Your business is allowed to change because you are allowed to change. You can adjust, simplify, rebuild, or redefine what success means now. You don’t have to burn everything down to make a different choice. Many of us start our own businesses with a vision for more freedom, more
At the mouth of Robe Valley, tucked into the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, lies a well-traveled route of humanity. It is in western Washington, north and east of an area the Indigenous peoples used as a portage between two rivers, now known as the city of Granite Falls.
Finding community one garden party, movie night, and bowl of cereal at a time. My last two articles have both been "Guides," which is ironic because I once guided an entire holiday parade down a dark alley and right into a dead end (true story for another time)
There’s a story that entrepreneurship loves to tell. The successful business owner is self-made. Independent. Tireless. They bootstrap their way to success, solve every problem on their own, and never need to ask for help. It’s a compelling story; it’s also one of capitalism’s biggest
Spring on the mountain is when connections become visible. And if you spend enough years paying attention to Nature, you begin noticing something else. Healthy systems are built through relationships; not through dominance, control, or uniformity. They are built through connection. Lately, I’ve been thinking about that old phrase:
We wanted our son to understand, from the beginning, that he is not the center of the world — he is part of it. That he is a steward, not an owner. We took him to Kamiak Butte to say so out loud. My wife and I have hiked Kamiak often
A public service announcement from a man who has been successfully gay married exactly one time with wisdom from couples smarter than he is. I received 67 written responses to my last column, “I Made All the Gay Dating Mistakes So You Don’t Have To.” …thank you. This doesn’
Ask most people what they know about religion in the Pacific Northwest and you'll get a shrug. Or a knowing smile. "Isn't that the none zone?" I've heard some version of this for the 14 years I've been running FāVS
There’s a particular kind of pressure that comes with being LGBTQ+ and self-employed. Not just to survive. Not just to succeed. But to know. To know who you are. To know what your business is. To know your niche, your message, your next move. To speak clearly, confidently,
The plant we were taught to overlook, even despise. The one that shows up anyway. The one that goes where the ground has been disturbed and begins, quietly, to make it whole again. We’ve been conditioned to see dandelions as an invader working against us. They are not a
We knew from the start we’d be putting ourselves on a literal ‘front line’ when we built this ranch in an economically depressed, conservative rural area. It was the entire premise behind our vision statement: “make manifest the change we wish to see in the world through hospitality”. Being
A public service announcement & gay dating guide no one asked for, but many desperately need. Let’s start with a disclaimer. This is not a guide to straight dating. I am wildly unqualified for that. If you need help navigating heterosexual courtship, I suggest literally anyone else. This is
I was raised in a faith community that believed homosexuals are equivalent to murderers. Some years after I came out, my mother sent me a letter and two UPS boxes containing everything from my childhood — baby photos, a stamp collection, matchbox cars — and told me we could no longer be
March at the mountain ranch is not a soft awakening. It is an active negotiation. One morning the ground loosens and trees start to bloom. The next morning, it locks itself under snow again in a final act of winter defiance. We refer to March as the season of Sprinter:
What does it take to survive—and even win—in trying times?. Recently, in my search for answers, I found myself locked in battle with a giant and sinister cell phone company. It was not a battle I had planned to fight, but history rarely asks our permission. The experience
There is a particular kind of anticipatory quiet that settles over the ranch in the early morning, before guests emerge from yurts, before tours and questions are asked, before engagement arrives along with coffee mugs. It’s in that quiet that I’m reminded why this place matters. Not just
