In 1999, I was born in a trailer in Interlachen, a very small town in the poorest county in good ol’ north-central Florida. Soon after my family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where I grew up, learning enough Spanish to crack a joke, went to a lot of shows, and developed a love for the mountains on the west coast.

However, in 2012, I once again moved back across the country — home again home again to Interlachen, FL and into the same house where I was born in — where I finished high school, graduating at the top of my class. Along the way I picked up some rural wisdom and despite my initial pre-teen, culture-shocked protests, I learned to appreciate the perspectives a simple little town can offer.

When 2017 rolled around, I enrolled in college *drum roll* across the country! I had my heart set on the western mountains and sure enough that’s what I found in Flagstaff, Arizona. I spent four years at Northern Arizona University studying Accounting and Business Management (and finagling my way into an *unofficial* minor with Hotel and Restaurant Management) where I REALLY believed I was going to become a CPA.

Well, loved the classes, hated the work — and instead decided to pursue a career in events! During college I discovered my passion for Venue Production Management, where I worked for SUN Entertainment and oversaw a multi-purpose auditorium. And I was so fucking good at it! The pay was crap but the people were good and to this day was still the best job I’ve ever had.

Moving forward to 2021, a month after getting my degree and COVID restrictions lifting — I left my corporate internship behind to create an open mic at my friend John’s new bar “Mountain Top Tap Room.” If it’s possible to create a magnum opus by 25, that’s what my work there was. As the city recovered from the pandemic and people were wandering back into the world with all the songs they had written and rehearsed in isolation, or just a longing for community once again — John and I harnessed and scaled that energy into what many travelers have called “the best, most successful open mic west of Nashville.” And hey, our weekend concerts were pretty good, too.

In 2022, I found a not-for-profit group called Mountain Town Sounds to better support the singer-songwriter community in Flagstaff. Together with a small team, we started Flagstaff’s first listening room experience (that you can find full concert recordings of on YouTube — Tiny Desk/Audiotree style), coordinated a wildly successful downtown music festival, and held a number of showcases that inspired many Flagstaff businesses to put greater focus on softer, acoustic artists instead of the loud bar band sets as per the status quo.

Fast forward a few years, it’s 2023, and I quit my day job to focus on music. Between the bands I’m performing, recording, and touring with and the work I’m doing in the downtown scene — I sure was kept busy. As my story approaches present day, I look back at the past 2 years doing music as a full time job so fondly. I went for it and enjoyed nearly every minute of it.

Now, with that music itch thoroughly scratched, I’m looking towards the future. I want to put my business acumen to good use, as I’ve had enough success AND failures to have learned a thing or two about branding, marketing, project management… and all the things you do to grow events, bands, and community!

…but I’ve also always had a secret dream of being a teacher or a principal and working in a school, so maybe I’ll chase that instead.

 In any case, I’m excited to find out what 2025 has in store!