I spent the first 20 years of my life in and around Houston, Texas. I was a relatively outdoorsy kid (as much as you can be in an area like Houston) spending most of my childhood in Girl Scouts, fishing in the Gulf of Mexico with my family, horseback riding at summer camp, and taking trips to our family’s hunting property. But as I got older, my time outdoors dwindled.
Shortly after I moved to Nashville in 2013, I met my now-husband, Chris. Born and raised in Idaho, Chris reintroduced me to the outdoors in a way I couldn’t have imagined. My days off, once filled with reality TV and bar-hopping, turned into road trips to Chattanooga, hiking and rock climbing with friends. Winters in Nashville became Christmases in Idaho spent ice fishing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. Eventually, summer trips brought fly fishing, rafting, and camping—each experience pulling me closer to the idea of making Idaho home.
From my first visit, I fell in love with Idaho—just as quickly and deeply as I had with Chris. I went home knowing I wanted to live here someday, and while Chris probably thought that desire would fade with time, it never did. In 2023, with our careers finally aligning, we made the leap and moved back, ready to spend all our free time outside.
Idaho is unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been. I’m still blown away by the sheer diversity of landscapes, the vast public lands, and the endless outdoor recreation opportunities. Up until my mid-twenties, I doubt I could have pointed out Idaho on a map. As we prepared to move here, I realized most people in our lives didn’t know much about it either. If you’re not already an outdoors enthusiast, you probably don’t realize just how vast, diverse, and breathtaking Idaho’s landscapes are—or how much they’re at risk.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been passionate about photography and storytelling. For over a decade, I ran a successful photography business doing everything from real estate photography to family portraits and product photography. It was fulfilling in its own way—it paid the bills—but it never truly filled my cup. Capturing outdoor spaces and sharing stories of life outside is what truly fulfills me.
Going outside and photographing our adventures allows me to share pieces of Idaho with people who may never experience it themselves. I’ve always been passionate about protecting the environment, but until I moved here, my conservation views were mostly theoretical. I knew the world was beautiful and needed protection, but I had only seen it on a screen from the comfort of my couch. Before Chris, I had never even been west of Houston. I didn’t know about the beauty of my own country’s wild spaces, let alone the threats they face.
Spending time outside changed me in a way I didn’t know was possible. While not everyone can immerse themselves in the outdoors the way we do, my goal is to spread Idaho’s beauty as far as I can—to help others care about it as much as Idahoans do. Idaho’s blessing of vast wild unpopulated spaces is also its curse. There are fewer people in the entire state of Idaho than in the county I grew up in (1.965 million people in Idaho vs. 4.835 million in Harris County, Texas). That means unless more people across the country—and the world—start caring about these lands, we don’t have the numbers to protect them.
Since moving here, I’ve volunteered regularly with several environmental nonprofits and supported several others, But I believe my greatest contribution is through storytelling—sharing Idaho’s beauty and helping people recognize their connection to these public lands. The more people who care, the better chance we have of protecting them.
My career in the tech industry affords me a lifestyle that can be mostly lived outside. I’m known at work for my rotating Zoom backgrounds—rivers and campsites in the summer, snow-covered landscapes in the winter—and I have the extraordinary privilege of working from anywhere with a cellular or satellite signal. Technology is how I pay my bills so that I can do the work of storytelling to fill my heart.
My goal is to collaborate with companies, both local and global, who share a passion for outdoor spaces and the need to protect them. On a small scale, I love creating website and photo projects that help Idaho-based nonprofits expand their reach and amplify their message. On a larger scale, I love working with outdoor brands I personally align with—providing photography of their products in use in Idaho’s wild spaces, and telling visual stories that inspire deeper appreciation and stewardship of the land.
