Where were you born and raised? 

Houston, TX

 

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Growing up, what was your

personality like as a child? 

My parents would say I was a very ‘active’ child, which means I was very chatty. I asked a lot of questions even if it wasn’t age appropriate. But in grade school, I was extremely shy, had stage fright and would literally cover my face in the presence of any cameras until my senior year in high school.   In pre-K, I had the nickname ‘little old lady’ because I’ve always had an old soul. Not much has changed there. 

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Why did you leave your job in Missouri

and moved to Los Angeles?

I learned so much from local news but I left Missouri because my heart was pulling me to entertainment news. My news director at NBC-affiliate KOMU-TV encouraged me to move to L.A. because I literally begged for any opportunity to talk about pop culture. During my time at the station, they even started an entertainment news segment during the noon show where I could reporting on just that.

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Why did your living situation changed

which resulted in you living

in your car for a month?

I was babysitting for a family friend who had child actors when they had to temporarily leave Los Angeles. I found myself looking for another temporary living arrangement but I didn’t know many people in the city.  I ended up living out of my car for a month while I looked for a room for rent I could afford. 

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How did you prepare to go to work

everyday while living in your car?

I worked part-time as a sales associate at DSW on Hollywood Blvd.  I had a gym membership at LA Fitness next door to my job and would shower there before going into work everyday.

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Were you scared sleeping

in your car at nights?

Of course, there were nights that were scarier than others because I wasn’t familiar with the area. Looking back I wasn’t in the safest area now that I have a sense of Los Angeles. I had an incident where I woke up out of my sleep because a homeless man was trying to get into my car. I was terrified and drove off as fast as possible.

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Did you park in the

same spot every night?

I did for the most part until that scary incident. I woke up to countless parking tickets while sleeping in my car but thankfully I wasn’t in that situation too long. 

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Your family knew

you were homeless? 

Yes, they knew I was living in my car toward the end. My parents weren’t thrilled but by that time I was heading into a room for rent I found during my search.  I was ashamed to speak up but I also didn’t think it would last as long as it did. 

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What's the biggest lesson

learned  about homelessness?

The biggest lesson I learned was to never be afraid to ask for help. As cliché as it sounds, closed mouths don’t get fed.  As a young adult who was very self-sufficient, I struggled with being vulnerable enough to ask strangers or associates for help because I don’t like feeling like a burden. I now understand that kind of thinking gets you nowhere. But there’s nothing to be embarrassed about not having it all together. Perfection is the theft of progress.