My career started with one of my favorite things: horror movies. My front-row seat to financial horror stories as a NCUA auditor taught me that to be standing when the credits roll, you can’t hide from change. As a diehard Chicago Bears fan and home chef always experimenting with recipes (especially chips and salsa), I've learned that loyalty, perseverance, and fresh thinking go a long way.

Equal parts basketball junkie, sneakerhead, and bookworm. I've spent decades on the court and somehow still find time to read around 100 books a year, not including the ones I read to my kids. Between basketball and books, I get a balance of discipline and curiosity, usually in one of the 200+ pairs of Nikes and Jordans in my closet.

The thing you need to know about me is that I live baseball. I mean, I love baseball. Or somewhere in between. It’s a game that takes patience, but when the energy kicks in, it’s electric. There’s nothing like the shared experience of a ballgame. I’m on a mission to see a game in every stadium, and I’m about halfway there.

Throw me on a plane, and send me anywhere. I’ve been to 4 continents and 9 different countries, but my favorite experience was visiting the Taj Mahal. One of the best parts of travel is seeing how differently people live, work, and connect with one another, and that’s what keeps me booking the next adventure.

I’m a full on history junkie, and I actually became part of it. In 1980, my first and most unusual job was cleaning up the Mount St. Helen’s eruption. Watching people from so many communities come together in the aftermath is probably why I love history’s human stories the most.

I spend many weekends traveling with my wife to art shows. She’s a talented Navajo weaver, and we dye the wool ourselves using natural materials like pecan leaves, roots, even bugs and plants we find along the way. I never get tired of seeing something as simple as a roadside wildflower transformed into a beautiful piece of Arizona art. 

Family is at the heart of everything I do. My husband and I are proud parents to three amazing children, plus our giant fluffy Great Pyrenees, Winter. We love traveling, and you’ll often find me behind a camera capturing every special moment. I’m originally from Indiana but traded Midwest winters for Arizona sunshine. It’s been an incredible adventure ever since.

My hobbies are loud. When I’m not producing music for artists and singers around the map or jamming out on any of the eight different instruments I play, you can find me screaming at a stadium in support of my hometown teams: the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, ASU Sun Devils, and Phoenix Suns.

You can often find me on horseback, especially before Arizona remembers who it is and cranks the temperature up to 120 degrees. My happy place is the outdoors, and with Arizona’s landscape, can you blame me?

I am beach-born and raised, so adapting to the desert wasn’t easy, but I’ve developed a real appreciation for this dusty oven. As a military wife, I spent six years in Okinawa where my twins were born. Family means everything, so becoming a grandmother was a big deal, and it was no joke when my first grandchild was born on April 1st.

My family were original owners of Tucson’s Mama Louisa’s Italian Cantina from 1956-1973, and it remains a local staple. In 2019, my father and I spent two unforgettable weeks traveling throughout Venice, Rome, Firenze, and our family’s tiny hometown of Sassofeltrio. Food’s always been a passion, and I loved seeing sights and tasting foods I’d only known from movies.