I am a Nebraska farm girl turned Special Agent, security professional, and fearless travel warrior.

Travel transformed my life by connecting me to people and cultures from all over the world. I have traveled to 70 countries and lived in 5. I have spent my professional life executing strategic security solutions globally in the public and private sector. It empowered me to navigate my own fearless journey so it reflected my dreams not my fears.

Farm Girl Beginnings…

I grew up on a family farm in Nebraska and went to a country school one mile from my home until 8th grade (yes, country school was a real thing).  I went to high school in a small town of 800 people where I was the senior class president of a graduating class of only 25 people. I was an intelligent, resilient, funny, strong-willed wild child with an independent spirit. My love of reading and books opened my mind to other places and people and instilled in me a curiosity for a world beyond the one in which I was living.

…turned Special agent & travel warrior.

I went from cornfields and country school to being a Special Agent, protecting the U.S. Secretary of State, dining with Afghan warlords, and traveling the globe as a fearless travel warrior. 

As a Special Agent at the U.S. Department of State, I had a right-out-of-camera-range front row view of global diplomacy in action while serving on the protective security detail for three U.S. Secretaries of States. I have been in the back corridors and kitchens of the world's finest hotels, palaces and historic venues. From the White House, Capitol Hill, State Department formal reception rooms to the Knesset in Jerusalem, the Kremlin in Moscow, the throne room of Raghadan Palace in Amman, Jordan, U.S. Embassies around the globe and everywhere in between. 

I have flown on Air Force One, Marine One, and provided tactical security in Presidential and Secretary of State motorcades all over the world. I expedited security at major world events where the highest level world leaders were in attendance.  

I became the Deputy Regional Security Officer at the American Embassy in Islamabad Pakistan and traveled the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. I dined with Afghan warlords and resistance leaders in the mountains near Mazer-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. I joined my security counterparts - mujahideen armed to the hilt-keeping vigilance outside these meetings. For two years, the 220 all male Pakistani guard force I managed saluted and called me "Sir". 

In Jalalabad, Afghanistan on an early autumn afternoon in 1996, I watched as the tanks of the Taliban rolled into the streets in an attempt to seize power. Osama Bin Laden was a name that rolled off my tongue long before he became known in the collective consciousness of the American people and the world.

MY INNER TRAVEL WARRIOR was awake…

Once I started taking risks and exploring the world, my fearless journey through life was underway. I have done a bit of everything and more; flying in old Soviet helicopters in Afghanistan, zip-lining through the tree tops of Costa Rica, trekking in the Himalayas of Nepal, bhangra dancing in Malaysia, doing the Bridge Climb in Sydney, going on safari in Africa, visiting the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, conducting vulnerability assessments spanning the globe from Venezuela to Indonesia, watching the whirling dervish dance in a ceremony at the Khyber Pass, and roaming through the halls of the Kremlin and sipping tea with monks in Tibet to name a few. 

…navigating my own fearless journey

I spent a lot of time in the Middle East when I was a Special Agent.   I found things to embrace every place I traveled from Syria to Saudi Arabia to Egypt to Jordan to Turkey.  My role as the Asia Regional Security Manager for  Microsoft and Dell kept me in constant motion throughout Asia. That along with my international security role at SC Johnson and Son, Inc took me around the globe from Central and South America to managing security for five factories in Indonesia and numerous sites throughout China and India. 

I marveled at the culture, the food, the hospitality and the historical sites. More importantly, I gained a better understanding and appreciation of the cultures and people I encountered.  

I immersed myself in other cultures that existed outside my own.  My view of the world grew along with my sense of confidence, courage and connection with others. Can it all be a little bit scary at times?  Absolutely. No one ever said being a fearless travel warrior was going to be easy. But believe me when I say it’s worth it!

Life full circle: back to the farm…