15th Annual People’s Awards

Q. How has your career evolved over the years?

 A. I went to school not knowing what I wanted to do. I always liked languages, but I didn’t know how to incorporate them. I went to study in Spain (Valencia), and it was a life changer that opened up possibilities. I love language and people, and being far from home helped me realize that I felt at home there and that I really belonged. Before going back for my last year of college, I went to Italy, fell in love with the language and was determined to learn it my final year of school. Being from Philadelphia, I was a big fan of the Philadelphia Phillies and wanted to work for them. I did marketing study projects for Spectacor (a Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company) and an internship at the Richmond Coliseum, hoping that would help me get there. I ended up working for a tennis tournament in Philly, the U.S. Pro Indoor, as a communications director. I did this for a year until I finished the tournament and then quit my job and went backpacking in Europe on my way back to find a job in Spain. I started setting up jobs at different tennis tournaments until it actually turned into my job, and I spent the next seven or so years as an independent contrac