My path wasn't linear. It began with a bachelor's degree in industrial chemistry a field I chose long before I knew where my real calling was. From there I moved into business administration and an MBA, then into higher education, where I found my footing as a teacher and later as an administrator overseeing student affairs.

The turn toward addiction research and counseling came later, and it came from watching, not from planning. During the pandemic, I watched addiction quietly devastate families I knew personally the kind of slow damage that doesn't make headlines but reshapes a household for a generation. That experience is what pulled me into published research on opioid addiction, and eventually into leading counseling groups and pursuing formal certification as an addiction counselor.

Every turn taught me something I now bring into my teaching, my writing, and my counsel: that real transformation requires both rigor and compassion. A leader needs frameworks, not just good intentions. A family in crisis needs practical steps, not just sympathy. And faith, at its best, gives both the conviction and the patience to do this work for the long haul.