I’ve had the joy of living an experience filled life. 

Born in north central Oklahoma, I started at Oklahoma State University Okmulgee Tech which I graduated from in 1997 with an Associates of Applied Science (AAS) for Graphic Design.  After spending two years jumping from in-house studios and the odd agency, I struck out on my own at the end of 1999.   

From 1999-2012, I specialized in non-profit fundraising, direct marketing, and brand management.  After becoming increasingly frustrated with my clientele, who were mostly conservative and religious, I decided to take a job at Coca Cola Refreshments and shift my focus to my other business, Tokyo in Tulsa.

All during my 20s, I volunteered and supported local fan-based conventions.  Sci-Fi, Comic Book, and Gaming; I loved them all.  After purchasing and managing a Japanese Anime centered store and with the invaluable help of my regular customers, I founded Tokyo in Tulsa. My anime store did not last long, but the convention that was born from it is still running strong.

Most fan-based convention’s first year is considered successful with 300-500 attendees.  Wildly successful at 700.  Our first year, 2008, had an incredible attendance of 1200 and it grew almost every year after.  In 2015, I left Coca Cola Refreshments to work full time on Tokyo in Tulsa.

I never completely stopped producing art and design, but I was much more discerning when picking my clients.  Of course, I managed the marketing and design for Tokyo in Tulsa, later renamed to Tokyo, Oklahoma, but I had the opportunity to also explore new avenues and types of graphic design and marketing.  I had the privilege of watching the digital and social market sprout from the seeds of Myspace, Vines, and Twitter,  as well as revolution in website design. 

From 1999 through 2019, in addition to Tokyo in Tulsa, I also had a myriad side hustles and part-time jobs.  Small run manufacturing, catering, cooking, photography, business consultation, trucking, social media manager … all chosen for what I could learn from them.  Through those positions, I sharpened my logistics skills, expanded my knowledge of every aspect of event planning, and most importantly expanded my artistic vision.

During the pandemic, Tokyo in Tulsa was put into hibernation and did not come back out until October of 2021.

It is during this time that I was forced to make the decision that I had been avoiding.  I had known all my life, no matter how I looked and tried to present as such, that I was not a man. In May of 2021 my journey as a woman, my authentic self, finally started. 

2021 was the year of hard decisions.  After Tokyo, Oklahoma’s first event since the beginning of the Pandemic … after a lot of soul searching, I made the decision that it would also be my last year as the chair.  I turned Tokyo, Oklahoma to the wonderful hands of my partners as well as the Board of Directors.

As political pressure against the trans community grew and the weight of my own activism/advocacy increased, I found my own mental health deteriorating.  After several back-to-back tragedies in my life occurred, I made the decision to move to California.

To give myself a break and recuperate, for the first couple of years after the move I worked as a barista and then a shift manager. In 2025, I decided I was ready to gather 30 years of experience and open a new studio.  And here we are.