Westlake moved to Portland, Oregon and began working at the New Rose Theatre first as the Box Office Manager, then as the Marketing Director.

She, Harrel, and Robin Suttles founded Stark Raving Theatre in 1988 and began developing and staging new plays.

[4] Westlake also directed several of the plays at the theatre, including Cold Hands, and Split Britches' Little Women: the Tragedy.

[6][7] Westlake left Stark Raving to begin graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1992[8] and completed her PhD in Theatre and Drama in 1997.

[13] In 2021, Westlake left Michigan and became the Chair of the Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts at The Ohio State University.