocked it.  And a few years ago, I started a freelance graphic design company—Chapter 2 Design Studio—which, as you may have guessed, is the predecessor to this company, Chapter 2 Creative.

Currently, by day, I am a marketing director for a national law firm. By night, I run a (pretty successful) blog called The Nostalgia Diaries. In the year since I started that blog, my writing has also been featured on SheKnows, Red Tricycle, Perfection Pending, Chief Gratitude Officer, Yellowbrick, and Motherly.

And in that time, I also became a mom to my incredible daughter, Zoey. She provides so much of the inspiration I need for my writing and, to be perfectly honest, my life. Because if there’s anything more important to me than living an authentic, creative, color-filled life, it’s teaching that she can do anything her heart desires.

I remember that my mom consistently encouraged creativity by keeping the house stocked with art supplies. I have wonderful memories of sitting at our kitchen table, pencil in one hand, ruler in the other, drawing pages and pages of cars and planes and tanks and Star Wars spaceships. I also remember my mom—a trained artist—seemed to always be drawing architectural plans, mostly kitchen and bathroom and basement and bedroom designs. That seemed to rub off on me as I too began drafting up reams of house plans starting in 6th grade.

And that was the beginning of a journey toward fulfilling my purpose: to use my creativity to become a world-class architect.  

Or so I thought.

After a year at the University of Arizona School of Architecture, I left to return to my home state to attend the University of Wyoming, not quite knowing the direction I should take. A semester of engineering, a semester of undeclared, and a year off to travel the world with Up with People, led me to marketing and advertising.  It was an academic path in which I could excel and maximize both my artistic and analytic skills. As I completed my marketing degree, I thought that I would make big a big splash in the world of advertising, “Mad Men” style.

But as I already knew well, things don’t always go according to plan. Without much thought, I ended up following my father’s footsteps and headed directly to law school.

And that was 23 years ago.

In that time, I became a litigation attorney in a top national trial firm and developed a passion for writing. I’ve written millions of words advocating for my clients in court and, to balance out my days of writing legal briefs and motions and complaints, I began writing fiction at nights and on weekends. (And if you are wondering, yes, I have the first draft of a novel completed ready for editing… just as soon as I find the time…).  

Most recently, my business partner and good friend Corey asked me to become a permanent writer and contributor to her awesome blog, The Nostalgia Diaries.

And that brings me to today. Today, I’m working with Corey to bring another website—and business—to life.

This one.

And I’ll tell you what: it’s a magical thing to create something authentic and helpful to people looking for honest answers. And while helping clients in their darkest days and changing lives as a lawyer is a tremendous honor, using my artistic core, my writing skills, and my marketing background to inspire entrepreneurs, businesses, and bloggers to show off their best selves to the world warms my creative soul. It’s a welcome return to the purpose and passion I remember dreaming of when I was in sixth grade…  Or when I graduated high school…  Or when I graduated college…

So no matter where your passion lies or what your path has been, I can’t wait to help you create your dream.

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