I asked for a cash register for Christmas when I was five. Shortly after, I was ringing up real customers at my family's lumberyard.
My first sales job outside the store was as a Girl Scout, selling thin mints to retired people in my neighborhood. I learned early that showing up matters. That people buy from people they like. And that if you knock on enough doors, good things happen.
I have loved clothes and accessories just as long. My pink Barbie corvette and plastic high heels were favorites by age four. My mom taught me that how you show up matters just as much as whether you show up. I used to steal her Maybelline Great Lash in second grade and apply it on the bus so I was glam-ready before the first bell rang. She made sure I always had my signature pink floral print and my bangs curled to the sky.
My dad taught me I could do anything I wanted. He gave me an entrepreneurial spirit and showed me what it looked like to try hard things even when you might fail. I sang my first solo at age three with him playing guitar beside me. He put me on a stage before I knew what a stage was.
But the best thing my parents did was simpler than any of that.
My grandfather opened a lumberyard and hardware store in Atlanta in the 1960s. My dad opened his in Northeast Georgia in 1994. I grew up working in the family store. Stocking shelves. Helping customers. Learning what it meant to show up every day for the people who walked through the door.
The drive to compete came from selling thin mints and ringing up customers before I could see over the counter. The belief that presence and personal style matter came from my mom. The courage to try hard things came from my dad. All three showed up long before I knew what any of it would become.I learned early that this business runs on relationships, reputation, and showing up when it matters.
What has changed is how people find you, evaluate you, and decide whether to trust you before they ever pick up the phone.
I have sold lumber, windows, doors, and hardware. I have worked inside dealers, distributors, and manufacturers. I have launched product lines into new markets. I have built the plans that got them there. I have sat across the table from builders, remodelers, and architects.And I have been in the rooms where specs get swapped and good companies lose to louder competitors.
I have run payroll. Walked the yards. Toured the plants. Sat in the boardrooms.
I have seen what happens when strong companies stay invisible. Good people do good work and nobody outside their zip code knows their name. Referrals slow down. Sales starts every conversation from scratch. Competitors who are not better keep winning because they are simply easier to find.
I saw that pattern too many times. So I built something to fix it.
I started Grit Blueprint because I watched too many strong companies and experienced leaders stay invisible while weaker competitors won on familiarity alone.
Not because they were better. Because they showed up.
But there is something bigger happening now. The market is changing. The things that have always worked are shifting fast. Referrals alone are not enough. Relationships alone are not enough. The way people find, evaluate, and choose who they work with has fundamentally changed.
I built Grit Blueprint to help companies and leaders show up and win today. Not yesterday's way. Today's way. To stop being the best-kept secret and become unmistakable in a market that is not slowing down for anyone.
I run it alongside my husband and co-founder, Ben, and a team of experts who live and breathe this industry every day. We built Grit Studios in Clayton, Georgia in the heart of the Northeast Georgia mountains.
I believe the best product or service does not always win. The most familiar one does. The most trusted one does. The one people remember when it matters does.
I believe leaders need to build personal reputations that open doors ahead of them. And companies need to build brands that earn trust before the first conversation.
I believe visibility is not vanity. It is how strong work stops being overlooked.
Everything I do is built on one system.
Be Seen. Be Known. Be Chosen.
That is The Unmistakable Framework. It drives every talk I give, every advisory engagement I take, and every system we build at Grit Blueprint.
I live in Clayton, Georgia with my husband and co-founder Ben and our golden retriever Heidi Pearl, our Chief Happiness Officer at Grit Studios.I am a classically trained singer and pianist. My dad put a guitar in his hands and me on a stage before I was four. That part never really stopped.
I am also a self-professed door nerd. I call out style numbers as we drive through neighborhoods. I cannot stop myself.
If you have ever seen me speak or show up anywhere online, you have probably noticed the cowgirl boots, the heels, and the hot pink hats.That started with my mom. The style evolved. The belief never changed.
I built my life in the Northeast Georgia mountains because this is where I think best, create best, and live best. The work travels everywhere. The home base stays right here.