Jillian grew up in Fairfield, CA, over 5000 miles away from Paris, the birthplace of her inspiration,  Auguste Rodin.  She has recently studied Bakery and Pastry Arts from the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute in Coos Bay, Oregon as well as Culinary Arts.  She has been working as a full-time baker under chef Chris Foltz for the campus dining and catering services.  

For the past year, she has been busy studying ice carving and getting ready for the Ice Alaska along with Amelia Rombach, another student of OCCI.  Under the guidance of Chris Foltz, Jillian and Amelia together recently built ice bars and an ice room for a fundraising party using over 20,000 pounds of ice.