Name: Kristen StollerKristenStoller_CVDA

Title: Owner/Artistic Director/Instructor

Business: Chehalem Valley Dance Academy

Location: Newberg and McMinnville (soon to have a new location!)

City you live in: Dundee

First Job: Cleaning for my Meemaw at the Cottage Gallery and Frame Shoppe in McMinnville.  She overpaid me for my work in order to support my dance habit. Thank you Meemaw!

Dream Job: Living it.  I have worked hard since high school to get to this point and couldn’t be happier.

Favorite Happy Hour/Tasting Room/Bar in the Valley: WHEN I’M NOT PREGNANT…Red Hills Market for HH, Stoller (duh + gorgeous + delicious), Anne Amie, Remy baR, and haven’t picked a fave bar yet.

Best Restaurant in the Valley: Subterra. Hands down, over and over again.  Service, food, beverages, owners, and I can go there anytime with anyone and have an amazing experience.

Finish this sentence…”I know this makes me sound old but…” I wore Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone,and Smashing Pumpkins t-shirts to elementary school with tie dye, flannels, and doc martins. Yep.

The worst movie I have ever seen is: WOW, well I saw 2 recently.  Wolverine and 300: Worst Sequel EVER.  Oh, and Castle Freak is hands down the worst movie of all time.

Advice for my high-school self: Wax your eyebrows, do your hair, and STOP PROCRASTINATING.

Group/organization/demographic you are most driven to help: Teens, especially in career development, confidence, and goal setting.

When I have a day off I: Probably work anyway.  Cook, go to concerts, see action movies in the theater, go wine tasting…

When I have an out-of-town visitor, the top 3 things they should do in Yamhill Valley are… Go to Stoller, eat at Subterra, and meet all of my radical friends in the valley killing it in their businesses.

Yamhill Valley really needs… An outdoor concert venue that seats 1000 or more.

Additional info: I’m crazy in love with my man, Francisco Stoller, and love being a mom to my two crazy daughters Vada, 7, and Riley, 5, and Baby Stoller is growing away and due in September.  I also own AllStar Dancewear, am an adjunct professor at George Fox University, and volunteer for lots of organizations in town.  The Chamber of Commerce has been a gateway drug to networking and building my community ties and I am IN LOVE with our valley and where it is going.  The Young Professionals of Yamhill Valley is blowing me away with how much synergy and momentum its gaining and it inspires me.

Kristen Stoller takes herself too seriously and often bites off more than she can chew.  She quick to share her opinion and is very straight forward/blunt/outspoken.  She has been told she is “unreasonable” and has “too high of expectations.”  She thinks everyone else should have higher standards ;).  Kristen fell in love with this community as an overactive teen in McMinnville and made it her goal to grow immensely and expand her perspective before returning to the valley to give back.  She has tripped and fell on many mistakes through her career and strives to learn from them so she can help others from making the same choices.  She cares deeply about the relationships she builds in the county with her students, dance families, and community members.  It is clear that she has big plans for the valley and her little family – as she never stops thinking of ways to improve, support, or fix projects and and groups around her.  Kristen is passionate about community service, branding, and social networking.