I was born in Brooklyn and raised in Manhattan. The daughter of a playwright and an actress, I grew up with an appreciation for theater and film sets and landed my first jobs in TV spots peddling baby detergent and hot cocoa mix. After graduating from the University of Michigan, I stuck around the Detroit area and began working as a production assistant on commercials. Some of my responsibilities included rushing to the nearest mall to exchange pants for an ornery celebrity, and filling my Ford Escort with hundreds of pairs of old sneakers to create a “nuclear waste” pile. I was hooked on the energy and high level of organization required to pull off a shoot, and all the unusual moments that were part of the experience. In the fall of 1995, I drove my Jeep from Detroit to Los Angeles where I lived for ten years working as a producer on national commercials, music videos, and the independent film On Edge.

Eventually, marriage led me to Washington, D.C., where I began meeting fascinating people who had nothing to do with the film industry. Inspired by my father's passion for language and the encouragement I’d received years earlier from my high school English teacher, Frank McCourt, I began pitching story ideas and writing about people and issues I found interesting. My first published profile, on a mother who found ways to balance her service in the National Guard with her commitment to breastfeeding, won a Gold Award from Parenting Publications of America.

I like chasing down stories about people committed to fighting injustices, those who help others in unusual ways, or those who have taken a professional risk that has paid off on a personal level. I enjoy crafting first person essays, particularly about parenthood, and service pieces that help women in any way. In conjunction with The Momoir Project, I teach workshops for women who want to write personal essays about their motherhood experiences.

My work has been published in O, The Oprah Magazine, The Washington Post, Washington Parent Magazine, L.A. Parent Magazine, and on the website BlogHer.com.