I was raised in the small, rural community of Branchville, New Jersey. After graduating from High Point University in North Carolina in 1989, I attended Temple University Dental School graduating in May of 1993.

I joined the Indian Health Service as a Bush dentist in Bethel, Alaska for 4 years. I enjoyed my experience flying 22 weeks of the year taking care of native Alaskans. I gained much; honing my dental skills working up to 14 hours per day. In 1997, I transferred to Anchorage to the Alaska Native Medical Center. Over the next three years, I was mentored in emergency hospital dentistry. This included many hours in the operating room with an oral surgeon and additional Operating Room time with pediatric cases. I valued the continual opportunities to further my education in all clinical specialties through lectures and one-on-one clinical mentoring. From there, I associated with Dr. Jim Libby from 1999-2006 when I became co-owner of Alaska Premier Dental Group and GentleCare Dental Center.