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MY STORY
I grew up in Minnesota, and was a talkative, competitive, passionate, independent kid.
(so, not much has changed...)
From a very early age, I just couldn't get enough of sports. I also wanted to join every club that was offered. Typical Ms. Involved...
I got recruited to play soccer, so I left small town Minnesota headed to WI for college.
I played 4 years of soccer for the Wisconsin Badgers.
I studied political science and communications, and was very involved in Wisconsin's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (think "student council" for athletes). I served as president of Wisconsin's SAAC; was elected by my peers to represent Wisconsin on the Big 10 Conference SAAC; and was then was further elected to be the Big 10 Conference Representative to the Division I National SAAC where we worked with with NCAA officials and college presidents to craft policy and best practices associated with the student-athlete experience.
College athletics was by far one of the (if not THE) the best, coolest, most challenging experience I've ever had. Having the opportunity to compete and represent Wisconsin on the field AND off the field was truly one of the biggest honors of my life.
Wisconsin -- and sport in general -- has built me, made me, and shaped me into the person I am today.
(FYI -- I'm kind of obsessed with my alma mater...)
I played 4 years of soccer for the Wisconsin Badgers, studied political science and communications, and was very involved in Wisconsin's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. (think "student council" for athletes)
I served as president of Wisconsin's SAAC; was elected by my peers to represent Wisconsin on the Big 10 Conference SAAC; and was then was further elected to be the Big 10 Conference Representative to the Division I National SAAC where we worked with with NCAA officials and college presidents to craft policy and best practices associated with the student-athlete experience.
College athletics was by far one of the (if not THE) the best, coolest, most challenging experience I've ever had. Having the opportunity to compete and represent Wisconsin on the field AND off the field was truly one of the biggest honors of my life.
Wisconsin -- and sport in general -- has built me, made me, and shaped me into the person I am today.
(FYI -- I'm kind of obsessed with my alma mater...)
After I graduated, I stuck around and worked for the Athletic Department to teach student-athletes how to leverage all of the amazing skills they're learning in sport and apply them to whatever they want to compete at next, post-competition.
I got involved with our Performance Nutrition staff, and taught cooking seminars and nutrition education.
I also spent a lot of my time working for a documentary and public engagement campaign called Food Patriots.
We encouraged people to shift the way we buy, eat, and think about food by 10%. Basically advocating for a small shifts in to be just a little more healthier, more local, or more organic
The idea is that small choices add up to make a really big difference. The documentary proposed that we, as consumers, have so much more power than we currently acknowledge, and that we "vote" with our dollars every single day for the kind of food system we want to see. If you care about human health or the health of the planet, one of the most powerful things you can do is to change what's on your plate.
Touring the Midwest on a badass solar-powered bus talking to people about good food and what THEY can do to make an impact on our food system....? Yeah, I had a good time.
I was also working races pretty much every weekend, from 5ks like The Color Run to competitive triathlons like Ironman Wisconsin.
After working a bit, I decided to pursue
masters degrees in public health and public affairs.
In addition my graduate studies, I continued work at the UW Athletic Department and for races on
weekend, and was also a teaching assistant in the Biology Department.
The focus of my graduate work was on nutrition and physical activity -- more specifically: studying the way in which we could build more effective
messages to elicit the health behaviors we really want to see. Because clearly, the stuff we've been putting out over the last 20 years really hasn't made much of a dent in the health crisis that our country (and world) now faces.
For my masters' dissertation, I developed a program called uFIT, that leveraged the powerful influence that student-athletes have and utilize them as positive role models for health and well-being. We piloted the uFIT program 2015 at Wisconsin, calling it WiscFit -- and it still is being run today.
I graduated in 2015 with a Masters of Public Health (MPH), a Masters of Public Affairs (MPA), and a Certificate in Leadership and was on to the next chapter...
I currently work full-time for healthTIDE -- the statewide network of partners committed to physical activity and nutrition in Wisconsin.
I do everything from media appearances, message framing, advocacy, social media, campaign design and execution, and outreach -- specifically with our private sector partners.
I also plan our annual Wavemaker Summit and Regional Rallies-- where we gather partners (who we call "wavemakers") from all over the state to come together to learn, connect, and catalyze for action. I've pretty stubborn about ensuring this thing is a ton of fun. Because, dammit -- THIS WORK SHOULD BE FUN. So I dress up in a carrot costume and run around all day at this Summit high-fiving people and making sure the trains run on time.
I also lead our statewide Healthy Food Retail Team, which is a collection of over 100 multi-sector partners committed to driving consumer demand for healthier food in Wisconsin. We've focused on two strategies in the pursuit of that goal:
(1) making kids' meals healthier, and (2) at shifting attitudes and social norms around making healthy food cool.
That's one of my jobs.
I also still work part-time for the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department on a mix of projects related to business development, brand strategy, workplace culture, sports performance, and community outreach.
Outside of my formal jobs, I hold a seat on our athletic alumni board, teach Sunday School at church, and run with November Project, among other things.
My morning routine starts at 4 am, and consists of meditation, strong coffee, a good book, some journaling, and a sweat session.
This work isn't just "a job" for me.
This is what I really, deeply, truly care about.
Always have.
Honestly, most days-- it doesn't feel like work.
I feel ridiculously blessed get the opportunity to do stuff
I love, day in and day out.
My personal and professional lives totally bleed.
Wait. Scratch that. They don't even bleed.
They're the same f-ing thing.
There's no "work-life separation" for me.
It's always been blended. One big beautiful mess of the things I'm incredibly passionate about all thrown together in a crazy mix.
And, to be totally honest... I wouldn't have it any other way.
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