Outdoor brands are sitting on the most powerful asset to shift our culture…
...and leaving almost all of them untold.
I help outdoor brands and nonprofits craft stories that turn athletes into voices that shape the future of the industry.
The highlight reel isn’t the full sports story.
You’re spending good money on athlete sponsorships. And what you’re getting back is content that’s just… fine? Or worse, forgettable.
Not because your athletes aren’t compelling. Because nobody empowered them to use their voices in a way that reflects your brand values.
Athletes don’t know what story the brand needs. Brands don’t know how to ask for the story athletes actually have. So everyone ~shrugs~ and defaults to the highlight reel, and the highlight reel looks exactly like every other outdoor brand’s highlight reel. 😬
Meanwhile, your community can feel the difference between a brand that’s done the work and a brand that ordered a teal-and-purple colorway and called it women’s representation. They’re not spending their dollars on the one that didn’t bother to hear their own stories.
We should work together if…
You want a return on the resources you’re spending on athletes – not content that checks a box, but stories that bring in first-time customers and turn them into fans who tell their friends.
You want relatable women sharing about your brand on their own channels. Beyond your pros and podium finishers, the woman training around her kids’ bedtimes and the chef who runs on tired legs and the athlete who finally stopped adding an asterisk to her achievements.
You want to be ahead of the game, not just following. You’ve watched other brands “do inclusion” as a mere photo shoot and you know that’s… not it.
You need a trusted contractor who already understands and lives in this culture. Someone who runs 100 miles for fun and knows a 3-sport day is a sign of a good weekend. ;) A trustworthy partner who can take the load.
You’re an athlete program manager, marketing director, or nonprofit/advocacy org leader, and you’re building a movement for outdoor access. You just need a solid map and compass to make it land.
Your teammate in outdoor engagement 👋
I’ve spent fifteen years (and counting!) immersed in this ecosystem. As a race director, storyteller, community manager, river guide, podcast host, and menstrual cycle educator, I’ve been on both sides: building culture in the space and being the token woman wondering if she even belongs in it.
I’m also the ideal customer for the brands I work with. I’ve been the athlete on the other end of a lame brief. I’ve been the participant who could feel the difference between a brand that got it and one that didn’t. I’ve watched the 30% of women who find trail running’s messaging intimidating, and I know what that messaging is doing wrong, because I’ve felt it, too.
I know what it takes to get a woman to tell the true version of her story in a space that wasn’t built for her. I know the difference between stand-out stories and vague platitudes. And I know that the brands that figure this out now will still be relevant in ten years… and the brands that don’t are already falling behind. ⚠️
How we can work together 🤩
01 / Storytelling for Athletes: Workshop Series
Your athletes have stories that could stop someone mid-scroll, build brand trust, grow your community, and make your next campaign write itself. Most of them have no idea how to access those stories, let alone the confidence to tell them.
I deliver this workshop series live with your team (athlete cohort, ambassador program, staff, or any group whose stories you need to unlock), or you can license the recorded curriculum for your own use.
02 / Campaign Messaging Strategy
You’ve got a program launch, a podcast series, a seasonal push, or a new initiative, and you need someone who can hold the strategic thread from concept to execution.
This is where I combine all the gold: interviewing, story development, podcast production, event strategy, content that makes a movement. I’ll help you figure out what you’re truly trying to say, who you’re starting a conversation with, and what format gives it the best chance of landing.
Past work includes: scholarship and ambassador program development, limited-run podcast series, fundraising campaign strategy, community activation events, and curriculum design for outdoor education programs.
Available as a project engagement or ongoing retainer. Reach out to brainstorm together. →
03 / Athlete Program + Community Management
Starting an athlete program is one thing. Running it — keeping the cohort engaged, the content flowing, the community growing, and the mission showing up in how athletes talk about your brand — is the level-up.
This is the work I’ve done inside organizations, not just for them. I conceived and developed the First 50k Sisterhood for The Cairn Project: recruiting and selecting the cohort, developing the storytelling, managing the athlete relationships, securing sponsorships, and building the thriving community that formed around it. I’ve turned individual athletes into a functioning, mission-aligned community of advocates.
If you have an ambassador program that’s gone quiet, a scholarship cohort that needs more than a welcome email, or a new initiative that needs someone to run it from the inside, OH HELLO!
Available as a project engagement or ongoing retainer. Let’s chat scope. →
04 / Embedded Campaign Partner
You’re building a movement: a flagship women’s program, a full campaign around athlete storytelling, an avenue to unfold the taboo topics your community desperately wants to talk about.
Let’s jump into the deep end. I come in as a strategic and creative partner: story development, content strategy, event planning, and beyond. You get someone who understands the culture from the inside, can speak fluently to your athletes, and will push back when the brief is too flat.
Project-based. Let’s talk about your movement. →
And the future of YOUR community?
Your athletes stop sending you content you can’t use. They stop defaulting to bland gear photos and run-of-the-mill summit selfies. You start sharing stories that make new and returning customers say, “ME TOO!” The ones about body image, injury management, having kids (or not), juggling the complications of life and sport. Stories that make a woman on the subway stop scrolling because she’s never seen herself in outdoor media before and suddenly… there she is.
Your campaigns stop looking like every other outdoor brand’s campaigns. Because the women telling the stories are honest, relatable, and specific. They’re sharing on their own channels, to their own communities, because the story sounds like them, represents their people.
The gap between what you say you stand for and what your content actually produces closes. Because your actions stand behind your words.
And somewhere out there is a woman who needs to hear one of your athletes’ stories before she signs up for her first race, or buys her first piece of gear, or decides she’s actually an athlete. You get to be the brand that gets there first.
Let's Get People Moving Outside
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Some Work I've Loved
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Let's Get People Moving Outside ✨ Some Work I've Loved ✨
Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim Fundraising Hike: Raising $11,000 for women’s outdoor scholarships
Taste of the Gorge Passport: encouraging local ingredient and sustainable dining during the restaurant shoulder season
The Alliance for Gender Equity in Outdoor Adventure’s Trailblazer program: Helping women turn outdoor adventures into fundraisers for gender equity
Founded Outdoors: a community and resources for outdoor industry product and app founders from all backgrounds
Wild Woman Trail Runs: The first all-women’s marathon and 50k, road or trail, in the USA
The June 100 Challenge: a community campaign to get outdoors for 100 miles or km in a month while fundraising $100 for the Summit Scholarship Foundation
The First 50k Sisterhood: a scholarship program for 15 women to run their first ultramarathon with coaching and gear support as they share their most honest stories
Girl Scouts patch program curriculum for girls in middle and high school to explore outdoor industry careers
The Mountaineers Leadership Development Series: workshops on communication, equity, and menstrual health for outdoor leaders
Oregon State Parks and Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington passport program and events weekend
Podcasts galore: See Her Outside, Adventure Sports Podcast, Duffle Shuffle, For the Long Run, Backcountry Marketing, Creatives in the Wild, and more
Outdoor adventures for K-12 girls and their families, from the Snowvernight (intro to snow camping), Canoe Crew (progressive canoeing skills summer camp), and that time a pandemic happened and I made summer camp virtual for thousands of girls
You know the stories are there. Let’s build the system to start using your Outside Voice.
→Get on the phone with me or send me a message so we can chat ideas.
