I grew up just west of the St. Johns River in Clay County, and St. Augustine was always part of our lives—its beaches, its restaurants, and its bed-and-breakfasts.

I earned my undergraduate degree from Stetson University and my law degree from University of Florida before continuing my studies abroad, earning a master’s degree in law from Leiden University and a PhD in Australia.

After spending time living and traveling around the world, my family and I chose to return to St. Augustine to raise our children here. There’s truly nothing like it—it’s why we came back.

Like many families here, my days are a mix of work, home repairs on our 1884 house, school schedules, and extracurriculars.

Here, I went from law professor to small business owner to startup co-founder. I co-founded a tutoring company and an education data startup focused on supporting teachers, the people doing the real work of moving students forward every day. That experience has reinforced something simple: the best solutions come from listening closely, staying flexible, and building around people’s real needs—not what we assume they need. My commitment is always to solving the problem, not to any one particular solution.

For the past three and a half years, I’ve served on the Planning and Zoning Board, where I’ve had a front-row seat to how decisions are made in our city—what we do well, and where we need to do better. I’ve reviewed more than 500 applications from across the city.

St. Augustine is a remarkable place: historic, beautiful, and deeply unique. But we’re also facing real challenges: affordability, infrastructure, growth, and mobility in a city that was largely designed when horses were the primary mode of transportation, at a time when both our local population and visitor traffic are increasing at a pace the city wasn’t built for.

I’m running for City Commission because I’m deeply invested in this community and believe St. Augustine needs leadership that listens and leads with vision.