I was raised by a single mom in the middle of nowhere in northern Michigan. My mom did what she could to make sure we had the basics, but a single minimum wage job can only go so far. I learned too quickly what it felt like to be powerless in the world we lived in. I saw my mom be devalued as a human by employers and managers so many times. If she was too sick to work, she either lost her job or was treated subhuman. Was there paid sick time or medical leave available back then? Maybe. But we were most definitely too poor and out of touch with what her legal options were. 

I first moved out at 16. I didn’t have any idea of a blueprint to follow to have a more stable future, but I took a leap and gambled on myself. Despite attending four high schools by the time I graduated, I finished with a GPA over 4.0. I ended up attending a local college. While there, I kept feeling like the opportunity was going to be snatched away at any moment and I was going to be thrown back into living without heat, without enough to eat, without dignity. So I kept my head down and tried not to bring any attention to myself. I ended up graduating with a degree in Mathematics and Political Science without ever once meeting with an academic advisor or attending a single party. 

When I was nearing the end of college, I set out to go to law school. I scraped enough money together to take the LSAT, apply for schools, and I crossed my fingers and hoped a few professors would remember the quiet girl in class and have something, anything, to say about me in a letter of recommendation. 

Things ended up working out for me. Everything seemed to magically come together and I got into law school at the University of Oregon. The day after I graduated college, I packed up my car and drove across the country with every last belonging I had since childhood. 

Moving out to the Pacific Northwest and attending law school was a complete culture shock. Law school was a very social atmosphere. I suddenly found myself trying to socialize and fit in with people who came from very different backgrounds than me. At first, I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything could be taken away from me at a moment’s notice. I also struggled with feeling incredibly guilty that I got to attend a beautiful law school with so many nice people around me while I had left so many people behind back home in Michigan. To cope with those feelings, I ended up volunteering a lot of my time at a legal aid office. 

The time I spent volunteering at legal aid changed things for me. For maybe the first time ever, I enjoyed talking to people. I loved being able to help or point people in the right direction of where to get help. In that period, I started to learn to not feel ashamed about my background or upbringing. I also began to learn that there are so many laws and ways to solve real life problems if you know where to look. I began to realize that so many lives are negatively impacted by employment issues and it pissed me off. I was shocked that so many people had experiences similar to what I saw my mom go through in the middle of nowhere Michigan in the ‘90s. 

I have now been an attorney since 2016 and spent years gathering every bit of knowledge I can on employment law. I am fortunate to work with so many incredible people and I have committed my practice to largely represent workers. Through all my life experiences, I know what it’s like to feel powerless. I know what it’s like to feel as though something external can come in and take away everything you have at a moment’s notice. And I’m not blind to the reality that I have found myself in a position of privilege as an attorney. I am striving every day to use my privilege to help workers get everything they deserve and are entitled to.