A bit more of my story

I'm an author, researcher, presenter, and occasional TV/ media personality.

I'm a speaker and lead courses and corporate training workshops on 

"Grief Literacy"

and

"Navigating Grief in the Workplace"

My formal study of grief, joy, and the human experience started in my undergraduate academic work, but realistically, I started observing these subjects in childhood.

Childhood: I also started telling stories to sell things as a child. Somewhere between raising money for Muscular Dystrophy Research, selling Girl Scout cookies, and entrepreneurship as the neighborhood childcare provider, my career path began around age 10. I also began singing at funerals at that time. I've been a vocal soloist and event planner for hundreds of funerals, and also weddings and other events. More examples of observing the emotions connected to the rituals and stories of the human experience.

Career: I went on to have a 20-year career as a TV Shopping host (QVC, HSN, Shop at Home, ShopNBC/ ShopHQ, JTV, ShopLC, TSC Canada) and then worked in sales, marketing, and academia. Over the years, I became intrigued by how our up-bringing plays into the stories we tell and consequently, the ways we process emotions, maintain relationships, and function in the workplace.

Storytelling: I share my own stories, stories shared by others, academic research, and practitioner-based information to help people examine they way they tell thier own stories, and better navigate in the workplace.

Adoption: My own story, like each person's, is unique. I was reliquished at birth and the story of my adoption got a bit complicated in my teen years. I was legally adopted when I was 14, though I'd lived with my adoptive family my entire life. As an adult, I met and built a relationship with my biological mother and she's a part of my story.

My adoptive father was in an out of hospitals due to a chronic illness from the time I was 3 until he died when I was 19. My adoptive mother managed the precarious situations in the best ways she could. A close friend from high school had died the year before my dad, when I was 18, so my grief research journey began with an undergraduate Humanities class on Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning my Freshman year at the University of Iowa in 1989. 

My first work-study job was in a VA Neurology department. There were some twists and turns before I came back to the study of Humanistic Management, Neurology, and the Human experiences of grief and joy.

I was Miss Iowa USA 1997, sang in bands and on a cruise ship, and owned a karaoke company. I earned a suma cum laude master's degree in Mass Communications from Towson University (Baltimore, MD), and worked as an actress, singer, and TV Shopping product expert on QVC.

I married Eric Diddy in 1998, and we had a daughter together. We divorced in 2004, and Eric died in an accident 4 months later, a year before our daughter entered Kindergarten.  

At the time, I was co-hosting a cooking show with Chef Emeril Lagassee (Food Network) on Shop at Home in Nashville, TN.

The network closed a year later. My career took some twists and turns as I navigated as a single mom and only surviving parent.

I've worked with start-ups, major companies, and I've owned my own small businesses. It's been my pleasure to work in sales and marketing with some of the most well-recognized brands.

My corporate speaking career began in 2008 when I started a doctorate program, but decided to defer. Ten years later, when my daughter graduated from high school, I returned to PhD studies. I also enjoy teaching business and communications courses on the college level and with small business associations. I study policy and advocate for First Generation college students and women in the workplace.  

I'm a 2024/2025 Fellow of the International Humanistic Management Association and a member of the Humanistic Leadership Academy Development Cohort Program. I'll complete my PhD in Management from Walden University in 2025. I'm a member of the Academy of Management (AOM) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).