Michele started her genealogy journey over 30 years ago, diving in headfirst with zero clue about methodology and making just about every mistake possible. It didn’t take long for her to realize she needed some serious education if she ever wanted to make sense of her tangled family tree. She started with the Family History Library Research Guides, moved on to genealogy courses at Brigham Young University, and pretty much jumped at any educational opportunity that came her way. One thing led to another, and before she knew it, she had earned both her Certified Genealogist® (CG) and Accredited Genealogist® (AG) credentials for the U.S. Southeast region. Now, she’s on a mission to help others start their genealogy adventure on the right foot—without falling into the "copy-and-paste" trap.

Michele runs Mad Hatter Genealogy (yes, there's a story behind the name—feel free to ask her!). She has worked with private clients, helping them wrangle their research plans, organize their ever-growing piles of genealogy paperwork, and bring order to their digital chaos. But teaching has always been her passion. Over the years, she has written a weekly newspaper column, spoken at conferences across Georgia and South Carolina, and mentored aspiring genealogists through ProGen, Mastering Genealogical Proof and ICAPGen Level 1 study groups. Most people, however, know her from her years as an educator at Legacy Family Tree, where she spent countless hours helping genealogists of all levels before retiring from that chapter in 2020.

These days, Michele is back in student mode, working toward an MSc in Genealogical, Palaeographic & Heraldic Studies at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. She lives in rural Georgia, with her four children and seven grandchildren close by. When she’s not buried in historical records, she loves knitting, crocheting, sewing, hiking, gardening, and getting lost in a good book.