A proud banana slug, I graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2003 with a degree in American History.

Moving back to my hometown after college, I opened up a cafe serving house-made soups, sandwiches, and gelato.

After successfully selling the café, I made the move to San Francisco—a lifelong dream up to that point—to pursue a career in hospitality.

I had admired Joie de Vivre Hospitality for quite some time, so I was thrilled to be offered a position on their Sales and Marketing team. I led the launch of three new properties, helped F&B outlets with social media strategy, and was recognized as Top Sales Manager two years in a row.

I accepted the Director of Marketing and Communications position for a local indie film festival, leading teams and expanding its reach nationally and internationally.

Love came my way when I met my future husband, furniture maker Jared Rusten. He had an amazing woodshop and so I began hosting events in the space with partners like Google, AirBnB, Vans, and SFSketchfest.

With the rising cost of rent in SF, we started searching for a new place to call home. We eventually purchased a 100-year-old abandoned building in Downtown Stockton that we brought back to life. We’ve since hosted some amazing events in the space! Here we are with Governor Gavin Newsom in our kitchen.

Following our move to Stockton, I accepted a position as Marketing Supervisor and Public Information Officer for the San Joaquin County Regional Transit District, where I led multiple award-winning marketing campaigns.

One award-winning campaign honored Rosa Parks by reserving the front seat on every bus in our fleet on Rosa Parks Day—a powerful tribute reinforcing RTD’s commitment to social justice.

I led a community-focused campaign in partnership with the Stockton Unified School District, providing students with free year-round bus rides. The initiative boosted ridership, strengthened community goodwill, and supported more consistent school attendance.

I co-founded Visit Health as employee #3, growing the company to a team of 600 across 22 states in less than two years.

From Alaska to California to New York, I sought and won multi-million dollar contracts with global brands and government agencies.

I led all branding and communication strategies, ensuring integration of evolving CDC regulations into internal protocols, public-facing messaging, and nationwide procedures.

As regulations and policies evolved, I created targeted collateral—including digital ads, social media content, and print materials—for diverse audiences across the U.S., all while maintaining a consistent Visit Health brand presence.

I directed all large-scale public facing events, continually revising strategy to meet the needs of the moment and the community we were serving. This is our team in action, administering vaccines in the Mission District of San Francisco.

I designed and launched public-facing clinics in Texas, New York, and California.

Visit Health was honored to receive Certificates of Achievement in both Los Angeles and San Francisco counties for our work administering vaccines.

In December 2024, I completed an MBA program through UC Davis with a focus on Marketing Strategy and Analysis.

Each chapter in my career has deepened my understanding of what it takes to drive growth and build meaningful narratives.

I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next!