I was born in Evanston, Illinois and spent my early years in Roger’s Park, Chicago, until the family moved to the Northern suburbs. I graduated from New Trier High School in 1991. Instead of going to college, I moved to New York City on my own in the interest of getting a real education. I lived in the one-and-only commune in the city, where I learned to work and problem solve with a wide variety of people who came from all over the world. This helped prepare me to create working relationships with people of many cultures from all over the world, a skill that has been most useful in sourcing and purchasing from all around the globe.

I moved to Portland in 1997 to be closer to my family. My parents, brother and two nieces live here. The rest of the clan is in Chicago. I have worked at Essential Wholesale since October 16, 2006. I am the buyer/inventory controller at Essential Wholesale: I source ingredient, packaging and supplies, negotiate pricing and write purchase orders. I love working with natural products, especially the fine premium ingredients purchased by Essential Wholesale.