About Me 

Ten-year-old me wouldn’t believe this life.

I was born in Compton, Calif., and for most of my childhood, I was sure I’d be a West Coast girl forever. When my family moved from Los Angeles to Nashville in 2008, I strongly disliked it. At Cole Elementary, I felt different. Students listened to Lil Wayne. To me, being hip meant blasting reggaetón. I had come from schools that were nearly 90 percent Latino to a district where Latino students made up about 14 percent.

Even then, I understood why we moved. Rent in Los Angeles was suffocating. My parents dreamed of owning a home, and Nashville made that dream feel possible. Still, I swore I’d leave the moment I could.

And I did.

After graduating high school, I returned to California to study journalism and economics at Pepperdine University. It felt like the right mix to understand the world I was stepping into. Classmates drove G-Wagons and rotated Cartier bracelets like outfits while my parents back home calculated every dollar. I wanted to understand that gap.

For a long time, I wondered if I could really do this work. My answer came in crisis. As a college student, I covered the mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where 12 people, including a fellow student, were killed. Hours later, the Woolsey Fire erupted, tearing through Ventura and Los Angeles counties. I barely slept, reporting nonstop in English and Spanish, knowing that clear information could mean the difference between safety and chaos. When Spanish-speaking staff at my school said they didn’t know what was happening until they saw my reports, I realized my work made a difference. That experience showed me something I’ll never forget: I could do this work and I could do it under pressure.

As for when I fell in love with Nashville? It happened after I left.

Each visit home revealed a city in motion. Nolensville Pike connected the neighborhood I grew up in to a skyline rising just miles away. Where there had been a few taco stands, there was now a vibrant stretch of culture and commerce. I watched immigrant families build businesses, raise children and reshape entire neighborhoods while the city’s narrative barely acknowledged them.

That disconnect brought me back.

Reporting from downtown Nashville during Taylor Swift's 'Homecoming Weekend'

As a reporter I aim to make complex stories understandable. I want to unmask false promises from those in power and highlight the people who’ve built this city from the margins.

My reporting has appeared in NewsChannel 5, CNBC, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Nashville Noticias, The Banner, and more. I’ve covered immigration cases that made national headlines, housing challenges reshaping neighborhoods, and the policies that determine who gets to stay and build a life here. I also hold a master’s degree in Business and Economic Reporting from NYU, where I trained in data analysis and investigative techniques to help tell stories that often go unheard.

Every day, doing this work feels like a gift, one that my younger self never thought possible.

I grew up in Antioch, watching local TV legends like Oprah Winfrey, Vicki Yates and Demetria Kalodimos. I used to imagine myself on the other side of the screen, but for a long time, I kept that dream to myself. I wasn’t sure a girl like me would be taken seriously. But those women showed me what was possible. They reported with integrity, with empathy, and with a love for this city that’s lasted decades.

Covering International Workers’ Day March in DC

That’s what I strive to do, too, for Nashville’s immigrant communities, like the one I grew up in. To tell our stories in English and Spanish. To show this city the people who make it what it is.

I love Nashville because it’s the city I grew up in and watched flourish. Through my reporting, I want to help make it better, for families like mine, and yours.

Reporting on the trial of three men accused of plotting to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer