I believe in servant leadership as espoused by Robert K. Greenleaf. “This is my thesis: caring for persons, the more able and the less able serving each other, is the rock upon which a good society is built. Whereas, until recently, caring was largely person to person, now most of it is mediated through institutions – often large, complex, powerful, impersonal; not always competent; sometimes corrupt. If a better society is to be built, one that is more just and more loving, one that provides greater creative opportunity for its people, then the most open course is to raise both the capacity to serve and the very performance as servant of existing major institutions by new regenerative forces operating within them.”

I believe in empowering others to be successful. That is the reason I chose both professions of which I am a part. Shelter is a primary need for humankind. Interior Designers help make the world a better place, one space at a time. As an educator, I have the opportunity to prepare the next generation of interior designers. Each designer affects the lives of many through their designs for homes, work places and institutions.

As far as my teaching style… I come from a family of teachers. Two of my grandparents were both teachers in one room schoolhouses in the early 1920s. My mother began her teaching career in a one room rural schoolhouse and retired as a teacher in a rural high school. The trials, tribulations, and triumphs of education have always been a part of family discussions. When I chose to pursue teaching and when my mother retired from teaching she shared a quote from a Chinese Proverb with me that resonates to this day. “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand.” I believe in experiential learning. I will tell you, I will show you, I will involve you, and I will encourage you to teach someone else.