During my late teens, I became an buyer for my mother's chain of specialty stores in Baltimore, and learned the retail business from the ground up, later opening, managing, and buying for a store devoted to jewelry, Opus III. At the same time I attended college, majoring in Theatre Arts, with an emphasis on costume history and design, which segued into a longtime passion - ballroom dancing, where I once again got to play with and be surrounded by rhinestones and more rhinestones. I loved dancing with a passion, and began to design & sew costumes, both ballgowns and latin dresses. I competed, taught & choreographed, and I loved it. When my knee blew out, that particular fairy tale ended, and I decided to go back to an early love - jewelry.

Because I had years worth of connection in the ballroom world,. I decided to concentrate on jewelry for dancers - and the allure of Swarovski crystals beckoned loudly. Through designing for dancers, I was fortunate enough to meet costumers for Disney World, and connect with directors within the USA system. In the mid-1990's, my emphasis shifted to the pageant world, where it has been ever since.

Designing allows me to use everything I've learned over the years, and for me, is a perfect synthesis of my journey thus far, a wonderful choreography weaving together the threads of my life. Fashion, costuming, theatre, retail marketing, and my years of watching and learning about the human body in motion, observing lines, and how we move... it is a satisfying way to spend a day.