Kristen worked with artist Mike Daniel at a young age and he connected her with Southeastern Pottery and Cherokee Basketry. Her first award was in the category of Youth Textiles in the Trail of Tears Art Show while she was in middle school. Kristen later worked at the Cherokee Heritage Center in the Ancient Village as a tour guide. While here she worked with master artesian, Anna Sixkiller who further inspired her. Anna introduced Kristen to language revitalization. Kristen won the title of Miss Cherokee in 2002 and then went on to graduate from Northeastern State University with a B.A. in Cherokee. Kristen is currently a Cherokee Nation employee working in the Language Program dept. Kristen feels it is important to have access to the Cherokee language so she created a line of greeting cards that provides a Cherokee option for those that would like to send cards for holidays, birthdays and thank you cards. The cards not only feature Cherokee syllabary but also images of local attractions and cultural buildings and places.