David Romero earned his undergraduate degree in humanities, and expected to go into arts administration. After a stint managing an art gallery in Scottsdale, he returned to school to earn his graduate degree, but instead of continuing on the arts administration path, changed gears and looked into counseling. It would prove to be a fortuitous shift: after earning his master’s in counseling psychology at Arizona State University, he began his 25-year career as a mental health professional, initially as an administrator with the employee assistance program with St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center. From there, Romero joined America West Airlines (now US Airways) as director of its employee assistance program