I Watched Families Work 60-Hour Weeks Just to Survive

While Politicians Got Rich.

That's what I grew up seeing. And it never left me.

I am the daughter of immigrants — my father from Mexico, my mother from Honduras. They came here with nothing but faith, a willingness to work, and a belief that in America, hard work still means something. My mother was raised on a coffee farm. My father became a mechanic and built a small business in trucking and real estate. They didn't have connections or advantages. They had each other and they had God.

I grew up surrounded by people like them — mechanics, tradespeople, small business owners working 60 or 70 hours a week not for recognition, but to put food on the table and give their kids a better shot. In school, I was sometimes told not to end up like those people. Those were the people I looked up to most. They taught me what real strength looks like: sacrifice, responsibility, and putting your family first.


A Moment That Changed Everything

I went on to earn my degree in Anthropology from UC Riverside — a foundation that deepened my understanding of people, community, and the systems that shape our lives.

But it was in my early twenties, when I faced a tumor, that everything came into focus. That experience — as the daughter of a pastor, with faith already woven into my life — made it the foundation of everything. It taught me that life is fragile, that time with family is irreplaceable, and that we are called to live with purpose. It also made me more determined: if I was going to be here, I was going to fight for something that mattered.

Building Something Real

I built a career in accounting and started my own small business.
I have lived what it means to try to survive California's regulatory environment — the taxes, the paperwork, the endless bureaucracy that drains time and money from people who are just trying to grow something.

I have also spent years as an independent journalist and political analyst, educating Californians on the policies that are hollowing out the middle class. I believe an informed community is an empowered community —and Sacramento has been counting on people staying in the dark.