I began my career in the criminal justice field in 2010 and started at the bottom, working in community corrections. My intent was to only be there short-term, but the more I became familiar with community corrections, the more I enjoyed it, and I turned my short stay into what I like to call a life sentence. I started in the security department, and before I knew it, I worked my way up to becoming a Facility Director. Throughout my years in community, I grew a huge passion for wanting to help others be successful. I strived to become like the individual in the Starfish Story, because if I could change one person’s life, then I felt like I had done my job, and it gave me purpose. I may come from the other end of the spectrum, but I even have my own lived experiences. The only thing that makes me stand out from the rest is I chose to utilize my experiences and my platform to become a better person than the person I was the day before. I also have loved ones that have been in and out of the system or have struggled with trauma and addiction. My hunger for wanting to help others hit me deep and brought me to this very moment. I made the decision to commute my life sentence in community corrections to 15 years. I felt like my knowledge and experience could be utilized on another platform and made the move to join the NAS team.