Lee County isn’t just where I live—it’s part of who I am.
My family’s roots here stretch back six generations. Long before modern bridges crossed the Caloosahatchee, my great-grandfather and his brothers ferried cattle across by barge, helping shape the early economy of this region. During World War II, my grandfather, while serving in the U.S. Army, met my grandmother at Buckingham Army Airfield. My great-great-uncle helped develop what is now East Fort Myers. Generation after generation, my family has helped build the very community we call home.
I was raised here, educated here, married here, and raised my children here. The blood, sweat, and sacrifice of my family are quite literally in this soil. So when I say I love Lee County, it’s not just words. It’s personal.
I am married to Darius L. Cochran, a fourth-generation Floridian, and together we have two sons, Nathan and Dylan. Nathan is a graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law and now practices as an associate attorney with GrayRobinson, P.A. Dylan is a graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University’s Entrepreneurship Business Program and is now a business owner and realtor with the family real estate company.
Darius and I have also been blessed with two young men we affectionately call our “bonus” sons, Joseph and Joslyn. We first met them while they were all attending Evangelical Christian School with Nathan and Dylan, then in the fifth and sixth grade, and it wasn’t long before they became part of our family. Today, Joseph is a graduate of Samford University, where he earned his MBA, and is currently in management with Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Joslyn is a graduate of Tusculum University, where he also earned his MBA, and now serves as an assistant football coach at the University of Dayton.
Faith and family are at the center of everything we do.
For nearly 30 years, my husband and I have owned and operated small businesses in Lee County. Like so many local families, we’ve balanced budgets, met payroll, and weathered economic downturns, hurricanes, and uncertainty. As business owners, we’ve proudly created jobs and provided opportunities for people right here in our community. I understand firsthand the pressures facing working families, small business owners, and our local workforce. I’ve lived them.
Alongside my family, I’ve also spent more than three decades serving in the nonprofit sector, including as a board member of Larry Ford Ministries, a faith-based organization founded by my father. Through that work, we have ministered across the country and helped build up churches and community outreach efforts that serve those in need. Service isn’t something I discovered later in life, and it’s certainly not something I stepped into for a political résumé. It’s who I am. I was born into it, and I was raised in it.
That lifelong commitment to service is why I stepped forward. Because when you’re raised to serve, standing up isn’t optional. It’s a responsibility I will always answer.
I am a wife, a mother, a business owner, and a community advocate, NOT a career politician.
I will serve this community the same way I always have: with faith, integrity, and a deep sense of responsibility to the people who call Lee County home.