About Shay

My name is Shay, and Lawrence County is home.

I've lived here since the late 1990s. I grew up here, went to school here, raised my family here, and built my entire adult life right here. This community didn't just shape me—it raised me. I'm a graduate of Wilmington Area Schools, and like many families in our county, I didn't grow up well-to-do. We worked hard, we got by, and we leaned on one another. I'm not from privilege or politics-I'm from real life.

I became a mom at 15 years old. That experience didn't break me; it forged me. It taught me responsibility early, resilience fast, and empathy deeply. While other teenagers were worrying about Friday night plans, I was learning how to show up, how to sacrifice, and how to keep moving forward when the odds weren't in my favor.

After graduating high school in 2011, I went straight into healthcare. I worked as a nursing aide from 20Il to 2019, doing the hands-on, often unseen work that keeps our healthcare system running. In 2019, I attended Lenape Practical Nursing School and have been a licensed nurse since 2020. I've cared for people in their most vulnerable 

moments, and I've seen firsthand where our systems help-and where they fail the people who need them most.

I'm just a few credits shy of completing my Bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology, a field rooted in listening, understanding people's lived experiences, and building solutions that actually work for real lives —not just on paper.

In 2021, I married my husband, Nick-a proud veteran of the United States Navy and my partner in both life and chaos. Together, we're raising five children, ages 17, 8, 7, 6, and I. Our home is busy, loud, imperfect, and full of love. Like so many families here, we juggle work, childcare, school, and the constant balancing act of making ends meet while trying to give our kids a better future.

I'm not a career politician. I'm a working mother. A nurse. A neighbor. Someone who understands Lawrence County not from reports or talking points, but from lived experience.

I believe leadership should be accessible, honest, and grounded in reality. I believe people deserve representation that looks like them, understands them, and shows up for them.

I'm running because this is my home.

And because everyday people deserve a real voice at the table.