MY CAREER AS A NATIONAL TELEVISION HOST

I became a national television host for The Shop At Home Network in 1996. Suddenly I was being seen by over 50 million people a day.

My first day on air, I knew that I had found my dream job. It was the perfect fit for me. It combined my gift of gab, my love of people, it was live television and shopping - all in one. I didn’t know a great deal about jewelry at the time, but I studied and researched the history of gems and read everything I could find on the subject.

In my 10 years at Shop At Home, I sold more jewelry than any other host in their history. All of my hard work had paid off. But the network was only number 4 in the pecking order of shopping channels and I wanted to move higher up the ladder.

I was ready for another challenge. But, with a non-compete, I had a year to kill.

So, I flew to Canada and represented a sapphire line on The Shopping Channel and spent eight months as a host in Los Angeles at the Ultimate Shopping Network. I lived in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Beverly Hills and spent my mornings sipping coffee at the local Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

It was great being back in L.A. and spending time with old friends and working in television. But I knew it was temporary and I really wanted to be a host at ShopNBC. They were the most upscale network in the business. I knew Minnesota was cold but ShopNBC was hot.

In 2005 my wish came true and I became a primetime host for ShopNBC, seen by over 70 million people a day. I immediately felt at home with the ShopNBC viewers and the fabulous on-air guests. I quickly became a top producing jewelry and health and beauty host.

In 15 years on television, I have logged over 20,000 hours of live TV and I have sold over 500 million dollars worth of jewelry. I am also a GIA Accredited Jewelry professional in Colored Stones, Diamond and Jewelry Essentials.

Over the years, I have worked with many celebrities such as Jennifer O’Neill, Naomi Judd, Pat Boone, Mark Spitz, Emma Samms, Chuck Woolery, Paul Burrell, Dayna Devan, and many more. I love the rush of live TV and of course, I have loved getting to know my customers.

My New Ventures

By late 2011, I was seeking new challenges and looking to pursue more diverse creative ventures. Within days of leaving ShopNBC, the Food Network came calling. I was cast on one of their top reality shows, Worst Cooks in America. A few weeks later, I was whisked off to New York, learning how to cook from Bobby Flay. It was one "hot" adventure! The show will air on February 12th at 9 p.m. eastern on the Food Network.

Aside from my new television adventures, I’ve been working diligently on another love of mine, writing novels. I’ve been writing for over 20 years and I’m proud to announce that my first novel ‘Sparkelicious’ will be released soon. It’s a compelling work of women’s fiction set in South Carolina and Los Angeles, which is probably best summarized as a contemporary Sex and the City, meets a modern day Steel Magnolias. So get your Kindles, Nooks and iBooks ready!