​Credentials:

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• BA in Music from Greenville University, Greenville, IL.
• MS in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola University, Baltimore, MD.
• Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), Jubilee House, Greenville, IL.
• 5 years teaching piano lessons out of my home prior to the pandemic.​

​My Musical Story:

​I grew up living and breathing music. One of my earliest childhood memories is sitting at my grandmother's old upright player piano. It was a private space in her bedroom. It felt holy. I would open up the piano doors and push the keys, watching the hammers strike the strings. I would feel the old, cracked, ivory covered keys and smell the wood. 

I started accompanying folks at a very young age, mostly at church. By junior high I was the music teacher's accompanist and often played for elementary, junior high, and eventually high school events. I took private piano lessons from first grade through college. I was also a band nerd. I played the flute, and was first chair in junior high and high school. I took private flute lessons from fifth grade through high school.

There was never any doubt that in college my major would be music. I was active in several ensembles at Greenville University, and spent the summer after my freshman year touring with a GU musical group, Cornerstone. During college I also took organ lessons, and spent hours upon hours in 4th floor LaDue playing on the grand piano. I was the youngest (at the time) person to sit for upper division juries as a sophomore. I was ready and confident, and I passed. Ironically, it was at this very point that I began to question my path.  I was asked what I would do with my degree upon graduating. I had never really thought about this. I was really just playing to play, to enjoy, to be in the moment of the pieces I was learning. Once the question was posed, I fell into fear that if I wanted to make money, I couldn't be a music major as I wasn't good enough to succeed as a professional musician. It crushed me. I believed the lie that success and happiness come from one's earning power or proficiency.

At that point I switched my major to psychology as I could at least still help people while hopefully making a living. Despite this major change I still continued piano and organ lessons, participated in ensembles, and was still allowed to hold a senior piano recital. I was thankful for this opportunity to have closure with my music, and to have an opportunity to thank my parents for their continued support for me over the years. They deserved a culminating recital. (Fun fact: My piano recital in LaDue auditorium was the same place my parents got married.) (Second fun fact: If I hadn't continued to take lessons, participate in ensembles and have a senior recital, I would never have been able to get my degree in the future.)

Fast forward twenty-five years, at almost 50, I decided to go back to school and complete my music degree. I made a decision to try and slowly reawaken and honor the call on my life of creativity. This decision took some courage, time, and significant effort. I thought I would just pop back in and finish my theory IV class. I soon discovered that there were now 2 classes per theory level: the theory class, and Ear training and Sight Singing class. It didn't take long for me to figure out I would have to start at the beginning. I also had to take two music history classes that involved some very intense music listening exams. I did this while still working full time as a counselor, and teaching piano lessons out of my home, so it took several years to get done. I finally finished my degree spring of 2021!


         Green Bird Studio Beginnings:
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In the fall of 2018, after reading a book that encouraged me to ask boldly for signs from God, I began asking God for specific  guidance to point me to where His will would be for my life. I desired to do what would make my heart full, using gifts that God gave me, while also helping others. My sign I asked for to point me in the right direction?  A green bird. For three years I prayed, waiting for this sign, and the only word I got from God was to wait. I am not the most patient person, but I waited. 

It was in March of this year that I was scrolling on Facebook and I stopped cold at a post from a friend. It was a picture of 2 birds in the shape of a heart, one was bright green. The very next post was from Fusion Dance Center, and Miss Heather. The ad was looking for people that wanted meaningful work teaching music lessons. Of course I followed through, contacting Heather as this was the first and only green bird I had seen in 3 + years. The space was beautiful with simple wood floors and windows letting in light. I jumped.

We bought a beautiful piano. Despite such a strong sign, I did have a moment of real doubt about everything when it looked like we wouldn't be able to get our newly purchased piano into this second floor space. We looked for other spaces on the square but nothing worked or was as perfect. One night when I was particularly low and confused about things, I opened up Instagram and the first video that popped up was a woman playing on an upright piano with a green bird walking on top, back and forth. I had to laugh. God was speaking again. I knew it would work out somehow. Despite me telling my husband to "just let it go," about the space in Fusion Dance, he did some calling around and found a company in St. Louis that said they could get the piano in through an upstairs window. This did happen, and is, by the way, probably one of the most stressful things I think I have had to watch.

So, here we are. I believe I am walking in the fullness of God's design for my life. I am so thankful that I get to reopen my life to creativity, art, and music, and I get to help point people to beauty. Life is too short, and there is music to be made! 

                     Special Thanks:

-Thanks to my husband for immediately saying "yes" to my crazy dream. He has been nothing but supportive, and he has put in hours of hard labor to revamp this space. He never gave up on the second floor studio, even in the face of a hard, "no" to getting a rather large piano in a building with small doors and corners. 

-Thanks to Miss Heather for having the desire to bring more arts to this community, for allowing us to have time to work on the space rent free over the summer, and for allowing me to bring my own business in to her beautiful space.  ​

-Thanks to all my previous music teachers. I had teachers that never once doubted my abilities or told me I wasn't good enough. They were patient, encouraging, respectful, and trusted that I could rise to the tasks given me. They gave me opportunities to bloom, pushing me sometimes beyond my comfort level, and allowing me to be a part of such tremendous musical experiences.
                        -Mrs. Webster, Elementary/JH Music Teacher
                        -Mrs. Skinner, Private Flute Teacher
                        -Mr. Coots, High School Band Teacher
                        -Mr. McGuire, Private Piano Teacher
                        -Miss Noble, GU Music Professor

-Thanks to Chris Woods and Louise Weiss for getting me through four levels of music theory, sight singing and ear training, and music history some 30 years after I started my music degree. I couldn't have done it without you two. You made learning fun. 

-Thanks to Olivia Ayn for the amazing logos!

-Thanks to my parents for buying a piano and letting a first grader start taking piano lessons. Thank you for paying for all of those lessons.

-Finally, thanks goes to God for giving me my love of the piano. I can honestly say that my level of proficiency or whether or not I have the ability to perform perfectly has nothing to do with what happens when I play the piano. It is instead what happens in my heart when I play that keeps me coming back for more. I hope that for all who enter this studio, the same will happen for you.