Raised on a family farm near Belmont, Wisconsin, after college I worked as a city government reporter at newspapers in Wisconsin and Idaho.  After tiring of living as a starving (but award-winning) reporter, I spent four years in the corporate world at Epic Systems Corporation in Madison in project management, and then served four years in the public sector as a communications specialist at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Today, as part of my own communications firm, I thoroughly enjoy assisting entrepreneurs and trade organizations in helping promote local and artisan foods because life is too short to eat bland food.