“They say your name should sort of embody a personality of someone you might want to be, or some thing, or some quality. It just kind of stuck. I felt like, ‘Well, I’m not a very wild person and I’m kind of conservative. I’m calm on a regular basis but then when I get out there, I have to be somebody else.’ Wildkat is my opposite, but it’s also a part of me, and some days it’s a lot more of me and it even blends into my world now.
Roller derby has been a big part of my life. It helps you overcome obstacles and become stronger as a person. Maybe sometimes you have to do something a little risky or out of your comfort zone; you do this all the time in roller derby. You’re up on one skate or toe stop doing some crazy spin while holding your teammate and trying to block a person from coming through. It’s like the height of all that intensity in one moment. In life we have transitions, crises, and even small fires to put out at work, and people you don’t get along with, and family members that are going through stuff. You have to take that derby stuff, pair it with the wildness, and take it into your life while maintaining a calm.”