01/15/2026
I heard that 2026 is the new 2016, so where was I back then?
Hanging out with my sister snowtubing, celebrating my parents birthdays, teaching at a Catholic high school near Philly, and Princess (my sister’s dog) was still alive.
I spent seven weeks in Vermont studying Spanish at the number one language school in America (), traveled to New York City to visit a friend I met, where we grabbed coffee at a French café. Then went on and bought my very first SUV, my dream car at the time.
So much has changed since then.
Looking at these photos now, that twenty-something girl had no idea what was coming.
Within the next two years, she would walk away from teaching, choose uncertainty over comfort, follow her passion for journalism, endure heartbreak, and leave home, never to live in Philly again.
But what she didn’t know was that every leap, every loss, and every brave decision was shaping her into someone stronger.
Today, she’s the CEO of a premiere social media marketing agency, living in Missouri, building something of her own, and leading with creativity and purpose. Proof that growth often looks like chaos at first and that betting on yourself can change everything.