I moved to Texas when I was two years old. Growing up, we moved around a lot; my family was not always placed in the best circumstances. I watched my Momma struggle but work hard to get the family out of difficult situations. I believe my Momma’s hard work and perseverance is what shaped me into the driven and hard-working woman I am today.
Once we became stable, I started high school in Dallas and graduated high school in Austin. Not sure of really what to do after high school, I started my college career at Louisiana Tech University (LTU). I attended LTU for one quarter before I was encouraged by my best friend to transfer to Texas Tech University (TTU). While at TTU, I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations and my Minor in English. After graduation, the state of the economy was extremely bad, which resulted with me searching for employment in Dallas for three and a half years. After zero luck with employment in Dallas, I packed up and moved to Austin to search for employment.
Upon my arrival in Austin, I searched for employment for roughly ten months before I finally landed a position as a Technical Writer. I was grateful the position provided a starting point for me in the agency, but I knew I did not want to be in that position for the rest of my life, so I immediately began searching for other positions within the agency. After about a year, I was informed that the Civil Rights Division was building a new program and I was asked if I would be willing to assist with the creation and growth of the program. Eager to put my event coordinating skills to use, I accepted the offer. In this administrative roll as the Mediation Coordinator, my eyes were open to a whole new type of career lifestyle. After learning about Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), working closely with the Mediators, and observing different types of mediation sessions, I knew that mediation was something I wanted to do. I approached my Director regarding becoming a Mediator. Two years later, after being turned down twice, I was finally granted permission to obtain my Mediation Certification. After conducting and resolving my first Employment Discrimination Mediation Session, I quickly became engrossed in the ADR world. I learned about various types of mediations and later learned about arbitrations. Since then, I have mediated and resolved well over 2000 employment and civil disputes. Later, I obtained my Arbitration and Advanced Family Law Mediation training. After lots of encouragement from other professionals, receiving countless positive reports and feedback regarding my resolution style, I decided to take it a step further and started a mediation and arbitration practice.
I bring several years of experience to the mediation and arbitration table. My goal is to promote communication, active listening, reason and understanding between parties and to help parties reach a satisfactory resolution in a confidential and neutral setting.
I regularly attend continuing education seminars in mediation and arbitration, I am a member of the Texas Association of Mediators, and I am a current credential holder with the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association. I have hundreds of hours of training in mediation and ethics and am willing to conduct in person mediation sessions on a case-by-case basis as well as travel to your office upon request.
By providing professional, honest, and quality mediation and arbitration services, I believe all disputes can be resolved in an efficient, civil, and cost-effective manner. Not only does this method promote communication, but it promotes collaboration and compromise between the parties during the process, and after the conclusion of the session.