I have been working tirelessly, visiting happy hours all around Seattle expanding my knowledge of the food and drinks that make this city great. As a reformed vegetarian, I now enjoy eating meat daily and will often order the strangest sounding body part on the menu, since I am making up for lost time. When not eating bone marrow, tongue, or sweetbreads, I can usually be found acting on a Seattle stage somewhere, or in a park playing with my daughter. I’m also a rabid sports fan, decent cook, and enjoy solving and creating crossword puzzles on those notorious rainy Seattle days.

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Seattle, but spent the past four years at Oregon State University. There, I acquired a talent for whipping up a mean Hot Pocket. That is, until Savor saved me. My spark and passion for trying new foods has now been ignited and I have never felt so alive!

In my spare time, I enjoy traveling, playing with my cats, binge watching TV shows on Netflix and making up bad puns. I also love a good karaoke session (I’ve been known to kill it on the mic). My favorite food is grilled cheese dipped in ketchup and I would bathe in a sea of cookie dough ice cream if I could. I love everything about Pike Place Market, and am so glad that I’m able to experience such delicious foods here every day!

Born in the salmon capital of the world, Ketchikan, Alaska, some of my earliest memories are of our family on the docks watching the local fishermen haul in the world’s best seafood. The docks were a familiar spot for us because my dad ran our small island communities only grocery and my entrepreneurial mom had taken to offering city tours to cruise ship passengers using the family VW van. I suppose food and tourism were engrained in me from my earliest days, though it would take many more years before I married the two into a career. In my younger years I lived just outside of Seattle, Washington, and fell in love with local grown produce such as apples and strawberries. So much so that I relentlessly hassled my parents into buying me strawberry and tomato plants to grow in our backyard. This was before the appeal of growing food in suburban housing developments was as popular as it is today. When we moved to Portland, Maine I discovered lobster and steamers. And as a teen in Los Angeles, California I became a taco and street food enthusiast. Now back home in Seattle, I am always on the hunt for delicious new restaurants, or great recipes I can try at home.

Prior to joining Savor Seattle as the Senior Manager I spent my most recent years working in the Seattle startup scene using powerful data aggregation to make homeownership more joyful. Before that I was traveling the west coast, Alaska, Hawaii and Mexico as an Operations Manager for a boutique-adventure yachting company. Here at Savor Seattle, I work with our incredible team to make exploring Seattle a multi-sensorial and deliciously joyful experience for visitors and locals alike. When I am not at work you can find me dining around town, running along the waterfront, firing up a BBQ at my place in the foodie paradise neighborhood of Ballard, or most often, spoiling my Beagle puppy Patsy at a dog park nearby.

I am a self-proclaimed “food evangelist.” This translates into a huge love of eating, shopping for, and cooking, FOOD. I grew up working in my family’s restaurants and countless others. After graduating from the Wharton School, I moved to Chicago to work in Brand Management at Quaker Oats. Eleven years ago I was drawn to the city of Seattle, where I’ve never been happier to be so close to fresh seafood, local wine, and artisan cheese.

In my spare time, I enjoy giggling with my two kiddos, traveling, working out in HIIT classes, and being outside year-round. My favorite foods include: tacos, sushi, coffee, eggs, and raw oysters. Americans would be a whole lot healthier if vegetables tasted like bacon. There are few things I won’t eat…and durian is one of them.

I currently serve on the Visit Seattle Board and am a member of the Seattle chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier. Historic awards include: Puget Sound Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40, Seattle Tourism Ambassador, and Nellie Cashman Woman Business Owner of the Year Finalist. I am available for speaking and media engagements on topics such as: entrepreneurship, culinary tourism, scaling a business, economic benefits of small businesses, and female leadership.