Born and raised in the “silver state” on Nuwu lands in the southwest US, my relationship with this precious metal is divinely matched and alchemical. While I enjoy making all kinds of inspired and sacred adornments, I am passionately attached to creating pieces that have a sentimental meaning or a component of advocacy to them in some way. I come from a large and unusual patchwork family of misfits, so it has been evident to me from a young age how intersectionality and unique learning needs impact accessibility and personal development. My intrinsic motivations are rooted in my lived experience as a queer ND kid growing up in east Las Vegas, and are heavily influenced by my paternal grandmother whose caregiving expertise and healing instincts as a foster parent and fiercely loving mother have always been a personal gold standard.

Prior to teaching myself silversmith work, my education and field experience were spent in clinical, educational, and home environments with people on the autism spectrum and their families. I have collective experience in program and policy development from state programs to nonprofit agencies, primarily focusing in autism advocacy, behavior analysis, and special education. As a person who is also multiply neurodivergent, it took me over a decade to recognize that all those years I was also apprenticing to learn how to care and advocate for myself as well.

Over more than a decade in the field, and I had accrued many experiences: some wonderful and some traumatizing. Ultimately though, the inequities in educational and legislative systems left me fully depleted and confused, so when I completed my graduate program in Special Education and ABA at UNLV in 2019, I was extremely unsatisfied and decided not to continue on the path to getting my BCBA. My priorities shifted from a psychological to sociological approach and instead, I embraced my natural tendencies toward animism and artistic pursuits and started Full Desert Weirdo: a small silversmith studio and apothecary that focuses on creativity, healing, and social justice. So here we are.

After years serving hundreds of families and wearing many hats, I am currently expanding my skill set to other creative communities who are pursuing non-traditional education and social transformation, while I simultaneously work on building the wagon with my father and cultivating compassionate, trusting, and neurodivergent-affirming relationships with those around me.

My occupational history and life experiences have led me to acceptance and admiration of my own idiosyncrasies and ultimately, in fully embracing a philosophy of being your own brand of WEIRD. I believe in using one’s unique skill set to serve others and the planet in meaningful ways. I believe in being authentically atypical, “embracing your inner outlier”, and in bringing one’s specialties into service to create necessary social changes for our communities.

I went Full Desert Weirdo, and I’m never going back to basic.