“I just grabbed my phone and hit the streets,” she said. Four years later — and during another local election cycle — the Evanston Chamber of Commerce has honored Gardner as the 2021 Community Leadership Person of the Year. Her platform, which produces content covering local politics, social justice efforts and community leaders, now has more than 44,000 views on YouTube and over 6,000 Facebook followers. Catching the “entertainment bug” early in her life, Gardner moved to Los Angeles as a young woman and worked as both a touring dancer and casting director before she returned to Evanston in 2013. “Once you know you’re this artistic, creative person, I don’t think it ever leaves you,” she said. “You feel like you’re dying when you’re doing anything other than (entertainment).”