I grew up in Prairie Village, Kansas and went to Shawnee Mission East. Like many who grew up in KC, I went to KU because it was close to home. I rowed for KU for four years and got a degree in photojournalism from KU in 1992.I lived in Alaska for the summer after graduating to work in a cannery with college friends. It was a great opportunity to earn a good income and experience an environment quite a bit different than Kansas.My first real job after graduating was in Belleview, Illinois as a staff photographer for the News-Democrat newspaper. I loved working for the newspaper… it was during the 1993 flood of the Mississippi river. I spent a lot of my time capturing the damage and rebuilding efforts with my lens. In 1997 I moved back to Kansas City to work for the Overland Park Sun as a staff photographer for two years. It was at this point that I decided to make a major change in my career. I realized I wanted to get involved in nursery work. (Not babies, but plants and trees) Over the next four years, I worked for two different nurseries in Missouri. I found myself loving the job of helping people. In this case, it was helping them find plants for their homes. I worked with Bill Dietrich’s wife at the nursery, and she thought I would be an excellent landscape supervisor for the Community Improvement District (CID), part of the Downtown Council.And that is how I started working for the Downtown Council.On 9/11, 2006, I reported to 911 Main to begin my career at the Downtown Council of Kansas City. 9/11 also happens to be my father’s birthday, so 9/11 is even easier to remember for a lot of reasons.I have been working at the Downtown Council for years. I love being part of a growing downtown that I took for granted growing up. Being in a position to help make things better for the residents, property owners and visitors to Kansas City is one of the greatest things that I get to do!