My Story

Every story has a beginning. Mine starts in Romania, a country of deep roots, rich culture, and extraordinary resilience. I was born in Constanța, a city on the Black Sea with over 2,500 years of history, where ancient ruins meet the open sea and history breathes through the very streets beneath your feet. Being born in a place like that leaves something in you, a sense of depth, beauty, and possibility.

My roots run even deeper than the city itself. My grandparents emigrated from Bulgaria to Romania during a time of war, leaving behind everything in search of safety and a better life. That courage, that willingness to start over with nothing, was passed down to my mother, and from her, to me. I came into this world surrounded by extraordinary women: my mother, my grandmother, my aunts, the women in my family. I watched them raise children through hardship and never once lose their grace or courage.

As a little girl, I chose to take more of the good than the bad, their strength, their elegance, their unshakable will. My mother, above all, was my greatest teacher. She wanted me strong, strong enough to be able to live on my own if anything happened to her, to handle things, and take care of my little brothers. She had known fear herself, having been through so much. She raised me like a warrior, not through armor or weapons, but through values: resilience, courage, and an unshakable belief that I could face whatever life put in front of me.

Life during that era was rich in lessons. I helped raise my two brothers, stood in line before dawn for rationed bread and milk, and learned early what it means to lead and endure. My stepfather built his entire career at the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant, one of Romania’s most significant engineering achievements, working every day, away all week, coming home only on weekends, sometimes every other weekend, faithfully, until the day he retired. I am deeply proud of him. I still remember the joy when he walked through the door at Christmas carrying oranges and chocolate. Oranges, bananas, and coconuts, exotic fruits almost never seen in stores back then. To us, they felt like treasure, like diamonds.

Those small moments taught me to find richness in simplicity and to never take anything for granted. And yet, deep down, I always knew there was more, more life, more possibility, more I was meant to become. I felt a deep need to give back, to honor everything my family had sacrificed and worked so hard for. From a very young age, I learned to run errands, contribute, start earning, work, and help my mother. I was courageous and ambitious, always looking, always searching, always moving toward something greater.

That drive eventually led me beyond everything I had ever known, to a new country, a new language, and a new life. The United States welcomed me, and I was ready for it. In time, I became an American citizen, one of the proudest moments of my life. I live by the same rules, values, and responsibilities as every American, and I carry that with great pride and gratitude every single day. I am honored and blessed to call this country home, a place surrounded by opportunity, where anything is possible if you are willing to work for it. And I have always been more than willing.

In New Jersey, my husband became one of my most important mentors. The automotive industry is demanding and fast-moving, he taught me to navigate it with confidence, gave me the role of a businesswoman, and placed me in charge of the car shows we produced together. I thrived in that role. Las Vegas holds a very dear place in my heart; it was there, through the SEMA Show, one of the world’s premier automotive trade events, that I first truly experienced luxury at its finest. The grandeur, the precision, the beauty of things done at the highest level sharpened my eye for detail and elegance, qualities that would stay with me forever.

My husband remains in the automotive industry to this day, and SEMA is a tradition we return to every year. When we faced a significant business setback, I didn’t give in to fear; I focused on solutions, and we rebuilt stronger than before. But even then, I felt a persistent pull toward something exclusively my own, a path I would have to find, create, and own entirely by myself.

We moved our business to Saint Martin, a beautiful Caribbean island, and what made that chapter truly special was that we didn’t go alone. We brought my mother and brothers with us, and for many years we lived together, building a life as a family. My brothers flourished there, venturing into modeling and creating a life of their own. My husband and I were able to give them something we had always dreamed of, a new life, an easier life, a happy one. That chapter holds a very special place in my heart.

From Saint Martin, life brought us to Orlando, where an entirely new chapter of my own journey began. In Orlando, I began at Saks Fifth Avenue as a Personal Stylist, working with a high-end clientele in the luxury fashion industry. I loved the elegance, the refinement, the art of helping people present their very best selves, and it deepened my own sense of style in ways I carry to this day. I was also selected to model for an in-store event featuring Alice and Olivia, an experience that further sharpened my eye for beauty and visual storytelling. Seeking new challenges, I transitioned into leasing with JRK Residential, where my passion for real estate truly ignited. I traveled, gained hands-on experience, and earned my real estate license, stepping into property advisory at the highest level.

I am proud to be a global real estate advisor with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty here in Orlando, under the prestigious umbrella of Sotheby’s International Realty, and to hold my Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) designation.

Throughout it all, I committed myself to continuous learning, and fitness remained a grounding force; the discipline and resilience I built through training are the same qualities I bring to everything I do. Through all of this, the building, the growing, the becoming, I have never forgotten where I came from or who made it possible. Today, I have the privilege of caring for my mother and giving her what she never had. That, to me, is one of the greatest honors of my life. Every border crossed, by my grandparents, by my mother, and by me, has shaped who I am today.

A woman built from resilience, love, and an unrelenting belief that there is always more to become. And through it all, one feeling never left me: the desire to create something entirely my own, something that could not be built in a boardroom or measured in numbers.

That is when art entered my life. And everything changed.