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I grew up in New York and spent a few of my teen age years in Cairo. I also lived in Cairo during different periods in my 20's and 30's. I did my masters at the American University in Cairo and my JD at New York University.  I worked for awhile doing relief work at USAID in Cairo before going to law school.  I've worked for several federal judges and magistrates both in New York and New Orleans.  I moved to New Orleans about 15 years ago because it was love at first sight and because NYC was strangling me.

In about 2003 (10+ years ago) I became really sick of being cloistered away in the back of a federal judge's chambers writing really long, really boring legal opinions that the judges would then just adopt as their own.  I couldn't imagine continuing in it forever.  After 10 years and a few of my own home renovations, I came to believe that life as an appraiser might work for me.  I love to go into the field, come into new houses and lives, talk about it and figure out value.

I worked as a trainee for a few years and then struck out on my own. Eventually, I started my own business - I just jumped in.  I worked my tail off, and the business worked.  

After Katrina I was forced to leave New Orleans for a few years and then wind my way back. A year ago, I did it all over, just jumped back in and restarted the business.  Of course because of the few years in New York and the HVCC (we're compliant, by the way) it's been like starting from scratch.

So now I'm a certified residential real estate appraiser in Louisiana, and  I'm still an attorney in New York, Louisiana and Connecticut. It's been an adventure, though, and I'm extremely comfortable living where I love, which is right in the middle of New Orleans.