My story begins in Yokosuka. Literally begins, as in I was born there. Because my Dad was in the Navy, we left Japan when I was 2 and there on I lived in many places as a kid, but I'll never forget looking at my passport as a kid and wanting to travel all over for myself one day.

However for a while my plan was the exact opposite. I went to college near home and studied geology, but in college I started finding out that the childhood dream I had was more important to me than I realized. I decided to chuck the Geology degree for the time being and move to Japan to start teaching English. And that's where I got involved with BSR.

Being an American in Japan is quite the experience, coming from the wide open spaces of upstate New York with soft rolling hills and the Adirondacks to densely populated urban city centers surrounded by mountains that are larger than life, Japan has really widened my perspective on life.

In my free time I love to travel when I can, and I'm always looking for beautiful shrines to visit. I started collecting shrine stamps in my stamp book called a 'Goshuiin-cho' in 2018.

I also love almost all Japanese food (minus natto).

After learning about the beauty industry in Japan through translating and writing blog posts in English, I really became interested in the whole thing. Getting a haircut was something so basic to me, but there's definitely a lot of sides to such a personal service. I hope that everyone tries to experience a salon in Japan at least once.