About

the (kinda) short version...

I became a U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in 2007 when I was a naive and "innocent" twenty-two year old. I spent the next nine years of my life getting a crash course in major life lessons whether I liked it or not. I worked very hard and, by all outward appearances, I had it together. But as they say, pride comes before the fall. By July 2016, my life was a fast sinking ship. I was just redistributing weight to temporarily stay afloat when I really needed to inflate my life vest and get away from toxic situations. I needed to make some uncharacteristic, risky, and life-altering changes because I was becoming someone I never wanted to be. I made the decision to resign from the Secret Service during the 2016 Republican National Convention, mere days before I was due to report to Washington D.C. from my current assignment in Los Angeles. But I knew deep down it was the right thing even if it meant leaving the job I loved. I was suddenly unemployed but also recently divorced and very depressed, among other things. In hindsight, those low points were a long time coming. Despite everything, I wanted to come out of it all a better version of myself. I'd lost sight of that twenty-two year old girl who thought I could become a Secret Service agent, the one who thrived in situations that forced me to prove everyone wrong. But that girl wasn't lost forever. I was still there, and I wanted to find her again. The woman I'm becoming is a bit of a rebel with something to say. I always thought I was an outlier, but sometimes when the outlier finds her voice, she realizes she's not such an outlier after all. Welcome to my chaotic world.