I'm a Realtor and licensed real estate broker at RE/MAX Unified Brokers, where we help people buy and sell homes, commercial properties, and land in western Illinois. My dad, Gene, owns and manages our office. I came aboard as an agent in 2004.I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in English. The following year I earned a master's degree in secondary education at Western Illinois University and later taught English at Lockport Township High School, located in the southwestern Chicago suburbs.While in college, I worked as a newspaper reporter at the Macomb Eagle, covering local school boards, city councils, sports, and in-depth features. I also spent one summer as a Congressional intern in Washington, D.C., and another employed on a housekeeping crew in Yellowstone National Park.