I grew up among the wildflowers and clean, breezy skies of northwestern Minnesota on a tiny dairy farm surrounded by miles of dirt roads and fields of hay. It’s where I learned from my father that humans can have a rewarding career by doing what they love in a supported community.
It’s where I fashioned a romantic love for lifelong learning through conversations and curiosity in an unconventional format. As a kid, instead of a weekly trip to the science museum, I stumbled two hundred yards to our barn to witness the miracle of birth. I constructed hay forts in the hayloft for one-of-a-kind architecture. My family learned language and culture through hosting foreign exchange students from Japan and Russia. This unconventional learning enlivened me, encouraged me, opened new vistas and new directions for me … its most essential usefulness.
After graduating high school, I found myself settling into the big city of Minneapolis. A new world opened as sidewalks bloomed into a meadow of multicolored shops and black suits huddled like penguins. I spent my days assisting a close group of attorneys whom, after decades, became like family to me. I spent my evenings at the University of Minnesota finishing a degree in Multidisciplinary Studies and Leadership.
In 2018, I left my work family on a solo sabbatical in search of personal evolution (traveling, teaching yoga, and advocating for regenerative agriculture – the becoming of a modern-day hippie). During that time, I came to realize that, for me, a huge part of life is about who I surround myself with, the good energy we are attempting to put out into the world, and continued personal learning and evolution to help push me outside my comfort zone.
This takes me to today and why I decided to roll up my yoga mat, hang up my farmers hat, and return to the legal field to become a part of the Forsgren Fisher team in June 2021.
While I was interviewing, I quickly realized that Forsgren Fisher’s reputation preceded them – it swam upstream in the legal community. I also came across the quote, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” It was obvious the group I interviewed with was smart as a whip, but more importantly they were genuine and supportive with each other. My gut told me that I’d satisfy my need for continued learning and evolution just by showing up to work each day and surrounding myself within this smart and supported community.
Two years with the firm now and I’ve come to see that it wasn’t just my interview story they listened to on the edge of their chairs, but it’s every client’s story as well. I’m proud to say I’m part of a team that cares about producing good work, being patient, thoughtful, and kind – all to help tell a client’s story. This job also gives me, in return, new vistas and directions of learning while being supported as my most authentic self – a small-town farm girl turned modern-day hippie – now disguised in business casual.
