Our founder

 Born in the wild frontier of… Orlando, Florida, our founder came into the world as the daughter of two Vietnam Veterans—which basically means she learned resilience, grit, and how to pack a proper go-bag before she could spell “adventure.” She grew up bouncing between Pensacola, Cocoa Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, and spent weekends in the Keys where her parents let her run feral among mangroves, manatees, and questionable boat snacks. Saltwater wasn’t just a part of life—it was a food group. 

But the story doesn’t stop at Florida. Her roots plunge deep into Texas soil—solid “Sons of Texas” stock. Her great-great-grandfather was a Texas Ranger riding the frontier in the same era as the legendary Captain Call and Augustus McCrae of Lonesome Dove fame. Some of her ancestors were even Comanche captives—yes, there were children—which means her family tree is best described as “historically complicated and undeniably interesting.”

And because her ancestors liked to stay busy, they didn’t stop at frontier adventures: they also served in the Civil War and the Texas–Mexican Wars around the time of the Alamo siege. So while she’s not a card-carrying Daughter of the Revolution, she’s earned the lineage—her people were out there making history, not paperwork.

This blend of salty Florida childhood, Texas grit, and generations of frontier stubbornness has produced someone uniquely qualified to run an adventure paddling company. When she promises an epic trip, trust her—it’s literally in her blood.

 Trained first as a fine artist and photographer, our founder’s eye was shaped long before Adventure Paddles ever touched the water. Years of study in fine arts at East Texas University (now East Texas A&M) , were paired with mentorship under Stan Newberry, one of Ansel Adams’ apprentices, where patience, light, and composition were treated as disciplines rather than accidents. That background still guides everything we do today. Reading a shoreline feels a lot like reading a landscape through a lens, and guiding a paddle trip carries the same quiet intention as framing a photograph. Each experience is designed with the belief that nature is not just something to move through, but something to truly see.