I grew up in Tennessee, competing over four years of NSDA competition, I was named the 2016 NSDA Student of the Year for Tennessee, reached the national final round twice at the NSDA National Tournament, finished as National Runner-Up in Prose Interpretation, and placed third in the Expository Speaking final round. That background is not just a credential to me; it is the foundation of everything I coach, because I have stood on that stage, felt the pressure of a final round, and learned...
I grew up in Tennessee, competing over four years of NSDA competition, I was named the 2016 NSDA Student of the Year for Tennessee, reached the national final round twice at the NSDA National Tournament, finished as National Runner-Up in Prose Interpretation, and placed third in the Expository Speaking final round. That background is not just a credential to me; it is the foundation of everything I coach, because I have stood on that stage, felt the pressure of a final round, and learned exactly what separates a performance that lands from one that falls flat. I then studied acting at Elon University, having earned acceptances from SUNY Purchase, AMDA, Pace University in Film and TV and Theater, and Circle in the Square.
After Elon I spent two years as an Assistant Coach for Speech and Debate with the Tennessee High School Speech and Debate League, working one on one and in small groups with students from freshmen through seniors. My role was hands on: helping students select and cut material, rehearsing performances in real time, writing detailed feedback after every round, and preparing them for the logistics and psychology of tournament day. I also decode ballots afterward, because understanding why a judge ranked you where they did is where the real learning happens. For students preparing BFA auditions I help them choose monologues that genuinely fit their voice, coach the performance itself, review prescreen videos for framing and slate and take selection, and run mock auditions under conditions that mirror the real thing. For speech and interpretation competitors I work through piece selection, cutting, blocking, introductions, and full tournament preparation. My approach is honest and specific. I will tell a student when a piece is not theirs, when a cut is not yet tight enough, when a performance is still a rehearsal and not yet real. The goal is never to make someone sound like a competitor. The goal is to find what is already in them and sharpen it until it sings.
