Community builder and program designer with 20+ years creating experiences that bring people together around what matters to them.
That has looked like a summer solstice retreat that sells out every year, a neighborhood yoga studio that became a home for its members, Lululemon's regional community programs in its early growth years, and three documentaries made alongside Cheyenne, Maasai, and South African communities.
Comfortable holding the whole picture: the idea, the people who make it real, the partners who sustain it, and the budget and logistics that keep it standing. Trained as a journalist; leads with listening.
Strengths
Programs
Retreat and curriculum design
Facilitation
Teacher development
Participant experience
Evaluation and iteration
Community & partnerships
Grassroots partnerships
Event production
Ambassador programs
Cross-cultural collaboration
Communications & ops
Writing and storytelling
Marketing and communications
Budgets and vendors
Cross-team coordination
Experience
Founder & Program Director
2021 – Present
Mountain Collective Bozeman · Bozeman, Montana
Created and lead the Spirit of Nature Summer Solstice Retreat, sold out in each of its five years. Hold the whole arc, from the first idea through the last circle: curriculum, facilitation, partnerships, communications, and how it feels to be there.
Bring together co-facilitators, venues, and local partners each year; handle registration, budget, vendors, and logistics end to end.
Grew a community that comes back year after year and brings friends, through honest writing, storytelling from each gathering, and staying in touch between them.
Patient Care Technician
2022 – 2026
Bozeman Health Cancer Center · Bozeman, Montana
Coordinated infusion scheduling and patient flow across nursing, providers, and pharmacy in a high-volume oncology center, supporting 30%+ growth in infusion volume without adding scheduling staff.
Was a familiar, steady presence for patients and families over months of treatment.
Noticed where handoffs between departments broke down and worked with each team to fix them as volume grew.
Experience
Owner & Yoga Teacher
2014 – 2021
Mountain Yoga Studio · Bozeman, Montana
Opened and ran an independent studio for seven years: classes and workshops, hiring and mentoring teachers, brand and marketing, partnerships, budget, and the daily work of keeping the doors open.
Built a member community that showed up for each other, and partnerships with local businesses and practitioners that extended the studio beyond its walls.
Guided the studio through the pandemic and closed it by choice in 2021 to launch Mountain Collective.
Marketing Manager
2008 – 2012
Yoga Soup · Santa Barbara, California
Led business and marketing strategy through a period in which the studio tripled its profit and client base, opened a second location, and grew its teacher roster by 50%.
Created the community events, workshops, and local partnerships that made that growth possible.
Regional Marketing Director
2005 – 2008
Lululemon athletica · Santa Barbara, California
Built community relations and brand awareness across the region through grassroots partnerships, ambassador programs, community yoga events, and local storytelling during the company's growth through its IPO.
Invited local yoga teachers and athletes in as ambassadors and hosted in-store and community events that turned each store into a gathering place.
Wrote 6–12 month marketing plans and brought store teams along with them.
Film & Journalism
Producer and director of three independent documentaries made in partnership with the communities they portray: The Ride Home with the Cheyenne Elders Council (2012–13), the award-winning Maasai at the Crossroads with Africa Schools of Kenya (2008–10), and Hlabisa: An Unbroken Spirit in rural South Africa (2004–05). Reporter at Bush Radio, Cape Town, South Africa's largest community radio station (2004).
Education
M.A., Journalism · University of Southern California
2005
B.S., Journalism / B.A., Communication · University of Colorado · Minor in Ethnic Studies