Hello Girlfriends. I'm from Austin, Minnesota where Hormel makes Spam. YUM! My career began as a Home Economics teacher in Owatonna, Minnesota, where entrepreneurship is a community requirement. I founded Learning ZoneXpress, a mail-order poster business for schools, where our focus was school lunch nutrition education. When Michelle Obama introduced MyPlate in 2011, we sold thousands of posters to 143,000 schools nationwide and enjoyed incredible success!

Because of my team's hard work and success, I had the opportunity to attend Harvard Business School's Owner Managed Program. I graduated in 2015 with classmates from around the world. At 61 years old, I was the oldest student in my class and I had no fear of failing!

In July 2018, I accepted an offer on my business the day after I married Portland author Phillip Margolin. I was happy to start a new life in Oregon, though my heart longs to be closer to my grandchildren. Always a Minnesotan, we are tough and we are singing resistance!

My passion project has been EPES.cl, known as Actionforhealth.org in the USA. My dear friend founded this woman empowerment program in the shantytowns of Santiago, Chile, 43 years ago. I have sponsored many teams to visit and experience EPES. Shantytown women study and lead their communities in violence against women campaigns, nutrition education, Haitian immigrant education, and community gardening.

Three years ago I also began sponsoring 20 Afghan girls now living safely in Islamabad. My friend and I have found partners in the last year acting as "grandparents" to support these beautiful girls. They do not live on social media so they are innocent and playful, never too cool.

I am a proud 8-year member of ninety-nine girlfriends…smart and compassionate women. I feel confident giving to the juried nonprofits selected annually. I honor everyone who is a member as we together are building a better community in Portland. Together we are better!