It started when I was very young. During recess in 4th grade, a bunch of bullies were beating up on a little girl. I knew I couldn’t take them, so after yelling “stop”, I ran to the teacher on recess duty. She did not react instantly, and I told her with great certainty what her job was and how to do it (she must not have known, right?). I was certain I would receive an award. But alas, I was in trouble and sent to the principal’s office. I’ve been helping the bullied and those who are not in a position to help themselves ever since, usually with a bit more than 4th grade wisdom.
I am passionate that we not only respond to the evils of the world, but do so quickly. I’m not altogether patient. Once you know, act. I am committed to changing the face and spirit of consumerism on a global scale. I am intentional about providing products that don’t destroy the world, but are gentle to it and people, as well as cruelty-free to animals. I want everyone to know what’s happening in our backyards and around the world. So I tell anyone who will listen what I know. I want to provide simple actions of impact that people can do every day. I am very intentional and strategic, both in thought, relationship and action. I thrive on new and better ideas (and have many), and am an activator for those ideas. I have the strength of a relater and a focus and desire to know people individually. All the while, I am thinking on a large, global scale. I am an optimist to my core.
I'm an active abolitionist daily, whether or not it relates to my social business Day Away Botanicals. I usually spend a couple hours on it every day in the very early morning hours.
I am willing to risk everything (things, not people) for what I believe in.
I am an outdoor girl, and am most comfortable and full of joy when surrounded by nature. I’ll pick a few with special fondness…
the 40 rolling wooded acres out my door in Michigan (profile picture)
backpacking in the Wind River Range in Wyoming
the beauty of the windswept coast in Nova Scotia, Canada
the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska
the Mosel River Valley in Germany
backpacking in the mountains between Durango and Telluride, Colorado
bicycling in the Alps of Switzerland
walking the beauty of Italy’s coast
1. I WANT PEOPLE TO STOP ENSLAVING PEOPLE, in any form.
2. I WANT PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THEY REALLY CAN CHANGE THIS WORLD, and start acting with passion.
3. I want people to come up with simple solutions for action on other problems so I can help a little every day, all the while working passionately on what I feel called to do.
For 15 years I planned, promoted and led bicycling, backpacking, climbing and rappelling, whitewater rafting and sea kayaking tours all over the United States, Canada and Europe. I watched thousands of people’s lives change for the better when they left their possessions and the city lights behind.
I did a short stint in marketing. A corporation hired me, even though I have no marketing degree - I talked them into it. I learned a lot, but felt trapped indoors. On a lark, I went to work for a builder and ended up not only enjoying it, but being excellent at it. After a few years and with my employer’s blessing, I got my builder’s license and started my own company.
For 13 years, I have been a licensed builder and owner of Claybanks Builders. Mostly, I build homes, from the ground up. I wear a toolbelt. This has been an interesting work, and has given me a unique perspective into the world of men. It is male dominated, and I have encountered both very good men, as well as those who distinctly hold the very attitudes of violence toward women that I am now working against.
The founding of my own social/business skin care company, Day Away Botanicals®, came out of an illness I had. I needed a product that no one had thought of yet. So I invented it and started to roll and what a ride it’s been!
So I guess you could call me a world-adventuring inventor who has a good understanding of marketing and wants to build for people who can’t afford it all the while ending human trafficking through a skin care company. All with a passion for people. I know, it’s been FUN!
