My outdoor career started by working retail at the local gear shop at 16. From there, summers through college saw me raft guiding and kayak instructing in western North Carolina (while hanging onto the winter gear shop gig).

The raft guide and party scenes provided a lot of fun life experience…but it could only last so long. I got sober in my mid twenties and began to shift my outdoor industry experience in a more career-focused direction. This shift lead to a role in product design for ALPS Mountaineering.

Several years of experience from ALPS led to a new opportunity as product manager and brand manager at HKD Global. HKD (based in Hong Kong) is one of the largest tent manufacturing companies in the world. I was able to spend months at a time in our factories in Bangladesh while working with a worldwide team to develop product lines through innovative design. My time traveling in Hong Kong, China and the rest of Southeast Asia also kickstarted a new love of photography.

After several years with HKD, I came back to the US full time to take on a new role with ust (formerly ultimate survival technologies). As the new brand manager for ust, our goal was to create an entirely new brand direction and future for the once successful (but dated) camping and survival brand. We wrapped up the re-branding process and launched an incredibly successful new brand direction at Outdoor Retailer in summer of 2021. With this chapter coming to a close, I knew it was time for me to enter this new endeavor of Actual Outdoors.