My passion in life has always been to help others. I’ve always been that person who others felt comfortable telling their life dreams, troubles, and fears to – whether they knew me or not. That passion pushed me to gain a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, I wanted to help people and become a counselor. However, on my journey to becoming a counselor, I fell into the insurance industry while finishing my degree. I ended up in the insurance industry for 11 years. After being in the industry for over a decade, I knew I was ready for a change – I wanted to get back to helping others in a different way than auto, home and business insurance. 

That is when an opportunity came from Thrivent Financial, one I had been praying about, one that I just could not pass up. With Thrivent, I have the chance to build deeper, meaningful relationships with people, doing work that matters. I am excited to make a difference in people’s lives, especially when it comes to financial clarity and planning. As a longtime member of Thrivent myself, I am aware of the stability and strength that the company offers and the power that people have when they have a strong financial plan in place.

I have lived in the Huntley area most of my life. I attended St. John’s Lutheran School in Elgin all through grade school. I am the baby of three girls and come from a sports loving family. Yes, we are still waiting on the Bears to win another Super Bowl – 1986 was a long time ago! I look up to both of my sisters, as they have always been my role models. 

My oldest sister, Kristen, is married to her devoted husband, Victor. They have two beautiful kids together and have been married for almost 20 years, which is very amazing in my opinion. My niece and my nephew are my pride and joy. They are great kids and work very hard in school and in their sport adventures, they truly make us all proud. I love that I am a fun aunt and that I can spoil them and then hand them back over to my sister & brother-in-law for the not so fun parts of parenting.

Stephanie is the second oldest, she is also referred to as Smitty, which has been passed down from my grandpa Smith, as they both were amazing basketball players. Smitty was dedicated and hardworking when it came to basketball which helped her obtain a full ride to play basketball at a D1 school, Northern Illinois University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Sports Management. She loved to play the game and later became a phenomenal coach of the game for many years. She has influenced so many young adults in her coaching and she truly is my hero for that. She currently lives in Florida and is a teacher. She is my best friend in the whole world, and I miss her every day; however, it is always fun to go visit her in Florida – more so than her coming to Illinois to visit us. Palm trees and beaches beat the snow nine times out of ten in my book.

I’m currently seeing my parents, who have been married for almost 50 years, enjoying their retirement together. They are truly each other’s best friend and are the real MVPs in our family story. I admire their marriage and loyalty to one another, as that sometimes is hard to find in today’s world. It is a blessing to be able to see them enjoy their life of traveling, hanging with their friends, going out to see their favorite bands, etc. It’s the part of life we all hope and dream we make it to, and we hope we have planned well enough to enjoy it. It’s a personal goal of mine to make sure I can have a retirement plan for myself that is as good, if not better, than my parents have done for themselves. I think this is an important conversation to have with all age groups and I look forward to helping many people, as a Financial Advisor with Thrivent, achieve their individual goals for their future. I would be honored to help put your game plan into place, let’s come up with a plan that has championship status!