Gaylen was born in Seattle in the 60s and is the oldest of 4 kids. Her family moved to Missoula,
Montana in the late 70s where she graduated from Hellgate High School in Missoula. Gaylen got married right
out of high school and her first marriage produced 2 lovely daughters who are now both adults.
Gaylen spent two years living in England where she learned to knit and lost the ability to give
blood (dormant Mad Cow). Upon separating from her first husband she moved back to Missoula where she had to
come up with a way to support her daughters. She enrolled in the Missoula Vocational Technical College where she
completed both the Legal Assistant and Paralegal programs. While attending school she worked as a waitress at a truck
stop.
Once Gaylen graduated from school she worked in a law office in Missoula where she helped
with Family Law and Estate Planning. She soon came to realize that she could afford to either pay for daycare or
food but not both on the wages being paid in Missoula, so she moved back to Seattle. Gaylen got a job at Riach Gese Seather
& Watts in Lynnwood working with the Lynnwood City Attorney. She worked on several large condemnation projects in
Lynnwood, including both the 196th off-ramp and Highway 99 widening projects.
Gaylen later went to work at Viking Sewing Gallery. She makes many of her clothes and loves to knit. She had
been teaching classes for the local Viking dealer and he was looking for someone full time for sales. She enjoyed her job
a lot but decided that her work began making her hobby less enjoyable. So, she left sewing machine
sales after 3 years and went back to law.
Gaylen worked for a family law attorney in Everett when she first met Heidi. They started
chatting in the hallways and became friends. Gaylen's husband would work on Heidi's cars, and they would get together
at the dog park to visit and let the dogs play. Heidi was looking for a new assistant and Gaylen was unhappy at her
job, so a deal was made. Gaylen was promoted to Office Manager shortly thereafter.
Gaylen is married to a wonderful man and they have four (4) dogs together. They have a nice house
with enough land for the dogs to romp and play. Gaylen spends her free time knitting, sewing, reading and walking
dogs.
