My Story
Growing up in Pennsylvania, I was introduced to the outdoors at an early age. My parents were avid day hikers in the Poconos and upstate New York, where my grandparents lived. We would spend one weekend a month driving to their property near the Catskills. Looking back on the time I was fortunate enough to spend with the horses, making perfume out of mud water and flowers, catching tadpoles, and helping my grandmother bake bread in her pantry is something I reflect on fondly. It only lasted ten years until she passed, but those moments shaped how I learned to notice details, care deeply, and find meaning in the quiet in between. Those lessons still guide how I create today. Although just one of many chapters that brought me to this connection, it is a small window into who I am.
I explored much of New England as a kid and slowly expanded west. I fell in love with the mountains and the Pacific Ocean, and somewhere along the way, I fell in love with storytelling, first through writing, then through imagery, and eventually through the way brands speak, connect, and build community. We moved to the Chicago area, and during college I spent a summer in Maine working for an adventure magazine called Wild Northeast. That season looked like driving from Brunswick with a lobster roll in one hand and mozzarella sticks in the cup holder, blasting Fleet Foxes while delivering magazines to independent shops along the coast and into the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It was there that I realized storytelling was not just about capturing beauty, but about shaping how people feel and what they are inspired to do next.
I moved to DC right before the pandemic in 2019 to figure out a new chapter, and eventually found myself back in Chicago. Shortly after, I began traveling and working as the Social Media and Partnerships Manager for Parks Project, where I now, today, lead brand storytelling across social, creative campaigns, and partnerships as Marketing Manager. My work lives at the intersection of brand strategy and creative direction, translating mission into moments, products into purpose, and visuals into narratives that invite people to care, participate, and belong.
Timestamps for the memory box and creative moments keep me going. I am humbled to share my story and hope you will let me be a part of yours, whether that is through an image, a campaign, or a story that makes you pause and feel something.
xx
Gretchen
