I’ve spent the last decade sharing Midwestern stories through the lens of food. From Montessori school chefs educating the next generation of eaters to forgotten matriarchs of my hometown’s culinary heritage, I’ve come to know this place by and through its food stories.

Throughout my career as an independent journalist and writer, I’ve written for a wide variety of regional and national publications, including The New Territory magazine, Food Network, Feast Magazine, and more. In 2026 my story Annie Fisher’s Ghost, which appeared in Issue 18 of The New Territory magazine, was nominated for a James Beard Media Award. I took a brief dive into audio, managing the Canned Peaches and River Town podcasts for mid-Missouri’s local NPR affiliate, KBIA.

I became friends with that Montessori school chef (Gaby Weir Vera—now school director) and together we started Leftovers Community, an emerging food media platform that celebrates and sees potential in the scraps of life: leftover food, overlooked places and unheard voices. I’m also a co-founder of Midwest Women Who Write, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and seasonal retreat series for women writers. Before writing professionally, I earned a degree from the Missouri School of Journalism in 2015.

I currently live in mid-Missouri with my young family in an old bungalow, where I’m running out of space for my growing collection of vintage Missouri cookbooks and garden beds.