So, what is an idea factory, you might be wondering?

Well, an idea factory is someone adept at manifesting creative ideas.  And that would be me!

I’m essentially one of those lucky people who is never at a loss for inspiration. I have ideas for projects coming at me all the time – sometimes at the same time!  An image seen in a fleeting glance outside the window becomes a song lyric. That song lyric leads to a tagline for a novel. A line from a story inspires a poem.  It’s never ending inspiration and I wouldn’t have it any other way.   It’s allowed me to create everything from poems, to operas, to novels, to children’s songs. And there’s always something new around the corner.

So how did it all start? Well, this is how my mother likes to tell it.

I was 4 years old and went down the street to play at a friend’s house.  Apparently, in the middle of the visit, my mother received a call from my friend’s mother who said, “You’d better get that girl a piano because she just sat down and started playing ours!”

And so it began.

Music has always been in my soul and a huge part of my identity, from joining my first choir at the age of six to starting piano lessons officially at 7.

Raised on musical theatre and fully supported by my parents, I was an overall creative kid, writing stories (including a holiday tale about how Santa and his elves would be affected by the upcoming free trade agreement between Canada, the US, and Mexico), singing in the basement at the top of my lungs for hours on end, entering arts festivals, and partaking in theatrical productions when I hit high school.

I was truly blessed to have the support of my parents who transported me to lessons and rehearsals and tolerated all of the extra noise!

When I was about fifteen I discovered songwriting, one of my first attempts being a country song called “There’s A Worm In The Apple Of Your Eye”. Still love the title!  I loved the idea of creating music – music that inspired and brought joy to people. I composed my first piano piece shortly after.

When the time came to consider post-secondary studies, I completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Studies  – another one of my passions as I had dreams of being an actor in my youth – partly because I was nervous about not getting into music school. What if they didn’t think I was good enough?

After getting that degree, on a burst of inspiration, I attended the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology, came back to Winnipeg to set up my own recording studio, and released a collection of pop/rock songs in 2001.

Finally, I bit the bullet, so to speak, in 2002 and auditioned for the School of Music and was welcomed with open arms into the composition department. What was I so nervous about anyway? 🙂

Since then, I have been a music teacher, voice artist, writer, theatre director, literary editor, and, most recently, radio announcer and having a blast!

To put it in a nutshell, since the beginning I have been dedicating my life to creativity and bringing good stuff into the world, whether it be music, books or screenplays or theatrical scripts. My mission has always been to produce work that inspires, enlightens and maybe even makes you laugh. ‘Cuz laughing’s always a good thing. 😉