I grew up in Natchez, Mississippi, in a house often filled with my mother’s bridge friends. The rooms were loud with laughter, the wine was flowing, and the table was the center of everything.

I did not know it then, but I would spend much of my life chasing that feeling. I finally found it again in Mahjong.

I come by it honestly

My mother is a bridge wizard. She learned at twelve, taught the game in college, and has played her entire life. At her peak she belonged to four clubs at once. In her late seventies, she is still in three. Naturally, she picked up Mahjong about ten years ago.

My paternal grandmother loved games too. She taught me Rummikub when I was seven, and I still play it with my family today. Gaming runs deep on both sides of my family. My grandfather, my mother’s father, built his first house with his poker winnings during World War II.

So I come by it honestly.

I was always the gamer at the table. War, Go Fish, Uno and Shut the Box gave way to hearts, spades and poker. On Christmas morning in 1985, my brother and I got our first Nintendo and never looked back. The Legend of Zelda, Kid Icarus, Contra and every Super Mario Bros. game are still my favorites. My mother had to set daily and weekly limits. The obsession never really left.

I played poker through graduate school and into my career, regularly making final tables, and just as regularly having the rules explained to me by men I had knocked out hours earlier.

These days you are more likely to find me upstairs with my two little ones playing Nex Playground, where your whole body is the controller.

Big numbers, big deals

I moved to Texas in 1998 for college, earned a finance degree from SMU, and after a stint as a stockbroker earned a master’s in commercial real estate from Texas A&M. I spent more than two decades in commercial real estate in Austin, eleven of them as a VP of Originations at a leading national firm.

I am comfortable with big numbers, big deals, and being the only woman in the room. But I always wanted to build something of my own.

South Commerce Street

My husband, Charlie, and I met when we were seven, after his family moved across the street from mine on South Commerce Street in Natchez. We have been friends ever since. That street is where our company, Commerce Street Gaming, gets its name.

During the pandemic, dating each other simply started to make sense. We loved each other, we shared the same friends and passions, and we both wanted children. Why wouldn’t we try? We married in 2021 and started our little family right away.

Everything was falling into place, but something was missing. I had built a successful career, always for someone else. I wanted something that was mine.

Then I found American Mahjong

I learned to play in July 2023 and was hooked at once. But between a full-time job and two toddlers, my friends and I were lucky to get a game together once a month.

In person is how Mahjong is meant to be played. The table, the laughter, the stories, the tiny rituals: that is the magic. I just wanted a way to practice between those nights, and to keep playing when real life got in the way.

So I went looking for an app. Most of what I found felt like an online poker room, built for a completely different audience. The one that more or less worked was clunky and plain. I wanted something beautiful, intuitive and mine to customize. Somewhere to practice alone, and to set up a game with friends after the kids were finally asleep.

That game did not exist.

“I can do this.”

On the evening of our fifth wedding anniversary, it clicked. Charlie, a venture capitalist in Austin, had been watching Mahjong take off across Texas and wondering how to invest in it. I told him, “It’s the digital game. The options are terrible. I can do this.”

He was all in. Two weeks later, I left my twenty-year career to build The Mahj Room.

I assumed I would need to hire a developer. Then a founder friend pushed me to try building it myself with the new AI coding tools. So I did, and I built the first versions on my own. Recently I brought on a part-time backend developer to help with multiplayer and the more technical parts of the platform as we grow.

A prettier place to play

Women used to collect china for their weddings. Now they collect beautiful Mahjong sets. The Mahj Room brings that same pleasure to you virtually, with tile sets you would want on your own table.

It is the game I wanted and could not find: beautiful, intuitive, and made for every level of player, from those learning their first hand to seasoned competitors. You can make the table your own by changing the style, tiles, mats and playing level, and by turning hints and targets on or off. Play a relaxed game with friends, sharpen your strategy, or take on a competitive challenge. If you are still learning, the optional interactive tutorial offers more than an hour of instruction, along with tools to help you learn the card. For more advanced players, add-on lessons go deeper into strategy.

I will always believe Mahjong is best around a real table with real friends. Modern life does not always make that easy. The Mahj Room lets you practice on your own, play after the kids go to bed, or set up a game with friends in other cities. Make room for Mahjong in the carpool line, in bed instead of watching TV, or anytime you want to sharpen your game before the in-person nights we all crave.

I hope it helps you get to the table more often. We would love your feedback as we build. Our goal is simple: to make the best American Mahjong game there is for the women who love it.