Back in 2019, I thought my life was over. I was packing up an entire house, an enclosed trailer, a couple truck beds, anything I could grab, in less than six hours. My boyfriend at the time was at work, and I knew if I didn’t leave right then, I might never leave at all. I had spent 3.5 years in an abusive relationship. Even now, I don’t know why I stayed after the first time I was hit… or the second… or the tenth. But one morning, I woke up and something inside me finally whispered, This is it. It’s time to leave. So I did.
I called my dad, even though we barely spoke then, and said I needed $2,000 to get an apartment. He got me the money… A friend and her boyfriend helped me and my little one-year-old black lab puppy, Pepper, move into a place with pretty much nothing but the air inside it.
I barely had any furniture.
No money.
No purpose.
No sense of who I was.
I had let that relationship drain every ounce of life out of me. I look back now at that girl and honestly… I feel so sad for her. And yet, I also know that version of me is so damn proud of who I’ve become. She actually is in complete disbelief of the life I live now.
FEB 2019 | Pepper and I the after getting settled in and sharing this photo as an update with some friends and family that we moved!
Pepper, Running, Rachel Hollis & the slow climb out
After the breakup, my black lab Pepper and I spent every possible minute outside. We shed-hunted. We ran nearly 6 to 10 miles every day, me with earbuds in, her splashing through water puddles off leash like nothing could hurt her. We were free. I listened to every Rachel Hollis podcast and audiobook I could find. And somewhere along those miles, between the heartbreak and the sweat and the mud, I realized something: No one was coming to save me. I had to take control of my life. So I did.
I started surrounding myself with people who lived the life I wanted: hunters, runners, fishermen, outdoorsy people who breathed fresh air and didn’t apologize for taking up space. But as I stepped into that world, I noticed something pretty quickly: The outdoor community was built for men. Women were an afterthought… if they were thought of at all. I wasn’t crossing paths with women like me. And I needed them.
MAY 2019 | Pepper and I running our first 10 mile day together in 2019!
The first event and the spark
I put together a women’s trap shooting event for a local Pheasants Forever chapter. It was a huge success. Packed, fun, and full of women who clearly wanted this kind of space. But that chapter had too many limitations for someone who dreams as big as I do. So I left. And with some of the women from that event, I planned a bowfishing trip. Then another. And then a salmon trip in Wisconsin. Every time I shared photos, dozens of women messaged me asking when the next one was, how they could sign up, how they could be a part of whatever it was we were doing. I didn’t know it yet, but the community I was searching for… I was already building it.
The moment I realized this was bigger than me
It happened on a bowfishing trip. Thirty-two women were loading up onto boats for a night out on the water. I stepped back on the dock, letting every one of them take my spot because I’d already done it and because watching them mattered more than doing it myself. They were laughing. Connecting. Making friendships I knew they desperately needed. And I literally turned around after they all took off for a night on the lake and I asked myself out loud: “What is this thing I’m building?”
I went home from that trip, filed an LLC, and slapped a logo on it. Her Wilderness was born.
JULY 2019
Naming Her Wilderness
It started in the Notes app on my phone. One list of words about women, and one list of words about the outdoors. I mixed and matched until two words stuck together like they had always belonged. I didn’t know then how big it would get, or how many lives it would touch, including my own.
Growing pains, mean girls & Google University
Turning this into a real business was… honestly? A shitshow.
I Googled everything.
How to start an LLC.
How to build a website.
How to run events legally.
How to manage payments.
How to communicate with customers.
How to run a business I was absolutely not qualified to run.
I faced more obstacles than I can count, especially from women.
Girls can be mean. Like, really mean. And learning how to navigate the criticism, the bullying, the drama, and the pressure built a kind of strength in me I didn’t know I had. I grew a thick skin. I learned how to stand firm. And I realized something that still guides me today: I am the only one who could endure all of this with peace and professionalism. Because I’m building what I needed and not what I thought would impress anyone.
How this community healed me (and also took a lot from me)
People ask all the time how Her Wilderness has healed me. Honestly? That’s complicated.
This community has saved me, given me purpose, identity, community, and a career I wake up grateful for every single day. But being the owner also means I’m the “bad guy” when something goes wrong. It means carrying stress no one sees. It means constant problem-solving, conflict-managing, and holding the weight of thousands of women on my shoulders. Some days this business takes the life out of me. But then another trip fills my cup all over again.
Owning Her Wilderness is, in a weird way, like a toxic relationship it breaks you down and builds you right back up. Over and over again. But I stay because the good outweighs the hard. Because women need this. Because I needed this.
A message to the girl who feels like I did in 2019
If you’re reading this and you feel stuck… If you feel alone… If you feel broken or lost or like you don’t even recognize yourself… I want you to hear me:
You are allowed to start over.
You don’t have to stay where you are.
You don’t have to wait for permission.
You don’t need qualifications or a perfect plan.
I was a girl with nothing, no money, no friends, no confidence, no direction. And I built a life I didn’t even know I needed simply because I chose to put myself first and follow my heart. Her Wilderness works because I wasn’t some polished expert. I was the exact woman I was trying to reach. And if I can rebuild my life from nothing… If I can create a community that now spans the entire country then you can build whatever your heart is pulling you toward too. You’re not stuck. You’re not broken beyond repair. You’re just at the beginning of your story. And maybe, like me, you’re about to build something bigger than you ever imagined.