I believe in setting an example for our youth. I believe in a student’s right to an education. I believe teachers should be teachers and parents should be parents.
I grew up in Duluth, MN where I earned my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education and Language arts from The College of St. Scholastica in 2005.
My first year teaching for the 2005/06 school year was with an Early Childhood program. I worked with a group of teachers in a cooperative setting, while having my won group of students in my class. I then worked with three Charter Schools in Duluth as a Q-Comp Substitute for the 2006/07 school year. I had the opportunity to work grades K-8 in all subject areas. My position was key to helping teachers get valuable prep time, time for professional development, and time for one-on-one instruction with students. One day, I could be with a 3rd grade class. The next day, I’d be teaching Spanish. The day after that, I’d be teaching 8th grade math. It was an amazing opportunity and I am so thankful that I was chosen for that position.
I met my husband, Alex in 2007 through E-Harmony; an online dating site! At the time, he was living in Brooklyn Park; having ownership over 2 Subway franchises, while I continued to teach in Duluth. We got engaged in April of 2008 and I made the decision to move to the metro area, in an effort to get established in a school district. It made sense to relocate, while Alex was still tied to Subway.
An opportunity presented itself to him to branch out into an ownership of a different franchise. The broker brought up a Big Apple Bagels that was for sale in Forest Lake.
“Where’s Forest Lake?” Alex asked. (Don’t be mad at him)
During our engagement I was a nanny for a family of three in Burnsville, before getting an opportunity to teach with an Early Childhood program in South Minneapolis.
Alex and I took over Big Apple Bagels in Forest Lake, got married and bought our first house; all within the month of October of 2010.
I joke around and say we don’t sit still very easily. But we really don’t sit still very easily.
I taught in South Minneapolis until 2013 when our oldest son was born, and took an opportunity to start an Early Childhood/Preschool program with St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stacy, MN. It was then, Alex and I wanted to make Forest Lake our home; especially since our business was here, and it was the school district we were going to have our kids go through.
After successfully starting Little Angel’s Preschool, I moved to an opportunity to teach at Faith Lutheran Church with their program; Lake Area Discovery Center (LADC). After teaching older preschoolers for nearly five years, I decided to spend some time with some of our littlest learners, and worked with the toddler age group.
Our youngest son was born in 2015, and it was after his birth that I experienced a major shift in priorities. While I loved spending time with my students (my “kids”), I wanted to make time for my own children, and make a difference in their life. An opportunity to help Alex run the bagel shop was presented to me, and I embarked on a completely different career path. Not only did I learn the operations of the store from the ground up, I got to know our community really well.
I have spent the last 7 years working indirectly with our schools; catering meals for teachers and staff, speaking to our students about business ownership, and employing a lot of the youth in our community at my shop. I look at our business as a ministry; teaching our young people valuable work/life balancing skills, accountability, working as a team and respecting authority.
I believe in setting an example for our youth. I believe in a student’s right to an education. I believe teachers should be teachers and parents should be parents.