Lydia started her nursing career with pediatric bone marrow transplants and provided care to transplant services and critical care services to the pediatric population. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel University. After graduating, she worked as a nurse at an adult surgical intensive critical care unit taking care of a variety of patients including liver transplant recipients. She then pursued her master's in nursing at St. Catherine's University with a focus on adult and gerontology primary care. Most of her nurse practitioner clinical practice experience was at Hennepin Healthcare providing primary care services. She started her nurse practitioner career with MHealth Fairview's integrated primary care clinic working with patients with chronic pain, mental health, addiction, and complex care.