I started my first business, a bridal design company, when I was 19, and when I was 23 I founded CAMP, a coworking space at the Mastercraft Building in North Downtown where I shared my studio with about a dozen other local small businesses. My team and I worked with hundreds of brides each year creating dresses, bouquets, and accessories, and I also ran a blog where I shared writing, DIY projects, and sold small cloth goods. Here’s a photo of me in my office in the summer of 2010. Soon after I had my daughter, she was already accompanying me at work, meetings, and conferences, because that’s how I supported our family. My beginnings as an accidental entrepreneur in the creative/craft/bridal space turned into opportunities to contribute to books and speak at conferences and classes all over the country, which led me to starting Hello Holiday and getting involved in political activism, particularly facing women and underrepresented groups. 

Although I have had my hands in lots of different enterprises and projects, I have always worked with dedication and discipline to follow through on my pursuits, my passions, and my promises, even if it means burning the midnight oil. That same promise of commitment and dedication is what I pledge to bring, for you, to Lincoln in the Nebraska Legislature. I’ve been a working mother since my baby’s first day, and I promise to work hard to make it easier for all the other parents out there trying to do the same thing I’m doing—working to make a better world for the next generation.