Jeanette was born and raised in the Bronx, NY, to Puerto Rican parents. Her father is a USMC Vietnam Vet, and she followed in his footsteps and enlisted in the Marine Corps herself. She served during Desert Storm from 1991–1998 and was honorably discharged in 1998 as a Sgt. She then earned her Technical Diploma in Network Engineering & Data Communications, her AAS in Digital Arts & Animation and her BA in Multimedia Arts & Design. She did all of this while working on her Military Sexual Trauma, PTSD, being a single mom, and dealing with health issues.

Jeanette has been creative and artistic her entire life. She can still remember how, from the moment she could pick up a pencil, she was relentlessly drawing, scribbling, painting, and exploring every creative outlet she could. After being honorably discharged from the military in 1998, she slowly found her way down the path to her true passion.

She was a single mother, so she couldn’t pursue a full-time design career. Instead, she did freelance design work in her spare time. Jeanette continued to work in administration with the Federal Government. Jeanette relocated to Arizona and began working for the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Vet Center—Readjustment Counseling Center. She then relocated to Florida and then Georgia, where she worked at the VA Headquarters. In 2016, she moved back west to Nevada, where she worked for the Department of the Interior and US Fish & Wildlife Service as an Administrative Officer. Her health began to deteriorate, and in 2018, Jeanette was diagnosed with SLE. After many years of fighting to find what was wrong with her, she learned about the monster lurking inside her.

With her passion for art and design still alive, she decided to leave her job as an administrative officer in the federal government in 2021 and has been working to turn her early, mostly self-taught explorations of art and graphic design into a business and become an entrepreneur.

Jeanette and her soulmate, USMC Gunnery Sgt. Darius Harpe, live in Texas with their youngest daughter. Together, they share five children—two boys and three girls.

Jeanette was working on a women’s veterans’ group, The Coyote Warriors, that is meant to empower, encourage, and educate veteran women. Now that she is also fighting the battle with Lupus, she finds it important to find more ways to support the community that supports her. Giving back and uplifting women is important to her. Her hope is that she can marry these two resources and share information. Jeanette is also a member of and serves as the Media and Marketing Manager for Colors of Lupus Nevada and Gamma Pi Rho Lupus Sorority, Inc. She is also a member of the Camouflaged Sisters and the Woman Marine Association.

Over the years, she has had the privilege of collaborating with some very talented individuals, entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations, small businesses, and many other amazing people to help make their dreams a reality. Cultivating these relationships and learning from them, she is now building wealth, educating others, using her story as a testimony for others, and encouraging others to do the same.

Languages: English, Spanish