When I was a kid, I wanted to be a paleontologist. Since then, I have explored many paths and passions over the years as I tried to find myself.

I started college as a theatrical lighting designer and ended up years (and over 5,000 miles) later with a Master’s in curriculum and instruction for early childhood and elementary students with a slew of odd jobs and food service to pay my way through. I was getting into my stride during my third year of what I thought of as my dream job teaching Kindergarten. No matter how hard I worked or how fulfilling the job was most of the time, I still wrestled with deep depression and anxiety. I felt panicked that I would never be content and learn to just enjoy life instead of constantly striving.

“Luckily” the birth of my kiddo, a global pandemic and period of national socio-political crisis forced me to dig deep and discover the trans-masc/non-binary, queer & “neuro-spicy” individual waiting inside. This isn’t to say I’ve got it all figured out yet by any means. Though, every day I spend trying to live in tune with my authenticity brings me closer to consistent contentment and bouts of actual joy!

After much soul-searching I realized my core desire to help empower others through education did not need to be contained to school classroom and that my passion for social justice (especially during a time of unprecedented trans backlash) couldn’t be ignored. I also realized all the limiting thought patterns I had adhered to and wondered what I might be capable of if I only let myself try.

Deciding to start Bridges Bookkeeping helped fulfill two of my main goals:

1.) create financial stability and therefore freedom for myself and family

2.) help empower others like me to do the same.

I’ve existed most of my adult life with a pretty terrible taste in my mouth as far as Capitalism is concerned. I still believe there is more that is problematic than helpful in its current application on a global scale and especially in the United States. I also believe knowledge is power however and the more I learn about the systems currently in place the more I understand how to navigate the intricacies and take advantage of the opportunities that people more versed in business and financial jargon and practices already enjoy.

Is capitalism perfect? God no. “Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” was always meant to be a commentary on how ridiculously impossible that is to accomplish and I am still confused as to how it became a phrase commonly accepted to mean exactly the opposite. Are there certain advantages to entrepreneurship if you can learn the lingo and the steps to the delicate IRS dance though? Absolutely!

I’m excited to see what sort of creative and even revolutionary systems we can create within or adjacent to our outdated way of “business as usual”. If we can embrace abundance over scarcity and collaboration over competition maybe we can all thrive at the expense of none. I’m just here to do my small part one business (and fiscal year) at a time.

If you want to know more about me personally, right on! My favorite color is green, I have an ingrained need to create things (art, music, plants food….spreadsheets sometimes…) and I am a transplant to Portland via Wisconsin circa 2006. I’m also a total ham onstage though if we’re meeting for the first (or second or third maybe) time, I’m only acting cool and am probably quite socially anxious. You can find me “playing” around the Hood River and Portland theater scene sometimes or singing with my beloved Barbershop Harmony Chorus family, PDX Voices when I’m not bookkeeping and hanging out with my amazing preschool kiddo.