Everyone has a story. The collective of experiences, events, circumstances, failures, and successes that shape who they are.
My story began in Larchmont, NY, a very small and idyllic town on the coast, 40 minutes outside of Manhattan. The only child of first-generation European immigrant parents, my Dad was tough and I had a strict upbringing. Being an only child, I developed self-sufficiency early and was able to easily spend time alone. I explored my creativity and developed elaborate play structures and situations for myself. My Mom understood the importance of physical activity and enrolled me in ballet classes at the age of five and therein my love of dance and movement was born. These weekly ballet classes were my most favorite time and I have the fondest memories of the big room with the beautiful wood floor, stained glass windows and grand piano in the corner. Dance taught me discipline and patience and fostered a lifelong desire to strive for optimal health. I did other activities too, ice skating, horseback riding, tennis, and in High School I joined the fencing team my freshman year and became the team captain my senior year.
At college, I chose to study psychology, not because I desired to be a therapist, but because I was curious about human behavior, how circumstances affect people and the relational tools we can use to shape and maximize human interaction and performance, particularly in a business setting. I combined the psychology major with a minor in business administration. During the summers, I took a job as an office assistant for a small business (specialized automotive aftermarket parts). My time with Custom Spares Ltd. in Pelham, NY taught me about entrepreneurship and exposed me to all aspects of running a business. After college, I went to work for a boutique public relations firm specializing in technology companies where I learned the fundamentals of communications and the purpose of strategic marketing. A few years later I moved to San Francisco and took a position with Burson Marstellar, the largest PR firm in the world with mega clients like Chevron, Clorox and Philip Morris. I observed the development of high-level communications strategy for specialized areas such as crisis communications and got a “big picture” view of large, corporate branding.
For the next few years following, I took time off for family. During this time I did some part-time public relations project coordination and I continued my interest in physical activities. I took up rock climbing which, in addition to being a great workout honed my mental focus and concentration skills and taught me valuable fear management tactics. Living in the San Francisco Bay area, a cultural and artistic mecca, I was able to participate in excellent modern dance classes. This reawakened my love of dance and fueled my creativity and desire to choreograph my own works. I wanted to have my own dance studio and performing company, but I realized that while I knew how to dance, I did not know enough about how to run a studio and manage a dance company so I decided to go back to school and study Dance Arts. I attended San Francisco State University for 2 years, studying for a Bachelor's degree from the School of Music & Dance. I learned a great deal about the intricacies of choreography and dance management. My horizons were broadened immensely by exposure to a range of cultural dance styles including Afro-Haitian, Flamenco, Kathak (classical East Indian dance) and Dunham technique which strengthened my physical abilities and taught me even greater discipline. I was fortunate to attend the American College Dance Association Western Conference and perform with the SFSU company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and again at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater in San Francisco.
My family and I moved to Las Vegas in 2001 and I transferred to the University of Nevada Las Vegas to continue my Dance studies and finish my degree. At UNLV, I was fortunate to get the opportunity to work with a number of visiting teachers and choreographers and in the summer of 2002, I traveled with the UNLV Dance Company to Edinburgh Scotland to perform at the month-long Fringe Festival. Spending a month performing every day taught me how to overcome the monotony of dancing the same piece over and over again. I learned how to explore the choreography in-depth and find new ways to express the movement to the audience so as to keep my performances fresh. The opportunity to see so many other performances by artists from around the world opened my eyes to the possibilities for creative expression. It was during this creative immersion in Scotland that I cemented my desire to have my own dance company and studio. I realized the type of work I wanted to do did not exist in Las Vegas, nor was there a dance studio teaching any form of creative modern dance or interdisciplinary arts expression. I spent the next 2 years studying and dancing at UNLV and also researching art forms, writing my thoughts, listening to different kinds of music, choreographing, gathering ideas and forming the concept of what I wanted my studio and performing company to be. Upon graduation from UNLV in 2004, I began working with some of my dancer friends in my home studio, developing ideas. I was fortunate to have a commercial real estate contact who saw a space she thought would be perfect for me. I negotiated for a few months of free rent and money for tenant improvements to create the flooring I needed and in January of 2005 Threshold Dance Theater opened its' doors. During its' tenure, Threshold was a beacon of creativity and a home for artists and students from all walks of life. You can read more about the programs I developed, and press that was written about TDT on the Threshold page.
Life is, of course, unpredictable and full of changes. When I was no longer able to keep the TDT doors open due to life circumstances, I made the difficult decision to walk away and move out of state. My son and I sold most of our household belongings, packed the remainder in a Uhaul and drove across the country to South Florida where my parents were living. In West Palm Beach I created a private personal training practice, RiseAbove Healing Arts, putting my ACSM Health Fitness Instructor certification to use, along with my Thai massage knowledge. I created a website, advertised and developed a client base. Having created TDT from concept to fruition taught me how to be tenacious and resilient. Whatever I needed, (website, marketing materials, photography, clients, press) I found a way to do it myself. It was an enjoyable work life, but not without the major stress of self-employment and while I enjoyed helping others with their health and fitness I wanted to do more creative work. I was fortunate to have an entrepreneurial friend back in Las Vegas who wanted to start a video production venture. He offered to move me back to Las Vegas to come work with him on the project and I jumped at the chance.
Equipped with a brand new computer and the Adobe Creative Suite Media Production software, I taught myself how to use Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Photoshop and began the production of an extensive video library. Having the discipline and skills to use my time wisely and effectively, I worked from home and developed a system for producing videos. I realized that the creative process for video production was very much like dance choreography, just with a different set of tools. Instead of dancers bodies to tell the story, I was using images, words, and music. My boss and his business partner had many connections in the real estate and restaurant industries and over time we made a lot of videos for Las Vegas eateries, restaurant and hospitality management groups, and other corporations such as Cirque du Solei. I learned how to ask the right questions and lead clients toward their video goals. I created a client video questionnaire and video content submission guidelines to streamline the process. Initially, the 100XTV website was custom built by a developer but time revealed it to be too difficult to maintain so we switched to a Wordpress platform and I learned how to manage and edit the content. I produced a library of over 2000 videos. The intention behind 100XTV was to make quality video content readily available and easy to use for individuals and businesses. That concept eventually morphed into a further refined idea to create an app for email followup that would utilize great-looking, cleverly worded content in an easy-to-use manner - FollowUp Pro was born.
I worked full time for 3+ years on this technology project, responsible for the "look and feel" of all content and fleshing out the initial UI design. I interfaced regularly with the software developer and did all systems beta testing and writing of corrections/change directives. I designed and created all graphics content used within the app, produced all product marketing and instructional videos and wrote all "HOW TO" and FAQ material. Once again we chose a Wordpress platform for the website and I managed and updated the content. Additionally, I produced and managed Facebook and Instagram Ad campaigns.
In 2015, I co-founded Zen Ritual Creative Services, a creative consulting firm. We helped clients bridge the gap between planning and executing projects. Our vision and skill give substance to a client's creative ideas. We provided professional photography, videography, and video production, art direction, digital and print media creation, website design and development, and brand development consulting. Our clients have included Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas and Top Golf. As a consultant, I have undertaken and brought to fruition a number of long term creative projects for my clients. Some examples are artists and composers Louis Valentine Johnson and Jennifer Bellor, and Dr. Michael S Mall, New Image Advanced Laser Center.
With the completion of the FollowUp Pro project, I turned my attention to the world of commercial real estate and began working with Richard Gold in his real estate endeavors. Gold Stone Capital is a Nevada 501C3 corporation specializing in commercial real estate investment and advisement with a focus on identifying unique development opportunities and creating tailored deal structures. My role with Gold Stone was both administrative and creative, supporting the principal (Mr. Gold) in all document creation for deals, researching properties and potential projects, preparing property presentations and creating all marketing materials such as flyers, posters, photographs, and videos. I hold a Nevada Real Estate license. In 2019, Mr. Gold decided to semi-retire and scale back his business.
Since then I have been working as a licensed Real Estate Assistant with a broad role encompassing administrative systems management, CRM management, transaction management, client services, content creation and curation (digital and print,) contracts, presentations, and online presence and brand management.