About Me
I'm originally from Le Sueur, Minnesota—a small town in the Minnesota River Valley best known as the "Valley of the Jolly Green Giant."
In 2007, I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to pursue my Master's degree in English Literature at UNC Charlotte. After completing my degree, I decided to stay—drawn by the warmer climate and the opportunity to be within a few hours of both the mountains and the coast.
That same curiosity that drew me to literature—and later to genealogy—is what drives how I design learning experiences today: helping people connect with information in ways that actually stick and translate into real-world performance.
Outside of work, I enjoy Latin dance, baking, and researching my Swedish ancestry.
I've spent years documenting my family history, including developing a personal website at highfamilyhistory.com , where I've written extensively about Swedish genealogy.
Professionally, my path into instructional design grew out of my background in English literature, where I developed a strong focus on clarity, structure, and understanding how people interpret information.
Over time, that foundation evolved into designing learning experiences—taking complex ideas and shaping them into something practical, engaging, and useful.
What started as a focus on language and meaning became a career centered on performance, problem-solving, and helping people apply what they've learned in real-world situations.
The same instinct that drives me to research historical records and uncover meaningful patterns is what shapes how I work with subject matter experts—digging deeper to identify the real performance need and designing solutions that make a lasting impact.