I grew up in St. Louis and went to Arkansas State to play Division I soccer, where I captained the team and earned a degree in finance along the way. When college ended, I wasn't ready to stop playing, so at 22 I moved to Melbourne on my own and kept going.
I played professionally for Heidelberg from 2019 to 2022, and what most people don't realize is that I was working a corporate tech job the entire time. I would spend my days building data systems and my evenings at training, and for a long time I assumed I'd eventually have to choose between the two. It turned out I never did, because the discipline I learned on the pitch was exactly what made me good at the work.
While I was living that double life, I also earned my Master of Data Science and AI at La Trobe University. I chose it because I wanted to make a difference in an industry where women are still underrepresented. It's what turned a job I was good at into a career I'm proud of.
Soccer also left me with a love for fitness and wellness that has outlasted my playing days. Training stopped being something I did for a team and became something I do for myself, and looking after my body and my mind is still the steadiest part of every day.
When I stepped away from playing, I carried everything soccer gave me into the work, and then I chose to start over again, this time in Los Angeles. I arrived without an apartment, a routine, or a single friend in the city, and I'm now helping build PMY Group's US data and AI practice.
Starting over twice has taught me that it was never about becoming someone new. It was about finally making room for the person I already was, and then realizing that being fully myself was only half of it. The other half is the people I've met along the way, the ones who showed up for me when I knew no one and the ones I now get to show up for in return. I feel more like myself than I ever have, and I want to spend the rest of my life helping other people feel that way too.
