Last summer I started a group called Hike it Baby, which at first was a way for me to deal with mild post-partum depression, anxiety, and the sense of isolation that comes with being a new mom. First it was just a few moms hiking and then it was 50 and 100 and now it’s thousands. We have Moms hiking with Hike it Baby from Anchorage to Austin to Asheville to Australia. It’s incredible. It’s overwhelming. It’s amazing. We have 35 active branches and 3 more about to start. We just launched in Australia and are moving into Canada!

Before this I felt very ho-hum with my life. I had been a moderately successful freelance writer, a website developer for small businesses, a mediocre graphic designer. But I was feeling stale. The big shift in my life came when I did B-School to jump start my web business which felt burnt out and tired. I had built a website for Hike it Baby, but it was just a quickie to get her done. Then once I started working on my B-School assignments I knew my heart was no longer in my business, but I had fallen in love with Hike it Baby and what it could become. So that’s the path I have followed. And the growth has been so fast I am struggling to keep the day to day going while raising a little one as a single parent half time (my hubby works rotations in Alaska).

Hike it Baby absolutely wouldn’t have gotten as massive as it has gotten without B-School. I was inspired to think much bigger than just Portland. This last week when I got an email from Australia! I'm blown away.