About MyPlaidPants.com

My name is Mandy. I travel the world; cheer on my alma mater, the Florida Gators, from afar; and love telling stories.

My Formative Years

I am the daughter of a former Southern Baptist minister turned hospice chaplain and a special education teacher. I moved with my family throughout the South of the U.S. during my childhood. I was born in Martinsville, Virginia (most notably known for its Speedway) and spent most of my childhood in several small towns in eastern North Carolina — Greenville, Ayden, and Wilson. Just before my senior year of high school, my family moved to Gainesville, Florida. 

Transformation to Adulthood

After I graduated with a degree in HR from the University of Florida, I worked in HR for an academic healthcare system. When I entered my quarter-life crisis, although I had never left the U.S., I moved overseas to do more HR work in New Delhi, India. I am so grateful I did because it was life-changing. When it was time to return to the States in 2005, I returned home to Gainesville, where I spent the next seven years continuing to develop my career in HR and enjoying time with friends and family. I also adopted Hannah, the golden retriever. Deep down, I yearned to move overseas again.

In 2012, I joined the Foreign Service as an HR officer. I spent a year in training in Washington, D.C., where I learned Foreign Service HR and Russian and then lived and worked in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I later learned Portuguese and lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where I met my love, who now travels with me and makes feijoada for me from time to time. We then lived in Yangon, Myanmar - a.k.a. Rangoon, Burma - which is where Hannah the golden retriever passed away and where we also adopted our Burmese Embassy Teak House cat named Doggie. In the middle of the pandemic, we moved to Frankfurt, Germany, where I professionally shifted more toward training and development work and where we adopted Loki the Turkish street dog, who is a joy even when she is stubborn. My love often tells those we meet that I picked up strays around the world, and she isn’t wrong. I’m grateful each day for my little multicultural family.

We are currently living in Washington, D.C. It feels good to be stateside for a bit. I continue to work on training and professional development issues at work and just completed the Georgetown Executive Leadership Coaching program, which was transformational. I love supporting managers and leaders as they gift themselves the power of hearing their own voices in the work they do.

I have learned to embrace that I am probably always going to be work in progress.

Why MyPlaidPants?  

In my 20s, I bought some plaid pants before they were fashionable. I wore them out one night and quickly learned they had magical powers. My friends then nicknamed me, "Plaid Pants." I have since outgrown those pants, but the MyPlaidPants logo was developed from a scan of those pants, allowing the memories to stay with me forever. 

What is this Website?

I have loved writing since I was very young. I get as much from writing as I do from traveling. I suppose this website is a hodgepodge of my writing, including my life experiences, tributes to loved ones who bring value to my life, and my very random thoughts.

Thanks for visiting MyPlaidPants.com.