Jen was born and raised along the Country Music Highway in FLATWOODS, KY where she may or may not have been neighbors and BEST BUDS with Billy Ray Cyrus!!!! After graduating from Russell High School, she attended Eastern Kentucky University on a FULL academic scholarship and graduated with High Distinction with a Dietetics degree in Health Science. Jen’s first job was at the University of Kentucky Hospital where she managed the food service operations for all patients in the 790-bed hospital and Markey Cancer Center. In this position, she managed over 50 employees in the day-to-day operations of the business. While there, she raised patient satisfaction scores to highly satisfied, which was the first time in over 20 years of conducting patient surveys. Jen left UK and went to the Frankfort Regional Medical Center as the Clinical Nutrition Manager. There she managed the clinical nutrition needs of the patient population, from the intensive care unit to the outpatient surgery center. COMPLETELY unknowing, worked a few feet from the gift shop that was owned and operated by Kyle Thompson and his parents, Tom and Leslie Thompson. She left FRMC and became the clinical dietitian with the Commonwealth of Kentucky at the Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs. In this rewarding position, Jen was able to work with special needs population clients to meet their individual nutritional situations. Her specialty area was feeding infants born with cleft lip and palate and was asked to train others throughout the state on the skills and techniques developed. Jen and her family moved from Lexington to Frankfort in 2011, and at that time had ZERO clue she was living one neighborhood over from her future husband! She stayed with the Commonwealth of KY but became the Manager of the Child and Adult Care Food Program. This program, with its budget of $3 million per year, would provide funds to daycares based on their compliance with a federal meal plan. This program’s funds were distributed to daycares per meal, per income level, per student, monthly, and Jen’s team would educate and audit these daycares who participated in the program. In 2015, Jen began working in her current position on the management team for the Commissioner of Employee Insurance, which, unbeknownst to her, just happens to be 4 BUILDINGS DOWN from her future husband’s office building on Main Street (they had yet to meet though). Y’all, we can’t make this stuff up!!! In this role, her focus is the wellness benefits for the members of the Kentucky Employees’ Health Plan. Jen manages the vendor relationships of various contracts, including the implementation of new vendors for the health plan. She is the point person for providing information to other Cabinets and to the Governor’s office as requested. Jen has 2 children of her own, and 3 additional bonus kids with her husband. She loves being outside and in the sunshine in any capacity! Her favorite place is on a beach somewhere!