Q: Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get involved in the field of human resources? 

A: I’m originally from Sumter County, Florida, and grew up in a small rural town on a multigenerational family farm. I was raised by a single mom who worked hard and made sacrifices to support me, with the steady presence of my grandparents, who also played a big role in shaping who I am. As a first-generation college graduate, hard work, grit and a strong sense of family and community have always been part of my foundation.

My path into HR wasn’t exactly planned. I started in administrative and operational roles, including several years in management at an early childhood education company, O2B Kids. That’s where I got my first real exposure to HR, handling everything from hiring to onboarding to team development. I also went through leadership training with the company’s presidents, which sparked something in me. I realized what I loved most was supporting people, solving problems and shaping the culture of a workplace. HR gave me a way to do all three.

Q: What brought you to UF? Why have you chosen to build your career here for so many years? 

A: UF has always felt like home. I moved to Gainesville just a month after graduating high school to begin college at UF, and I’ve been connected to this place ever since.

I joined the College of Medicine nearly a decade ago, drawn to the opportunity to support departments and faculty in a more strategic way. What’s kept me here is the mission and the meaning behind the work. In academic medicine, we get to support education, research and patient care all at once. Hearing the stories of healing and discovery, knowing that behind the scenes, our team helped get that researcher here, onboarded the clinician who made a difference or supported the lab teams and staff who make the work possible — that’s what makes it all worth it.

Watching our HR team rise to the moment continues to inspire me. What I’m most proud of is seeing team members grow into their voices, bring forward ideas and be recognized as experts in the spaces they know best.

Q: Can you share an experience from your career that shaped your leadership style?

A: Serving as a senior project manager for the dean was a pivotal experience that shaped how I lead. That role allowed me to build meaningful partnerships across the college and really understand how change happens in an academic medical center. I found myself leaning into the work differently, not just organizing and coordinating, but thinking creatively, asking bigger-picture questions and helping leaders make decisions that impacted people and culture.

It also showed me that project management, when done well, is really about leadership. It takes trust-building, change management and the ability to connect strategy to action. That experience shaped how I approach HR now, with a balance of structure and empathy, a focus on clarity and a strong belief that people strategy should be a core part of how we move the college forward.

Q: What is something you’d like your College of Medicine colleagues to know about the field of human resources?

A: That HR is so much more than people might realize. It’s hiring and onboarding, employee relations, performance management, benefits and leave, job changes, offboarding, workforce planning, immigration and more — and often, all of those in a single day.

A typical day might include helping a department onboard a new faculty member, consulting on a complex reorganization, guiding someone through a leave of absence and providing support during a sensitive employee situation. We celebrate the birth of a child and, sometimes, help a team navigate the loss of a co-worker. The work spans the full range of the human experience, and that’s what makes it meaningful.

Q: What is your vision for the future of the College of Medicine HR team?

A: My vision is for HR to be a true driver of progress across the college — strategic, connected and grounded in both people and data. That means continuing to strengthen our Centers of Expertise, deepen partnerships with UFHR and departmental HR teams and build a more integrated support model that works across missions.

But it also means modernizing how we work. I want to leverage technology — things like Salesforce, AI tools and automated workflows — to reduce the manual lift of transactional HR and create more capacity for strategic work. Whether it’s coaching leaders, guiding workforce planning or navigating complex employee matters, our time is best spent with people.

I also see huge potential in using data more intentionally. If we can give departments access to meaningful, real-time insights, like turnover trends, engagement flags or workload indicators, they’ll be able to make smarter, faster decisions. We’re not just here to process requests; we’re here to help shape the environment where teams can thrive.

Q: What do you do for fun when you’re not at work?

A: Outside of work, I’m a wife to an incredibly supportive husband, stepmom to two wonderful teenagers and a pet parent to a dog and cat. Life is usually full of dance competitions, basketball games and the kind of joyful chaos that comes with it. I’m also working toward my M.B.A. with dual concentrations in human resource management and health care management, which keeps me busy, but I genuinely love learning and growing through it.

I value staying connected to the people in my life and am often the one planning reunions or trips to make that happen. I love to travel with family and friends, especially when it involves good food and beautiful scenery. And in the fall, you can almost always find me cheering on Gator Football — Go Gators!