I was raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, lived in Philadelphia for ten years and NYC for eight. I'm the perfect balance of southern charm and that northeastern grit. 

My mother was a ballerina and pianist, my grandfather was a screenwriter, and my grandmother was an impressionist painter and actress at the Raleigh Little Theatre. At the time, we lived in a community that favored the adrenaline of a football field over the magic of the arts. So with a propensity for the dramatic and a lack of athleticism to boot, I stuck out like a sore thumb. My first performance in The Wizard of Oz drove me out of sports electives in favor of drama class.

As a child, I cut my teeth as a professional: My first time on a film set was in The Dress Code (a.k.a. Bruno) alongside director Shirley MacLaine and actress Brett Butler, I appeared in a national Levitz Furniture commercial, among other regionals, and I was the narrator of the computer game, Junkland, my introduction to green screen and voiceover. My stage career was borne at The North Carolina Theatre in shows alongside Broadway greats such as Lauren Kennedy and Danette Holden.

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After skipping far too many algebra classes in high school, I knew I would only have the attention span to study acting in college. I was a theatre major at University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA under the tutelage of Ernest A. Losso and Janice Orlandi, two of Sanford Meisner and Lloyd Williamson's protegeés, respectively. In Philly, I performed in many indie films and original plays, including the expansive The Artists' Women, which was part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. I also found a passion in directing and producing Sarah Van Auken's This Is Not About 9/11, which premiered in both Philadelphia and New York to sold-out audiences. ​