Coming from a family of veterans, Nicole felt the call to serve in the Army Reserves as a CBRN Specialist from 2014-2022. While deployed in 2019-2020, she decided to take the opportunity to pursue her passion for dog training. When she came home in 2020, she moved to St. Louis and completed the Specialized Dog Trainer program at The Academy of Pet Careers in January 2021. She spent the next three years growing her skills by continuing working with her mentor Jody Epstein, who is an Animal Behaviorist, and helping dog parents strengthen their bonds with their pets through training. In that time, she also went back to The Academy of Pet Careers furthering her training knowledge by completing the Specialized Groomer program.

After getting out of the service, Nicole continued to feel the call to help her fellow veterans. She understands first hand how having a well trained companion can improve the quality of a veterans life and help fight the mental battle at home. Her dog Phantom’s service dogs skills, that were taught during her time at the academy, are used every day to improve the lives of her and her husband, who is also a veteran. She looks forward to using all of the skills she has developed in the last ten years to help her fellow heroes overcome the struggles of life after military service and life altering injuries.