Kristie is a native of Greenville, South Carolina where she matriculated in the public schools and graduated from Wade Hampton High School. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1991. In 1998, she graduated from Webster University with a Master of Art Degree in Counseling.
Kristie has eighteen years of experience in the Human Service field. Her career began with the Department of Juvenile Justice where she worked as a Residential Counselor at Greenville Group Home for Boys and later hired as a Juvenile Probation Officer with Spartanburg County DJJ. She completed internships with Crossroads Girls Home and Safe Harbor. Upon completion of graduate studies, Kristie worked as a Substance Abuse Counselor for Greenville County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, presently the Phoenix Center. During her tenure with the Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, she worked in the inpatient, outpatient and detoxification units. Kristie worked with the elderly and disabled through South Carolina Long Term Care until she relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina. She worked as Program Director for Summit House, Inc., a residential alternative to incarceration for women and children.
Kristie is a Licensed Preacher in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. She lives her life by the motto “give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime”. She is the proud mama of two boys, Jarrett Mitchel age 12 and Micah Isaiah age 3.