Now director and lead teacher of Slanted & Enchanted, I started working with children when I was very young. As early as the fourth grade, my teachers had to pry me out of the preschool room where I would go to visit and help out during recess. The teachers wanted me to enjoy being a kid. I just wanted to be a teacher! I worked as a babysitter and nanny all throughout high school and college, but though I knew I eventually wanted to become a teacher, I found myself irresistibly drawn to the arts. In the theater department at S.F. State, I found a creative outlet for my love of building, painting, drawing, designing, and sewing. I majored in costume design and worked in professional theater throughout San Francisco after graduation. To make ends meet as a young designer, I took a part time job at a home-based school called Treehouse Pre-K and immediately fell in love with being a teacher. After a few months, I switched to full time and stayed with the school for the next four years. My inner designer was happy planning and organizing exciting projects to do with the children and I loved getting to know so many amazing children and families. I knew that I had found my calling.