Born and raised in Virginia, I grew up with a loving family that moved to Seattle, Washington without me (by choice) when I was 20 years old. I had been working in coffee/sandwich shops since I was 16 and was ready to take the next step in my career. I started Culinary school while working multiple kitchen jobs in order to learn as much as I could quickly. After having held many different jobs, from dishwasher, to pizza cook, to prep cook, and being event staff for 5 different catering companies, I entered into fine dining full time and again worked my way up. From there, I wanted to learn more but also be closer to my family and those Sunday night dinners I missed so much. I moved to Seattle in 2018 and have been striving to learn and grow not only as a chef, but also an active contributing member of my community. Feeding people and helping others has always been my passion and want to use Cole & Coal for just that, bringing people together to commune in the presence of good food.

I grew up on the West Coast, mostly. We moved around a lot. I loved the adventure of it. New places to see, new restaurants to visit, new friends to make. I moved to Seattle from Las Vegas, NV in 2014 somewhat on a whim and in need of a change of scenery. Having never been to Seattle before, I immediately fell in love with the PNW. I quickly knew my Chemistry and Biology degrees would be utilized differently as I found my way back into restaurants. (Baking cakes and cupcakes out of my kitchen did after all pay the bills in college.) I have worked both front of house and back of house, managed bakeries and restaurants, and enjoyed most of it. My heart has always remained in the kitchen, being creative and hands-on in conducting my own lab experiments with flour, water, and salt. Baking is how I show my love, and it fills my heart with joy to see how food brings people together.