I grew up in Petoskey, and prior to being hired at my brother’s insurance agency in Harbor Springs way back in 1982, my early work experience included the following: I was first a babysitter for his daughter Ashley (now owner of the agency), then a newspaper carrier for the Petoskey News Review, next I dabbled a few years as a popcorn girl for the downtown Gaslight Cinema, then I proposed and started a program for Harbor Cove modeled after the Bay View Boys & Girls Club which I attended as a kid and was the activities director for Harbor Cove its first Summer, and lastly I was recruited to be a Toy salesgirl for Game’s Imported which was managed by the sister of my former boss at the Cinema. Since landing years ago in my insurance career, my brother encouraged me to join the Petoskey Area Jaycees and thus began a long history of volunteering and local service in the community. A great believer in my mother’s teaching that “the more you do the more you can do” – I strive to stay involved in good local causes and usually find that to be a win/win proposition, much to my delight. I have served many local organizations, including both the Petoskey and Harbor Springs Chambers of Commerce, The Little Traverse Bay Humane Society, Camp Daggett, Petoskey’s Downtown Marketing Committee, The Harbor Springs Lyric Theatre, and in 2022 begins serving on the board of Northern Community Mediation. I am presently a member of The Petoskey Sunrise Rotary Club and, in 2011, was selected to serve as the Club’s President – the same year my friend and mentor, Jane Millar, of Northern Community Mediation, served as the Rotary 6290 District President.

Growing up and living in the Petoskey and Harbor Springs communities has given me many local ties, and my father’s long-ago advice to me that “it’s not what you know, but who you know” has also proven to be a valuable commodity for connecting people and causes and getting things done. As I near my 40th year in the insurance business, I credit my early co-workers, Doriene Cone and Meredith Arneil, for much of what I have learned and been able to achieve. They would be the best example of relying on “who you know” for being able to grow into the insurance agent I am today. In my spare time, I enjoy being with friends – particularly dining with friends – and travel … which can never happen often enough but being able to live and work here is great consolation!