I was born and raised in Southern Illinois on a working livestock and crop family farm. Everything that we ate was grown in our garden, raised on our farm, fished from our ponds, or hunted in the woods. This is where I have developed a deep passion for the outdoors and cooking for family and friends. After graduating high school I attended Blackburn College in Carlinville, IL, it is one of 6 Work Program Colleges in the nation, where every student works for the school. I graduated with a BA in Secondary Education in Social Science. I decided that this landlocked country girl wanted to see the ocean, so I applied to high schools along the East Coast. I landed a job in North Carolina and it has been my home ever since. I taught high school history and government for 5 years and then decided to help my husband, Scott Hicks run his landscaping business, for the last 15 years. We still have the landscaping business, but have a great team of employees running it for us. We are very excited to have teamed up with Whitetail Properties Real Estate to help our local North Carolinians to find their dream properties.