Much like me, my path in life has been anything but straight.
The First Eighteen Years...I was born in Fort Worth in 1984 and was the sweetest little kid who just wanted to be liked and happened to be gay in Texas growing up in the 90s (do not recommend!). From a young age I knew I wanted to be in film and television but when I had to do a monologue for freshman theater I had a panic attack. I gave up on acting and hid out in band instead.
Thanks to the support of an amazing band director, Charlie Munsell, and the dumb luck of getting a nickname that made people like me before they even met me (gotta save something for the memoir), I'd found a place where I could slowly put myself out there and learn that I did, in fact, deserve to take up space in the world. By my senior year I was head drum major of the marching band, ranked second of all the high school oboe players in Texas, sang in the top three choirs, and had developed a taste for what one might call "hamming it up." |
Hair by me, dimples by mom.
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LSU Senior Recital, November 2005
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Young Adulthood...I had the good fortune to study Music Performance and Education at LSU in Baton Rouge and played with several professional symphonies in the Gulf Coast. I went on to earn a Masters in Oboe from the Cincinnati Conservatory, but half way through that program I knew that oboe was not my calling, it just introduced me to music and performance.
A love (obsession?) for Tina Fey and a perfect weekend learning about improv in Chicago made it an easy choice - I spent almost eight years in the Windy City figuring out improv, sketch, writing, acting, and most importantly, who the hell I was. By 30 I had a solid creative foundation and wrote a Big Gay Coming Out Blog Post. I was ready to start the life of my dreams in my dream city - New York. |
The Five Year Re-Route...Spoiler - it didn't work out! Shortly after I moved my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, soon after that my sister Rachel was diagnosed with what turned out to be kidney cancer. My mom is alive and well (I live with her now but in a totally cool, grown-up way), but my sister died in 2018. It's stupidly unfair that she died so young, but I'm grateful for the time it gave me bonding with her and the rest of my family as an adult.
I moved back to New York at the end of 2018 and spent a year learning how to live while grieving, a task that is particularly hard when you like to find the humor in things but haven't found the humor in grief yet (or rather, you've found what you consider to be hilarious but others find uncomfortable). After a year, my creative drive was (slightly) stronger than my need to sit around and process 24/7 so I dove into making a web series, wrote a short screenplay, and recorded some music covers. That was January 2020, and everything has been sunshine and roses ever since. jk, jk |
My sister and I at a wedding that definitely served alcohol.
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My mirror is clean now.
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Less Young Adulthood (now)...I joined the hordes of people who poured out of the coasts and into Texas after the pandemic hit. Rural Texas is definitely not a long-term year-round solution for me, but right now I have an excellent life that allows me to see my family, freelance at home in sweatpants (I do virtual event tech, primarily with Second City), and focus most of my time on creative pursuits.
Last Fall I co-wrote/directed/produced my first professional* short film which should hit festivals this Fall, my short film screenplay Pinsetter made the Semi-Finals at Slamdance, and thanks to the whole world going virtual I've been taking classes and workshops with acting coaches in LA. I'm also giving singing the attention and energy I never thought it deserved and hope to record some share-worthy covers this year. *professional = done with a full crew of people who had separate, specific jobs instead of a bunch of actors running around holding lights while they're not on camera (both are legitimate and brag-worthy) |
So who am I?
I'm a sweetheart girl-next-door who has learned to take up space and say what's on my mind. I know what it's like to feel unseen and unwanted and I do what I can to keep others from feeling that. I believe in the importance of representation because as a great song by a horrible person says, "If I can see it, then I can do it." I see the world through rose-colored lenses but don't look away from the painful things; my goal is to tell stories that help people laugh and cry their way through life.
I love to collaborate and spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to lead, both as a designated leader and as a teammate. I think people can make great things while working a sustainable schedule in an environment filled with good morale, and I hope to bring as much of that to my work as possible.
I also think we need WAY more romcoms where two women fall in love and neither of them hates themselves for being gay because it's freaking 2022 and we deserve better but don't worry, I'm writing one right now.
I love to collaborate and spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to lead, both as a designated leader and as a teammate. I think people can make great things while working a sustainable schedule in an environment filled with good morale, and I hope to bring as much of that to my work as possible.
I also think we need WAY more romcoms where two women fall in love and neither of them hates themselves for being gay because it's freaking 2022 and we deserve better but don't worry, I'm writing one right now.