She began her career in 1997 in St. Louis, Missouri, working as a designer and creative director, running a business, and developing a deep love of cats. Her design work and writing have been published nationally and internationally. She has a BA in Art from the University of Missouri-Columbia; an MFA in Graphic Design from Iowa State University; and a Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction from Iowa State University, emphasizing user experience design (UX)/user interface design (UI) and interaction design.