Cuernavaca, Mexico

In front of the camera

My exposure to the world began in front of the camera as a child, starring in television commercials for brands like Chevrolet and Pepsi, entirely in Spanish. I distinctly remember sitting in living rooms on Saturday mornings watching cartoons and seeing my own commercials flash across the screen.

South Korea · Kennedy Center · Lincoln Center

Classical ballerina

As a classically trained ballerina, I performed on international stages and at national landmarks, including the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. I told stories through movement, embodying roles across fifteen classical ballets (including Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, The Nutcracker, and La Bayadère) in hundreds of performances. Ballet demands an obsessive dedication to the art, detail, and rigor that has never left me.

China · Lesotho · Tunisia · Vietnam

Twenty years in public relations, consulting and management. Three U.S. embassies.

Transitioning into management consulting, I spent years tackling complex institutional and organizational challenges for federal clients. That foundation led directly to diplomatic work across three U.S. embassies. In cultural affairs, I built and directed over seventy programs, bringing figures like Yo-Yo Ma, chef Martin Yan, and marathon pioneer Kathrine Switzer to Chinese audiences. In other roles, I worked internally across a spectrum of operational and management puzzles that were as challenging as they were fascinating.

Washington, D.C.

Diplomatic Gifts Officer, Office of the Chief of Protocol

It was during my time in Tunisia that I spotted a position that lit something immediate in me: Diplomatic Gifts Officer. I chased it with equal parts fear and sheer ambition. It was deeply unconventional, yet it drew on every disparate thread of my life: the arts, history, protocol, and cross-cultural communication.

From my first day in the role, I felt an internal hum. I was stepping into work I was meant to do.

I designed and curated gifts for the highest-stakes engagements between the United States and foreign heads of state. These were gifts presented by the President, First Lady, Vice President, Second Lady, and Secretary of State across two administrations. For every engagement, I poured myself into historical research, crafting objects that carried the intricate layers of diplomacy: shared histories, values, common ground, and strategic objectives. I watched world leaders respond directly, and I watched diplomatic engagements shift. It proved that when a gift is designed with strategy and narrative intent, it holds the power to genuinely influence outcomes.