Hi there! My name is Kayla and the outdoors are a huge part of my life.

Here are some fun facts about me:

• I grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina and lived there until I graduated college.

• My favorite color is blue 💙

• I took a job as a ski instructor in Jackson Hole to teach 3-4 year olds but I had only ever skied twice in my life. (I learned how to ski real fast 😆)

• I am a wife to my husband of four years and a mama to my one year old son 👩🏼👨🏻👶🏼

• I am the Colorado Director of Wild Beginnings Nature School 🌱

• I lived and worked in Glacier National Park giving tours for two summers and that is where I met my husband 🏔

• I’m obsessed with the Enneagram and can talk about it any time of day 📚

• I’ve been to 39/63 US National Parks 🥾

• I’ve been to 48/50 states (last two are Michigan and Hawaii) 🇺🇸

• My favorite outdoor activities are hiking, backpacking, camping, and skiing! 🌲

• My first time on a plane was when I was 23 and it was to fly back home to CA from NC ✈️

• My favorite food is crab legs 🦀

• I enjoy planning trips! I host a girls trip each year with a large group of friends and we have the best time! 👯

• Saved by grace, living for His glory 🙌🏼

My passion for the outdoors started during childhood from camping, fishing, exploring my backyard, and attending camps growing up. When I got to college, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life but I was forced to choose a major. I told my advisor I was interested in working with children, sports, and outdoors. That narrowed me down to a few options and I ultimately chose to major in Recreation & Park Management because it was fun, but also because it involved helping people get outside. For most of my teenage years and adulthood I worked with children in different ways. From childcare centers, summer camps, babysitting, ski instructing, outdoor schools, and adventure camps, my focus was usually around children, people, and the outdoors.

After I graduated college, I had a dream to open an outdoor school that was a hybrid between summer camp and public school. A school where children spent time doing outdoor recreational activities but also learned practical life skills and academics. I took a leap of faith and moved from my home state of North Carolina to California to work as a Naturalist at a camp in the San Bernardino mountains. I drove from the east coast to the west coast and saw beautiful landscapes that I only ever saw in photos or on TV. I fell in love with national parks and their beauty. I decided to make it my goal to visit all 63 U.S. National Parks within my lifetime. A couple years later, I found myself working in Glacier National Park where I later met my husband. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that has shaped me into the outdoor adventure enthusiast that I am today!

My husband and I moved to Colorado in 2019 and we started off working at a ski resort as bus drivers. We decided to elope and get married in Rocky Mountain National Park and then covid hit two months later. We found ourselves unemployed and without a place to live that summer, so we moved closer to Denver to find jobs and housing. We have been in the Denver area for four years now and we like it for what it is! We have close access to the airport to travel and visit family and we are close to I-70 to drive to the mountains. If we could afford it, I think we would definitely chose to live in the mountains though 🏔

Less Toxic Living

In 2021, I decided I wanted to try to lose some weight. It was January and I found myself gaining more weight in the colder winter months here in Colorado. I decided to do the keto diet and ended up losing about 15-20lbs. I wouldn’t recommend keto to everyone, but what stuck with me the most is that it taught me how to read ingredients in the food that I eat. I learned about ingredients that are harmful for my health and I learned that sugar is in everything!! I ended up diving deep into learning about eating healthier ingredients and that spiraled into my everyday life. I started ditching toxins in my home and I have never looked back.