I currently do what I love, and love what I do! I work in a small shop in my hometown and spend time chasing my two daughters around. I write in my down time and enjoy date nights, social excursions, and just adventure in general.
Loving mom, aspiring writer, fierce competitor, healthy motivator, and lifelong student
I’m a Midwestern girl, born and bred. I grew up along the Mississippi River in Illinois, almost Iowa. I attended JD Darnall High School in my hometown, and then went on to major in English and education at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois. I did the gamut of things through high school and college: sports (especially volleyball), music (trumpet player), academics (National Honor Society and Honors College), committees and clubs (topics like campus diversity), boys (several long-term, including my wonderful husband), friends (dorm mates and childhood), and to top it all off, a variety of jobs (resident assistant, front desk clerk, waittress, golf course greenskeeper). These experiences helped me to develop into a well-rounded, open-minded, free-spirited individual, despite growing up and hardly leaving the conservative Midwest.
After college, I taught high school and college English and composition for the next decade or so. It was a bittersweet gig. The struggle, the criticism, the pressure, the standards, the testing, the lack of sleep, the lack of motivation in students, the lack of funding, the lack of appreciation overall, would all be wiped away in one moment of a student growing or mastering a skill or maturing in some way. The glory and pride of teaching and learning kept me at it for as long as I did. But the bitter part of it started to get to me, and I needed a break. Who knows – I may go back to it someday, someway.
So here I am now, trying to make a living as a shopkeeper and author. I also offer proofreading and editing services. I’d love any tips or suggestions you would have on my writing or running a business! Thanks for reading!
What I Do
Write
Edit
Proofread
Research or Fact-check
Inspiring the Works of Valerie Jean 