The Bougie Dirtbag

Over years of grueling hikes and luxury five-star experiences, I never felt gnarly enough to fit in with the hardcore outdoors crew, and never quite high maintenance enough for the truly bougie crowd. I started to joke that I'm a "bougie dirtbag," and at some point the joke stuck.

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As a woman in my 40s, I love to push and challenge myself just as much as I love to treat myself. I'm extremely goal-oriented, which basically means that I'm almost always grinding towards a summit, a deadline, or an ambitious launch. But once I crash out and/or reach the peak? I'm rewarding myself lavishly.

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In 2020 I started Goodera, initially as a creative copywriting studio to help purpose-driven brands do more good. I won a $10k pitch competition for my idea, and was able to give back over $15k during the first few years. Now, I partner mostly with travel and adventure lifestyle brands who just so happen to be good people committed to doing good things.

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Before going all in on myself, I spent 15+ years working at ad agencies throughout New York, London, and Los Angeles, creating campaigns for some of the world's biggest brands and winning 12 awards along the way. I led creative for brands like Amazon, BMW, and QuickBooks, sat in writers' rooms and wrote jokes for celebrities, and worked on-set alongside studios like Netflix, HBO, TBS, and NBC. I also regularly created pro-bono work for non-profits like UNICEF and Pencils of Promise, and served as Communications Chair for the International Rescue Committee's LA Chapter of GenR.

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With the free time I had, I freelanced as a travel writer, utilizing every second of PTO to hit the road, usually on a budget airline with a carry-on full of granola bars. I landed in The New York Times a month into my first travel blog, got paid to party at carnival in Rio, and was interviewed and featured in People magazine and National Geographic.

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Somehow I've been able to combine my passions into an amazing career, where I've traded open floor plans and 60+ hour work weeks for backcountry trails and Michelin star meals. Now my office looks a lot like taking photos while hiking Mt Kilimanjaro and The Lost Coast, writing while road-tripping through Mongolia and Morocco, and shooting videos at a private island resort in Belize.

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I love to connect with other bougie dirtbags who just "get" the lifestyle. Connect with me on:

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