When I was 15-years-old I got my first job as a hostess in a family-run Italian restaurant in my hometown in Connecticut.

From there, I went off to college in Scotland - which was very cool - albeit rainy. At the University of St Andrews I earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Social Anthropology and continued my love affair with restaurants, working in a few local joints ranging from a student-favorite delicatessen, to a five-star fine-dining restaurant frequented by the many “dads on tour,” who visited the town for its famed golf course.

After graduation, I moved to Los Angeles in search of sunshine and work. Like most twenty-somethings, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, so I got a job in another family run Italian restaurant while I tried on a few different hats. Eventually, I found my home in marketing.

I quickly discovered that my “degree in people” and analytical disposition (I can often be quoted as saying “show me the math”) made me a uniquely talented strategist, and I went on to work with a wide array of brands like The New York Times, Adidas, Ralph Lauren, Disney, and Deloitte.

Dozens of campaigns, a move, a dog, a marriage and almost a decade later, I found myself in Charlotte, looking for something more. I loved the challenge of my corporate career, but struggled to see the value in amassing more wealth for already enormous corporations. I missed the small human connections with strangers and sense of community that working in restaurants had provided.

I believe whole-heartedly that thriving local businesses are critical to thriving communities. Local businesses are the first to support a neighbor, open doors for shelter in storms (both literal and figurative), and, above all, sponsor the local youth baseball team.

Now, between Amazon, Walmart and multi-national restaurant groups, keeping these pillars of our communities afloat - let alone thriving - has become more challenging than ever.

So, in 2022, I left my fancy corporate job to return to my first love with all the things I learned in corporate, on a mission to use their secrets to help David beat Goliath.

And, I’m pretty good at it.