about
hermit ∙ mystic ∙ nerd
Truth is always most evident in the woods. A life-long search for spiritual fulfillment and many years of Rosicrucian study has led to a world of digital cataloging and collecting. Finding and collecting documents and ephemera related to esotericism lights me up.
Below is a partial list of some of my accomplishments and work.
Selected Resume
Library and Museum Experience
The George Eastman Museum
Visitor Services Associate, Historic Mansion Housekeeper/Collection Maintenance
June 2021 – Present
As a Visitor Service Associate I would float between the admission desk, the museum shop, and the museum eatery, Open Face.
In admissions I was responsible for greeting guests, selling tickets, answering the phone, educating guests on the history of the property as well as the current exhibits.
In the museum shop I was responsible for selling items, merchandising product, as well as providing excellent customer service
At Open Face I took customer orders, answer the phone, and, because of the eatery’s central location, provide directional and educational assistance to museum visitors.
As a Historic Mansion Housekeeper I clean the restored rooms of the mansion weekly, taking care to follow established archival practices for cleaning and maintaining historic artifacts of various materials.
As of 2023 I am on call for Historic Mansion Housekeeping
The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House
Lead Visitor Center Manager and Assistant Museum Shop Manager
June 2022 - November 2024
In my role at the Anthony Museum I oversaw the daily routines of the Visitor Center, allowing for smooth operation.
I delivered 45-90 minute guided tour experiences to the general public, as well as specialty tours for specific groups or events.
Maintained and merchandised the museum shop, participating in quarterly inventory, and maintained digital POS/online shop system.
Organized and led regular Visitor Center meetings.
There were a variety of other projects and responsibilities in this role, some are as follows:
Maintain and organize volunteer and staff files
Develop a Volunteer Welcome Packet, as part of an effort to create a more accessible volunteer program.
Re-catalog and re-organize the Martha Kelly Volunteer Library, a collection of lending and non-lending materials available to volunteers and staff of the museum to support our educational goals.
Work directly with our programming coordinator and the public to schedule and create invoices for group tours, educational programming, and other options that fall outside the standard tour model.
Louis Jefferson Long Library at Wells College
Library Assistant
August 2005 – January 2009; Aurora, NY
Re-catalogued and physically relocated the Rare Books and Art Library collections.
Resolved scheduling and organizational issues between the student and librarian staff by creating and writing the training manual for a Student Supervisor position.
Selected Retail Experience
Michaels (The Michaels Companies, Inc.)
Custom Framer, Customer Experience Manager
October 2017 – May 2021; Rochester, NY
Oversaw all part time cashiers and sales floor team members and personally assisted customers.
Coached team members daily to sales and customer satisfaction expectations.
Ensured completion of all required replenishment, inventory, and recovery procedures daily.
Key-holder and leader on duty/point of contact; cash office management.
Improved customer satisfaction survey scores by 35 percentage points Feb 2019 – May 2021.
Zu Foos
Owner
July 2015 – 2022; Rochester, NY
Formed a small business centered on hand-made products and services.
Contacted venues and retail locations to establish business relationships and opportunities.
Developed and maintained a social media/web presence and a coherent, professional brand.
Interacted with customers via email and social media and face-to-face at fairs and shows.
Target Stores
Food Service Team Leader
October 2009 – December 2014; Rochester, NY
Managed licensed Starbucks and Pizza Hut Express at the Irondequoit, NY Target Store.
Wrote weekly schedules, administered corrective action, oversaw the ordering process, and maintained a clean and inviting dining environment.
Met my store’s financial goals while meeting or exceeding quality, safety, and presentation standards according to licensors’ contract requirements.
Worked side-by-side with my team and assisted throughout the store when needed.
Periodically oversaw the store as leader on duty.
Food Service Team Leader was my last role in the company, but i worked in several departments before that. I was promoted to Human Resources not long after I was hired as a seasonal team member, and from there I moved to Softlines Team Leader and then Starbucks Team Leader before transitioning to Food Service.
Breen’s Shop ’n Save
Bakery Assistant
June 2009 – October 2009; Williamson, NY
Worked 10-12 hour shifts six early mornings a week preparing and frying myriad donut varieties and ensuring they were properly stocked, labeled, and presented every day.
Formal Education
Wells College
no degree; Women's Studies major, Spanish minor; 2005 – 2009
Activities and Societies: Queers and Allies (gay/straight alliance), Sex Collective (Sex and gender advocacy group)
Williamson Senior High School
Advanced Regents Diploma, 2005
Volunteer Experience
Friends of Mount Hope
Spring 2024 - Present
I support fundraising by registering guests for regular guided tours of the cemetery, provide information about and sell memberships, process gift shop sales, and maintain the cleanliness of the FOMH facility and public bathrooms.
Informal Education
Library of Congress Classification: Online Training
No certificate available; 2023
The Alternate Basic Library Education (ABLE) Program by The Idaho Commission for Libraries
Collection Development Sequence
Technical Services Sequence
Public Services Sequence
In addition to more traditional western concepts of education and training, I'm also actively involved in alternative schools and courses to learn concepts of metaphysics, occultism, and esotericism. While these practices are typically very internal and individual and, therefore, may not have certificates of completion associated with them, some do and are posted below.
Certificates are not as important in esoteric education because the knowledge is so individual. The certificate below for Reiki Master isn't saying that I am a Master of Reiki, but that I have learned the basics of that level. Students aspire to be "masters" or "adepts" but are, in fact, always students. A certificate demonstrates education, not comprehension. That is to say that I am not sharing this information to claim authority or mastership, but to further list educational achievements.
Reiki Certifications
In 2017 I completed Usui Ryoho Reiki certification. This style of energy healing is typically broken up into three degrees or levels. The first level is focused on healing yourself, the second level is focused on directing energy to other people, and the third, or master, level introduces energy manipulation across time and space.
This certificate shows the date I initially complete the course through the website Udemy. Below are the certificates I earned in the course, reissued after I lost the originals.
Level I
Level II
Level III
Other Healing Systems
Reiki Usui Shiki Ryoho
Teacher: Robin K. Higgins, RMT
First Degree - May 29, 2014
Second Degree - August 2, 2014
Active Educational Membership
Confraternity of the Rose Cross (CR+C) - Lewisonian Rosicrucianism
Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) - Rosicrucian Tarot