Thoughtful gifts, meaningful giving, and ways to share care – even in a tender year.

Finding something that makes someone light up – that little spark of oh, you really see me 🥹– is one of my favorite parts of this season.

This year, our gift and giving guide is short and full of heart. This blog has a short list of small businesses, makers, and educators who pour so much care into what they create. Shopping small is such a simple, powerful way to share our love – not just with the people we’re gifting to, but with the humans behind each beautiful thing.

And while the holidays can be joyful, I know they can also be tender. A lot of us are stretched thinner than usual this year (finance + capacity-wise), which makes the kind of giving that’s rooted in meaning (instead of pressure) feel even more special.

So, take what speaks to you, leave what doesn’t, and remember – your presence in someone's life is a present in itself. Hugs, homemade cards, and time intentionally spent with loved...

First Things First: We Needed a Plan

When my team and I sat down at the beginning of the year to map out our goals for 2025, we found ourselves a bit stuck.

Not because we lacked ideas, we had plenty of those, but because 2025 has turned into a strange (and still wildly privileged) time to be running a small business. 

Between the ever-shifting algorithms, economic uncertainties, and the general stress of just being human right now, we weren’t entirely sure where the pulse of our community was, or the best way to connect with it.

We’re only a three-person team and have to be smart with how to spend our time and resources wisely, so we decided: let’s just ask. 

40 Interviews in One Week

A couple months ago, I grabbed coffee with my friend and fellow small business owner Meredith Noble. Meredith is brilliant, and she’d recently done a round of interviews with folks in her community. The experience gave her team insight, direction, and a deeper sense of connection with the people th...

Sistering Support has come a long way in the last five years!

April of 2025 marks five years of offering Sistering Support - our mutual aid program for Mind & Mountain Training Programs. 

Four years ago, we published our 1-year update for Sistering Support. Now that we’ve hit the five-year mark, I figured that it’s time to reflect on what we’ve been able to do in our first five years. 

We’re really proud of this program and all we’ve been able to accomplish with it! 

Before we get carried away with all of the updates, let’s take it back a notch and cover some basics.  

What is Sistering Support?

“Sistering” is a term from construction: when a beam is bearing too much weight, it's reinforced by adding support beams alongside it. That’s the image we’re working with—offering support to those carrying more than their share, especially folks who are BIPOC, queer, disabled, in bigger bodies, or otherwise underrepresented in outdoor spaces.

In a just and equitable world, no one would b...