The true Story
About me
It's probably more than you bargained for... it was definetly was for me.
IN THE BEGINNING...
I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere—literally- in the big town of Bethera, SC. The closest street light is 20 minutes away. It’s tucked right in the middle of Hell Hole Swamp in the Francis Marion National Forest.
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My grandfather was one of 17 children and never left the road he grew up on. My brother and I are the eighth generation to live on that same stretch of land.
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I grew up hunting, fishing, riding horses, and “homesteading,” as the kids like to call it online now. From the moment I could walk, it was impossible to keep shoes on my feet—or to stop me from adopting every stray animal I came across.
Sports.
My whole life, I played sports, but nothing ever compared to baseball. My dad was determined for me to keep up with the boys, so I didn’t play softball until I aged out of Little League and had to play for my high school. After that, the game quickly became everything to me.
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I made varsity in 8th grade. Switched positions a few times, until I caught in practice one day. I caught until my senior year due to concussions. After that, my home was at 2nd base. I was really slow. Like really really slow. So I was the weirdo who spent Saturdays pulling tires at the farm.
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Thankfully, it paid off. By my senior year, I had the 8th-best batting average in the state of South Carolina. I was All-State, All-Region, Region Player of the Year, and selected to play for the South in the North/South All-Star game.
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I like to believe I didn't peak in high school.
college... oof
After high school, I went to Presbyterian College with the wild idea that I wanted to be a pharmacist. I loved chemistry and was pretty good at it, so it seemed like the right choice. Ahh, no… I hated it. So much reading, so many big words that didn’t even sound real—just endless BLAH. I thought I was going to lose my mind sitting through every 8 a.m. chemistry class with Professor PowerPoint Powell. I couldn’t take it anymore.
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After half a semester, I decided to switch majors. You’re probably thinking this is where graphic design comes in. Yeah… still no. This time, I went with a double major in History and Pre-Law. Also the wrong choice, and it showed. I never went to class. I just didn’t care. I was 18, finally had some freedom, and was in a town where no one knew me just by my last name.
college continues
I had fun. Maybe a little too much. My physical health started to decline, and with it, my mental health and GPA. By the end of the year, it was time to go home—and stay there.
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For months, I struggled with severe anxiety that spiraled into a deep depression. I felt sick every single day. I went from being an incredible athlete to practically bedridden. It was horrific.
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After months of doctors and specialists, I finally got a diagnoses—Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.
DOCTORS, DOCTORS. AND MORE DOCTORS.
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS for short, is a rare heart condition where the heart rate randomly spikes, causing extreme dizziness that can lead to fainting. There isn’t a whole lot of research on it, but what they have found is that it primarily affects female athletes. All through high school, my friends would find me passed out in random spots, but doctors always brushed it off as anemia.
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At its worst, my resting heart rate was 180 bpm. I wore a heart monitor for months and went through every test imaginable. My arms are still scarred from all the IVs. Eventually, my cardiologist suggested surgery. Sadly, it failed, and I was told my only options were medication and the hope that one day I’d grow out of it.
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Thankfully, eight years later, I can say medication helps.
school
After coming home, I enrolled at Trident Technical College. If I were to have an episode with my heart, my dad is the Director of IT and could be there if I needed it. We went from a $55K tuition to $5K, and my dad told me to take whatever classes I wanted—even just for fun. So, I decided to take a drawing class. I had loved art my whole life and filled sketchbooks for as long as I could remember. I wanted to learn how to really draw from someone who knew what they were doing.
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I ended up really connecting with my teacher and thrived in the class. For the first time in years, I had a passion for school again. One day, my teacher asked if I had ever considered taking a graphic design class. I was honest—I had never even thought about it.
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After a short conversation, I walked into my dad’s office, enrolled in an Illustrator class, and the rest is history.
the internship.
After struggling through COVID—just trying to find work and freelancing anywhere I could, just to design something—the world finally started to look a little brighter. I saw a posting for an internship with the Charleston RiverDogs. Myhometown team. The place where I had some of the happiest memories of my childhood. I remember getting so excited… and then hesitating. I didn’t believe I was good enough for it.
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Thank the good Lord I’m delusional enough to apply anyway—
because I got the job.
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Let me tell you something: I have never worked harder in my entire life. Baseball is not for the weak. Baseball after COVID as an intern with no full-time design mentor? Even worse. But damn, I loved every. single. second. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had something that was mine.
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I worked 100-hour weeks, every holiday, and didn’t take a single day off for six months straight. Looking back, it seems absolutely insane, but at the time, it was worth it. And honestly? I can still say, without a doubt, that it was.
because i met my best pal.
The whole front office in 2021 and 2022 was incredibly close. We’d hang out together, have beach days, go to lunches—we saw each other more than our families, especially with the hours and time we had to dedicate to make the 2021 season happen.
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About six months into the season, I started getting really close to the "scary" head groundskeeper, Kevin. He always seemed harmless to me. I tell him all the time now that I knew what mean looked like, and nothing about him screamed "mean" to me.
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Unfortunately (but not really), my birthday fell on a game week, so my manager threw me a birthday party weeks later. We started at a bowling alley in downtown Charleston, then made our way through the bars in the area. By the end of the night, it ended up just being Kevin, his assistant Renee, and me. I'll spare you all the details, but he finally asked me out on a date.
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A few days later, we ended up on a surprise first date at a dive bar, and we both confidently say we knew we’d never go on a first date again.
we got married
Fast forward to 2023: I got a new job. It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make, but it was the best decision for my life. I doubled my salary, got to see my family again, and Kevin and I finally had the time to start our life together.
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He proposed on February 11, 2023.
On November 18, 2023, I found out I was pregnant.
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On March 16, 2024, we got married in my family's church on the same road I grew up on, with the reception at the stadium. It was the perfect blend of our story and a way to welcome 150 people from Minnesota to South Carolina. We had so much fun. Everyone says their wedding was perfect, but ours really was.
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A few days later, the RiverDogs' 2024 season began.
I actually had a baby.
I know, it’s still crazy to me too. I don’t know how I got here, or when I became a parent! It’s strange and still very new. I’m figuring it out every day, but from what everyone says, I think that’s normal. I wasn’t the girl who dreamed of a husband and kids. I dreamed of work and becoming somebody notable in my field. Now, having one and still achieving the other—it’s very surreal.
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Meet Ozymandias Jackson Coyne.
Or just Ozzy.
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Our little guy was born five days after my birthday on July 31, 2024. He’s slowly becoming a little human, and it’s so much fun to watch. He’s already the assistant to the groundskeeper and loves painting batter’s boxes while strapped to my chest. He’s our future rock star/WWE wrestler/golfer/Vikings TE/cowboy/MLB All-Star. You name it, he's going to become it in our brains.
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We named him for greatness, and I have no doubt that’s exactly what he’ll be.
Here i am today.
Not to sound cliché, but if you’ve made it this far, know your dedication is truly appreciated. This is the last part, I promise.
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What I've learned about myself over the years: I actually think I like scary movies. My love for Johnny Cash hasn't changed. I love a good fence and Vanilla Coke. I appreciate living near water. Rainbows make me happy, and I love to read.
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Ultimately, I’m thankful for my husband and the safe haven our family has become for me. Some days are tougher than others, but there’s nothing I love to work harder at than waking up each day and deciding to live the life I’ve earned.​