Kristen Radaker Sheafer was raised in rural northeast Oklahoma, where she used to watch cows grazing in the pasture behind her backyard from the kitchen table. In 2006, she graduated from her small public high school and headed to a small town in Arkansas for college. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic and Web Design from John Brown University and returned to Oklahoma for a few years. In 2013, Kristen married her husband Luke and moved to Joplin, MO. After spending more than 7 years working in graphic design and marketing, she quit her web design job to pursue her dream of starting a bakery specializing in custom cakes for weddings and other events.  Over the past six and a half years, she has grown the bakery has grown into a strong and successful small business.

 

For the last decade, Kristen and her husband, along with their two giant dogs, Eleanor "Nori" Roosevelt and Ira Glass have established deep roots in Southwest Missouri.  She decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives to use her creativity, problem solving skills, collaborative attitude, and ability to find common ground to help the people of Missouri's 7th district.