Ready for adventure; always curious.
Life is what we make it. Maybe that sounds cliché, but I believe the journeys of our lives are an output of the energy we give to every moment.
We all enter the world with different starting lines. Some battle more intense challenges than others. What’s important is that we recognize both the privilege we were born with and the privilege we had to fight for, then use that to lift up others with us along the way.
From shy kid, to me against the music.
I’m very grateful for having a supportive and loving family. I grew up in Central Florida as a shy kid, always with the understanding that there was no option but college. I had to work hard, get good grades, and receive an excellent secondary education that would set me up for success in my adult life. For more on that, listen to my In Hines Sight podcast episode where I essentially tell that story against a timeline of Britney Spears albums.
I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in public relations from the University of South Florida in Tampa. When family and professors said to “do something you love” – as was told to most Millennials, inundated with books like “What Color is Your Parachute?” – I explored public relations within the surf industry. I had been surfing for several years and thought if I could do PR for a surf company, that’d be my dream come true.
Beginnings in California.
I secured an internship in event marketing with Quiksilver in Huntington Beach, California the summer of 2009. That summer felt like a dream, surfing the pier every morning, meeting the director of the Christian Surfers Huntington Beach chapter who was gracious enough to let me sleep in an RV parked outside his house, and making friends and memories I’d never forget.
It was that summer, that first adventure out on my own (mostly) that inspired me to strive for more. And it’s the story behind my first tattoo on my rib cage.
After I finished school at USF, I gave myself 35 days to move to California. I lived there for six years and did a bit of everything, from hair modeling to serving banquets for Chaka Khan at Hyatt, to miming at a Hollywood Hills party with Gabby Sidibe to working as a talent escort for Reese Witherspoon, then to securing my first PR job at Chapman University, followed by an event marketing position with Celebrity Cruises, before joining Toyota in 2016.
‘Sinking dreams’ can’t bring me down.
I made the move to Texas for a full-time position with Toyota in 2017. Although a crazy experience with my first home purchase may have earned me a “sinking dreams” headline in the Dallas Morning News, my ambition, tenacity, and curiosity could not be sunk.
I’m incredibly grateful for my work at Toyota – telling stories of the company’s community engagement and support of various multicultural communities. I’ve also led Toyota’s award-winning partnership with AIDS/LifeCycle, a 7-day, 545-mile charity bike ride. Having biked the route twice and captained Toyota’s first-ever AIDS/LifeCycle team, the “love bubble” family, as it’s affectionately called, will always be a special community of warriors I will no doubt be part of for years to come.
No matter where I live and what new adventures I pursue, I will always strive to push forward with a positive energy and unwavering curiosity to learn, grow, and build a more positive future.
