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I was born in Knoxville and raised in Lenoir City by my mom and step father. I went through Loudon County schools until high school when I went to LCHS and graduated in 2020. I committed to play soccer at Tennessee Wesleyan, and received my bachelor’s of science in communications in May 2023. I decided to pursue my graduate degree at the University of Tennessee in communication and information with an emphasis in journalism.

For our thesis, the journalism students are required to produce a publishable piece of journalism. This semester, the thesis course chose to do coverage on the opioid epidemic in East TN. Having had several members of my family go through drug addiction and never seek out recovery, I felt led to do a story specifically on recovery efforts in the greater Knoxville area. Originally, I wanted to create a website that could be used as some what of a one stop shop, but ultimately decided to pursue a documentary on Beauty for Ashes. Teresa King was my bus driver growing up and I went to school with her daughter, so I closely followed B4A efforts over the years. I began working at Chili’s in Lenoir City in 2023 and saw and heard first hand the type of impact B4A had on women in the community.

Recovery efforts also meant a lot to me as someone who faced a lot of misfortune growing up. Losing my mother in high school almost sent me down a dark path. Ultimately my desire to go to college was what saved me from experiencing that at young age. I felt like one wrong move would put my already questionable odds of success as risk. Knowing how close I was to this life style, I looked at those going through addiction with a different lenses. Addiction CAN happen to anyone. I’ve never met someone in addiction who wants that life for themselves. The question I wanted to answer in my documentary was how do people actually reach recovery when so much can lead them there in the first place.

After my initial phone call with Teresa, I knew my choice was set. Hearing how they tackle every part of a person that experiences addiction with a holistic approach made everything click. Their success rate made sense, and I felt like more people needed to hear about the work being done.

Storytelling changes lives and brings awareness. Being able to tell the story and process of Beauty for Ashes is one of the greatest pleasures of my life. My hope in my project is that at least one person believes that their recovery is possible because recovery truly is such a beautiful and special thing.