The girl who was ten cents short.

It started with ten cents.

When I was a college student, I once stood just ten cents short of the money I needed to buy something to eat. I was hungry, but I was also too embarrassed to ask for help. I walked away without the food.

Ten cents may seem insignificant. But in that moment, it meant far more than a dime. It represented a need I could not bring myself to express.

My road was not a straight line.

My education was built around work, responsibility, and persistence. At 19, I worked long shifts sewing jeans in a factory — a building that would later become part of Western Technical College. I kept going, even when money, exhaustion, and uncertainty made the road difficult.

It took me 11 years to complete my college degree. That journey later led me to a career in education, where I learned to see students not just as learners, but as people carrying stories and struggles that may never be visible in a classroom.

From classroom to calling.

After more than two decades working in education and earning a Master of Business Administration, I created Ten Cents Short to share what those years taught me: encouragement matters, noticing matters, and no one should feel invisible.

My work is for the student who doubts they belong, the educator wondering whether they still make a difference, and the person who needs to hear that their future is not defined by their current circumstances.

We may not be able to solve every problem someone faces. But we can offer kindness, belief, information, or an encouraging word. Sometimes that is exactly what helps someone take the next step.