I grew up in Laguna Beach, where both the importance of family and the significance of connecting with the environment were ingrained in me at an early age. I spent my free days at the beach and in the ocean feeling the presence and peace of mind that comes with being immersed in Mother Nature. Combine that with my parents’ passion for adventuring, which led us on many family trips to Tahoe — we were lucky to have the best of both worlds, and opportunities to explore and play in the mountains. I followed my older siblings around attempting to prove I could hang with the big kids, which meant quickly figuring out how to push myself outdoors.

I went on to play college soccer on the East Coast at Tufts University, where I majored in Sociology. During my time in Boston, I worked at the Boston Public Market, and enjoyed exploring the historic city. It was an experience I cherish, but one that also solidified which coast I wanted to live on. I made my way back to LA to work at a start-up and begin my career. Unfortunately, I still wasn’t quite satisfied. Three years of trying to make LA work helped me to understand what I was missing — presence of community and the opportunity to contribute to a collective group, accessible adventure, and being somewhere I could breathe.

Enter Tahoe. I packed up my car and road tripped up the coast, camping along the way, until I made it to the mountains. In just arriving, I felt more myself. I was able to get my foot in the door with part time work at Alpenglow, while supplementing it with much other part time work. I was biding my time until I could make it a full time job. This was a family and I felt so grateful to have landed somewhere that embodied everything I was searching for. When Brendan, Jeff, and Tracy took me climbing for the first time, and Jeff started giving me rap directions mainly before, but also quite a bit after I was over the ledge, I knew that I wouldn’t be leaving this place.