I grew up a true southern California beach girl in Manhattan Beach, just south of Los Angeles. It wasn’t like the Hollywood movies. Just worn plastic flip-flops, sandy toes, and walks back from the beach where the setting sun cast long shadows. We slathered ourselves in baby oil and talked about boys and school and clothes and music and boys some more. I was a band nerd, a good student, and in the middle of it all. 

 

After high school, I went on to UCLA where I majored in psychology and then became an accountant. Go figure. My first job was in downtown L.A. at global accounting firm Arthur Andersen. It was there that I volunteered to go work in this somewhat unknown and mysterious place: Czechoslovakia.

 

There, I came face-to-face with a post-communist society that couldn’t have been more different than the one that I came from. It is these remembrances which became my book, Chicken in a Strange Way: A SoCal Beach Girl Takes on Communism.

 

Upon my return to the States, I moved to Washington D.C. and became a partner at Arthur Andersen only to see the firm implode in the wake of the Enron scandal. I married, started a family, divorced, and then became a partner, once again, at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Years later, PwC would spin off its government practice making me a top executive at a new firm called Guidehouse. I retired in 2019 after a rewarding career.

 

It took several years to ground myself after leaving the 24/7 workdays behind. I founded a company called Throughline Consultants, with my distant cousin, where we specialize in forensic genetic genealogy (FGG). We help adoptees find their birth parents, solve family mysteries, and help law enforcement agencies solve cold cases. I’m also on the board of several international not-for-profits including Mercy Corps, Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area, and Leadership Mission International. I'm a proud member of the Travelers Century Club, having traveled to more than 100 countries and territories. I live in Vienna, Virginia with my adorable dogs and have two kids in college who are destined to do amazing things.

 

I love sarcasm, weird travel destinations, a good cocktail, a well-told story, and the absurdities of life.

 

Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. In my world, you can never have too many friends.